Attendance Policy
6327515
12 Posts
I am having a difficult time writing our attendance policy, mainly because I came from manufacturing where we had a no-fault attendance policy.
Now I am in the banking field and management is not interested in a no-fault attendance policy.
I am wondering how many (unapproved/unauthorized) days or hours other companies allow employees to miss before they start the discipline process. Also how many days or hours companies allow before they terminate.
Comments
Points systems are great, and are even greater still in a no-fault environment. However, OP requests information about a policy that is not no-fault. I think it's a mistake on the part of management not to go with a no-fault system and I'm sympathetic to the problem. Often, managers want no part of a no-fault system because they like having the authority of excusing and not excusing absences. For the record, there are other finance industry companies that use no-fault systems, so this is a particular preference of your managers more than the industry I think.
There are a few problems with excusing and not excusing absences. I think the largest problem for most people is how much to document in policy about what is and is not excused. The less specific your policy, the more likely you can have disparate impact in how it is applied in the field. The more specific your policy, the more unintended consequences you will have about what should or should not be excused. If your supervisors and managers are really well trained, then the old-world "up to your supervisor" policy may be fine. If you are not certain of the quality and fairness of your existing management team, then you'll have to dial it in some more with a more explicit policy. One problem you'll have to keep track of is that supervisory and management staff change over time. If you rely on their quality today, understand that one bad hire/promotion later can mess it all up.
With that in mind, you could write a highly restrictive policy and use that as entre into a discussion about why they don't want a no-fault policy. If they're just afraid they'll end up losing good people, then loosen up on the points requirement and see if you can give them what you want while giving them what they want. I've done that negotiation a few times.