No Fault Absenteeism Policy

lynnbreck · November 2004

I'm in the process of putting together a no-fault absenteeism policy for a manufacturing company. I'd appreciate hearing about similar policies, e.g., guidelines, how points (i.e., demerits reflecting an absence) are accumulated, whether points can be earned back, how long points are in place for, what, if any, extenuating circumstances are considered, what you think works well, pitfalls, etc. Thanks for your help!
Lynn

Balloonman1 · November 2004

The no-fault system is based on points and assigns points as follows:

Absent full day – 1 point
Late, leave early, half-day off – ½ point
No call no show – 2 points

Points drop off after one year.

The following occurs with the accumulation of points:

4 points – Verbal warning
5 points – Written warning
6 points – Suspension
8 points – Suspension
10 points – Termination

We are a construction company. All suspensions for attendance are mid-week, no long weekends.
We have a system in place where the employees can take personal days, which do not count as points. This system has worked well for us, can count on one hand the number of people who have been suspended.....currently have 1 individual at 8 1/2 points, he will never make it.

Have also when I have been in manufacturing seen systems to where 1 point would drop off if you went 60 days without an occurrence, and another point for every 30 days after that.

My $0.02 worth,
DJ The Balloonman

POPEYE · November 2004

Absent, tardy or leave early = 1 "incident"

Allow 3 in a 180 day rolling period. Incidents drop off after 180 days.

#4 incident gets a verbal
#5 gets a written
#6 a 3 day unpaid suspension
#7 Termination

3 consecutive working days missed with DR's note only counts as 1 incident.

Perfect attendance for a calendar month earns 3 additional vacation hours over and above regular vacation time.

That's our policy and we stick to it. No exceptions and we treat everyone the same if they have been with us 6 weeks, 6 months or 6 years.

grannyhr · December 2004

I assume FMLA absences are not counted under either "no fault" attendance policies. However, how do you handle it if you find out that an absence or absences should be or have been designated as FMLA? Do you reverse and delete the points?

Balloonman1 · December 2004

If it is FMLA no points are assigned........ I have on two occassions gone back and deleted points that were FMLA this was done within a week or so of the original occurrence. Typically it has not been an issue...... fortunate enough that it either is or is not clearly a regular absence, if I think FMLA might apply, well I look into it. I do not do retro FMLA, so if someone 3 or 4 months after the fact wanted to go back and claim something as FMLA they would be out of luck.
My $0.02 worth,
DJ The Balloonman

POPEYE · December 2004

Ditto to Balloonman

pork1 · December 2004

LYNNBRECK: Our policy does not try and deal with any point system. Our policy tells the employee that excessive absent or tardy situation which hinders the operation of the work unit, then we will move to our discipline system, which will set attendance standards over a given piece of time. Should the individual fail to be at work for any reason the failure could lead to termination. Our managers are supportive enough of the trained hands that they know when they must make the call. Typically any three day no call sequents will cause a termination and immediate replacement. When one becomes a "ghost worker" the end result will be termination. Even excused or coordinated absent days are charged against the employees' record of days worked. The "ghost worker" with doctor's excuses, children issues, family illnesses, etc. are situations, which do not put product on the line. I would encourage you to leave this issue to supervisor/manager hands to administrate. My assistant and I do not have time to be checking on absent and tardy issues, we are the record holders and "NOT THE TIME CARD POLICE"! Do not tie yourself down to that role if it is not necessary.

Give us an e-mail address and we might be able to ship you some words, that will allow you to be free of the "time card police work"!

PORK

No Fault Absenteeism Policy

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