ABSENTEEISM & TARDINESS---WHAT'RE MY OPTIONS

jdurbin · April 2003

I have a 9 year nonexempt, salaried, female employee who is perpetually late by 10-15 minutes. It's creating a serious moral problem. We give our employees 5 personal days and 10 day vacation per year. As of Jan. 1 she has used all personal days and 3 days vacation due to general illness complaints of upset stomach, flue, etc.

At what point can I elect not to pay for absent days? She does call in when she's going to be out.

She has been verbally warned and today will get a written warning. Due to her tenure and abilities she's a needed employee. Any information you can give me will be appreciated.

Gillian · April 2003

Anytime someone puts the words "non-exempt" and "salaried" together it raises all sorts of questions about proper classification and overtime. While there can be non-exempt salaried personnel it is not a typical practice but when it is used employees still need to be paid on a non-exempt basis. This means that employees are paid for the hours that they work and that records are kept of those hours. In this case, you shouldn't pay for the absenses. As far as dealing with the issue, you should document and use corrective action to encourage the person to show up for work on schedule. If this does not work, then you could terminate the person for absence and tardies. You should also make sure that by doing this you are consistent in your practice. It is not good when one person receives corrective action for something that others do.

Whatever · April 2003

Do you have an absentee and tardiness policy? If not, you should have one. If you do, follow it.

Down_the_Middle · April 2003

jdurbin:

Your dilemma is not unique......... Why does it generally involve pretty solid employees who choose to do it their way??? Attendance and reporting to work on time are fundamental requirements to remaining employed and perhaps your employer has never taken that position; consequently this employee doesn't get it. Sounds to me as though your plan to discipline will get her attention and presumably you either have or will have a policy that talks about reporting to work on time. While fundamental, it is necessary b/4 you proceed with stronger disciplinary action. Good luck and remain consistent in this area. It can contaminate the entire workforce if left unattended.

Pork · April 2003

JDURBEN: First things first. Salaried non-exempt employee, verify that she is properly compensated in accordance with the FLSA. My first effort would then be to convince the company that TRULY EXEMPT EMPLOYEES are not accountable for time keeping, unless there is a very special reason.

If you have this person on a time keeping system, then simply pay her for the hours worked.

2nd thing is then make sure the department concerned is in the business of controlling the comings and goings of the employees. HR should only be in the business of paying for time worked and not for policing employee in and outs. Unless the department manager wants to take something away from the employee then have him/her tell you in writing what it is he/she wants done.

Ole time HR! Pork

ladyzuesse · April 2003

Side question on this issue Pork, sir...

are you saying that a TRUELY EXEMPT employee does not HAVE to come to work at a particular time each day? Should they be disciplined if they DON'T report to work at a preset time each day? (written discipline, not docked pay)

I've always run on the assumption (no smart remarks, I KNOW what the word usually means)that one can be exempt, but expected to work from a particular time to a particular time each day.

Tammy

Ms_Shepard · April 2003

We had a similar situation here where an employee with 14 years tenure constantly came in late or called in sick on Mondays, or sometimes with an excuse that was not believable. During his 14 years, past supervisors either did nothing at all, or gave him written or verbal warnings. We suggested to his current supervisor to let him know that he would be put on suspension without pay if there were any more occurrences. This seemed to work well. The suspension warning was given three months ago. Since then, he has called in sick only once, and has been on time every day.

SDDCHR · April 2003

Don't let the tenure and employee's abilities influence you! As you stated, this is already causing morale problems. Follow your policy and discipline if warranted. As previously stated, you can't treat this employee any different!

dhildebrand · April 2003

Contact your Employee Assistance Program. They can guide and really help you.

Crout · April 2003

Perhaps I'm old school, but I fail to see how utilizing the EAP will solve this problem. Are you speculating that the excessive absences are the result of some undiagnosed psychic illness? Don't get me wrong. EAP is fine, but you still have to stand up like a supervisor and draw the line with the behavior. That's why people in leadership roles make more money.

Balloonman · April 2003

Do not waste time and resources on EAP. The person has been warned before. Continue the process and make it clear that termination is the end result. Often after a 3 day unpaid suspension, on Tues., Wed., & Thurs. of course, they realize the company is very serious.
My $0.02 worth.
DJ The Balloonman

Margaret Morford · April 2003

I'm going to be a heretic and disagree with Balloonman. While I believe that a suspension is a useful corrective action tool in some limited circumstances, I never recommend a suspension to address an attendance or tardiness problem. I think it sends a confusing message to the individual as well as the employee group at large to mandate time off as a punishment for not coming to work in the first place.

