"maybe" days

Irie · February 2008

We have a point-based attendance policy. One of the provisions of the policy is that an absence will be excused for a day if the requested day off is pre-arranged with the employee's supervisor (pre-arranged meaning the scheduled work day before the day of the absence).

Several employees, due to inclement weather, etc. submit requests for absence as "maybe" and "possible" on the day before the requested date so as to avoid attendance points if they will not be at work. In otherwords they may or may not be at work on that day and are covering themselves in the event they don't come in.

Do any of you who have a policy where absences must be pre-arranged allow employees to do this? It is happening more often lately and is causing me and our payroll department double work in the morning because I have to determine whether these people are at work or aren't. Thanks.

NeedCoffee · February 2008

We do not allow this on our policy - if someone requests a day off, it goes into the books unless the employee personally tells us to disregard it. We feel that if an employee requests time off, they should be responsible for that request and that includes cancelling it should they not use it. This gets it out of the HR and payroll department and back into the hands of the employee.

cnghr · February 2008

Same here. I don't want to know about "maybe" days, just days off that have definitely been taken. It shouldn't be up to HR/payroll to determine whether the person was at work or not.

ray a · February 2008

No "maybe" days. But, if the weather is severe enough that a significant number of ee's cannot make it to work, or if there is a travel advisory, we do not absences on those days against them.

Dutch2 · February 2008

We do 'bout the same as Ray. If for example weather is the reason they are unable to make it to work, we do not "count" this absence against their total.
It is always amazing that no matter how bad the conditions are, some will always manage to make it in.

stilldazed · February 2008

Your employees are requesting 'maybe' days because of your point system, and they are trying to evade the negative consequences in situations where they feel they have no control (i.e., the weather). To solve your issue, you should either adopt an absolute position with no forgiveness, such as those described by other posters, or loosen the policy enough to make an allowance for variables such as weather or traffic delays. Whichever is appropriate will probably depend on your organization's culture. Whichever is appropriate, the key is for it to be well thought out and as air tight as possible for the practice you adopt, then consistent in administration once it is adopted.

Let us know what you decide.

best wishes.

Irie · February 2008

It is very hard to loosen the policy for variables - where do you draw the line? A bad weather day to one person is not a bad weather day to someone else. I see potential problems with doing this.

Our plant manager will be presenting this situation to our VP of Ops. and hopefully we can put and end to the "maybes". My fingers are crossed.

Thanks all.

NaeNae55 · February 2008

We let 'bad' days come from management. Whenever there is bad weather expected we send out an email warning the employees of it and letting them know they can take a PTO day if they feel it is unsafe to come in. These days have not counted against employees as far as attendance goes, though it might become an issue if we had an employee use all their time up and then had none available in bad weather. So far it has not been an issue.

Good luck!

Nae

ray a · February 2008

Irie, you are right. We don't let the ee's dictate bad weather days, it is agreed on by management and based on more severe weather conditions. Happens once or twice a year here. It sounds like your ee's are trying to decide on their own.

ACU Frank · February 2008

I had an employee do that just yesterday. I saw her come in, and I told her (as nicely as possible) that since she told us she would probably be snow-bound, we had made arrangements to cover her duties and she needed to go home.

She is extremely upset and even her manager feels I am "punishing" her.

ritaanz · February 2008

I'm curious. Did the manager send her home? I cannot believe that the manger did not support you.

stilldazed · February 2008

As others have mentioned, you are correct. It can be very hard. Your company essentially has to define the variables and stick with the definitions. We're in north Florida, and we have weather issues, but hurricanes are really it for us. If the weather service declares hurricane warning or watch (based on weather service definition), we consider the day a weather day if employees need to be away to prepare their homes, move things to higher ground, make arrangements for family members, etc. Without knowing details about your weather conditions, all I can suggest is that you turn to a recognized authority.

As for transportation delays, we also happen to be in a very rural part of the state, which means we don't have many alternative routes to choose from for commuting. If a major accident or incident closes a road, or if heavy rainfall closes roads, many folks who live in our part of the world will be stranded. We have periods every few where some folks resort to parking cars on high ground and boating from their houses to wherever it is the cars are parked. After the first day or so, considering that their houses didn't flood, they are able to get to work on time, but it is not unusual for us to find that folks will call in stranded by water. Again, the details are well known, well advertised, and easy to confirm with outside agencies.

Aside from that, please keep in mind that allowing flexibility in policies and practices can be very hard. It will require some attention to details and some effort to manage, but you may also find yourself with in a more employee-friendly situation. If you can get the balance somewhere that works for the organization, your organization's management team and workers will love you for it.

best wishes.

ray a · February 2008

OK.... the other day we had a snow storm with forecasts of sleet on top of it. Several directors and the VP emailed to say they'd be working from home. The facilities maintenance guy who normally handles the shoveling and rock sald on the sidewalks, said he was going to email to say he'd be working from home but decided he better come in anyway.

ritaanz · February 2008

Cute. What would you have done if he did work from home?

Dfox · February 2008

Irie, OH

Can you send me a copy of your point based attendance? We are considering this for the future. My email is [email]foxhollowinn@yahoo.com[/email]

Thanks,

"maybe" days

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