Margaret Morford
theHRedge
615-371-8200
[email]mmorford@mleesmith.com[/email]
[url]http://www.thehredge.net[/url]

Leslie · April 2003

Gotta disagree Margaret. Our policy is four step in any rolling 365 day time frame - 1st written, 2nd written, suspension, out the door. That step three gets their attention everytime.

Hunter1 · April 2003

Margaret: I agree with Leslie; unless you can tell us what other alternatives are going to be accepted as progressive discipline by courts and hearing examiners, you're going to lose every case that's brought without going through the suspension stage. Have to get their attention in order to give them (employees) a chance to change.

Margaret Morford · April 2003

You are including suspension as one of the required steps for corrective action. We always used it in very limited situations and it was not a regular step in our corrective action process. Our corrective action policy outlined the normal steps to be taken, but allowed the supervisor to skip any and all steps with approval from someone higher up (I used HR). The policy stated that suspension could be used in rare situations, but it was not included as a regular step. Our practice was never to use suspension to address attendance/tardiness problems. We won every time we were challenged with regard to corrective action regardless of the governmental entity to which we had to provide proof. On two occasions, I had to draft an affidavit stating that the facts of a corrective action situation were reviewed with me and I approved acceleration. Your managers need that kind of flexibility in dealing with employee problems that arise. The oversight by HR assured continuity in the application of the policy as well as relieving the supervisor of accusations of prejudice or favoritism.

I'll be glad to send you a copy of the policy we used if you will e-mail me.

Margaret Morford
theHRedge
615-371-8200
[email]mmorford@mleesmith.com[/email]
[url]http://www.thehredge.net[/url]

AnneLa · April 2003

We call our suspension a "decision making leave". The employee gets one day off with pay. During that time, they are expected to:

A. Think about if they really want thier job.

B. Come in on the next day and either give notice or

C. Come in and agree that they will become the model employee from that day
forward. I most cases, we hope they terminate.

Trinity · April 2003

WOW! So if I miss enough times, I get to get a day off with pay? Where do you work and do you have any openings?!!;;) JJ
Seriously though, how many times do you offer this to an empployee? I mean what if they do well for about 6 months and then start to mess up again. Do they get to go through all the steps again, including the day off with pay, or is that a one-time deal? Just curious..Thanks

SMace · April 2003

Trinity,

There are some sound arguments for suspending with pay. I suggest you read "Discipline without punishment". It is a bit radical, but even if you don't agree with everything it says, it has a very effective system for dealing with problem employees. Or is that employees with problems?x:d

One theory is that the suspension is not enjoyable even though your being paid because you are teetering on the brink of joblessness.

Another theory is when someone is suspended without pay they come back as a martyr and can stir up trouble in their dept.

If you're suspended using the discipline without punishment system you know exactly why you are suspended (what the incorrect behavior was) and you are given the time to think about whether you want to agree to change or find another job.

Crout · April 2003

Heretic!! Stone her!!!

GibsonGuy · April 2003

Another angle that you need to be aware of is FMLA. It is important to know the reason for the work missed. Employees can now classify a day missed for illness as FMLA if they had 2 physician visits for the illness in a consecutive three day period. If she was sick and went to the Dr. on Saturday, was sick Sunday, and missed work and went to the Dr.'s again on Monday, she could count that day as FMLA and you can't use it against her for disciplinary reasons related to attendance. On the flip side, you can affirmatively designate that day as FMLA without having to get your employee's consent. If she's a good employee, she is probably wise enough to realize she can potentially use FMLA down the road to miss more work unless you use it up for her.

Balloonman · April 2003

Well, all good discussion after my post. But the one big reason that I have seen the suspension for missing work be effective is that then the spouse finds out about the discipline. Often the being sent home (without pay) gets the spouse to help correct the problem. Also like a previous post said, talk to them about if they want to be here, they need to think long and hard about what they want to do. They can come back and be a great employee, quit no hard feelings....it is up to them.
My $0.02 worth.
DJ The Balloonman

AnneLa · April 2003

With "decision making leave" day, these employees are on thier last leg of the corrective action process. We would not tolerate anyone straying from what they had agreed to do - mainly, return to being a productive employee. In all honesty, we don't usually use this step. Most times, we will terminate and be done with the problem.

SMace · April 2003

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 04-16-03 AT 12:58PM (CST)[/font][p]GibsonGuy,

I read the FMLA guidelines to say MORE than three days. If it is three days it does not qualify.

Stephen

ABSENTEEISM & TARDINESS---WHAT'RE MY OPTIONS

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