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attendance problem
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attendance problem
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I have several employees that are habitually late by 10 - 20 minutes. We do have a policy - verbal warning, written notice, termination but I am reticent to enforce it. These are very good employees o
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Forums » Topic Forums » Work Views » attendance problem
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attendance problem
posted at 6/13/2006 4:56 AM EDT
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Posts: 6
First: 6/13/2006 Last: 10/26/2007 |
I have several employees that are habitually late by 10 - 20 minutes. We do have a policy - verbal warning, written notice, termination but I am reticent to enforce it. These are very good employees otherwise. We have disussed the problem as a group but to no avail. Any ideas? |
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attendance problem
posted at 6/13/2006 9:38 AM EDT
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Posts: 1783
First: 11/11/2003 Last: 5/13/2010 |
An employee who is habitually late or absent is not providing value to his/her employer, no matter how good his/her skills.
These are NOT good employees. Enforce your policy. The first person who gets fired may be an inspiration to the others. |
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attendance problem
posted at 6/13/2006 1:48 PM EDT
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Posts: 221
First: 11/20/2005 Last: 4/4/2007 |
Not only are you undermining your attendance policy, you are undermining all of your companys policies. You are sending a clear message that the company is not serious about its policies.
By enforcing your current policy, you are not criticizing their other admirable behaviors, and you need to make this very clear with them in your discussions. You need to separate the two. It seems as if they sense that you and your company are not serious about attendance, and they are taking advantage of this. Your not discussing the issue with them individually also just reinforces your lack of seriousness. You need to literally look them in the eye and tell them what you need form them and the consequences for being late. It is only when you start enforcing the policy that you will get results. You did the right thing by raising the issue informally and giving them a chance to correct their behavior, Its now time to escalate and to let them know that this is what you are doing. Vicki Heath Director Business Performance Pty Ltd http://www.businessperform.com |
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attendance problem
posted at 9/1/2006 4:17 AM EDT
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Posts: 10
First: 9/1/2006 Last: 9/9/2006 |
[quote]
These are NOT good employees. Enforce your policy. The first person who gets fired may be an inspiration to the others. [/quote] Well, that's a little harsh. If the policy has been thoroughly enforced but is openly "bucked" I could understand taking that attitude. When things reach this level it is often necessary to terminate someone before attitudes start changing. Vicki's right. You need to talk to each person individually and let them know what the problem is. I'm sure they will point out that "everyone else" is doing it. Remind them that "this conversation is about (insert employee name here)". No offense here, I speak from my own INexperience. Your employees are only human and they have adapted their habits to a culture that was created by lax or inexperienced management. They may very well BE good employees, but they could be GREAT employees. And the onus to help them get there is on... YOU. Sure, eventually you may have to fire someone over this. But do it because it needs doing, not because you need to set an example. |
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attendance problem
posted at 9/25/2006 7:23 AM EDT
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Posts: 3
First: 9/25/2006 Last: 9/25/2006 |
Are these employees still paid full wages when they are late for work? If so, you may want to consider not paying them for late time, if this is possible based on your company policy and time and attendance system. Deduction of pay is often a fair and justifiable deterrent to tardiness, if allowed in your circumstances.
Enterprise workforce management software systems have the notion of graces rules and late/early rules. Grace rules are allowances for employees to arrive a little early or a little late, or leave a little early or a little late. For example, if your employee arrives in 1 minute late, you would likely not reprimand them. A time & attendance system would note this with a grace time code for that minute of time. Late/Early rules are applied to employees that arrive too early or too late, or leave too early or too late. For example, if an employee arrives 11 minutes late, a reprimand will be necessary. A time & attendance system would note this with a late time code for the 11 minutes of time. Often late time codes are unpaid, and grace time codes are paid (within their schedule). Even if you do not have a time & attendance software system at this time, these principles may help in implementing a policy. I have found this to be used across most industries for which the employees are expected to start and end according to their schedule. Regards, Harish Patel Sr. Workforce Management Consultant Toronto, Ontario Canada |
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attendance problem
posted at 10/1/2006 2:58 PM EDT
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Posts: 1
First: 10/1/2006 Last: 10/1/2006 |
Be honest with them and tell them exactly what YOU think of their attendance. Then ask them what assumptions they think their teammates make of their poor attendance. Finally, ask them if they feel good about these assumptions.
It doesn't matter how much of a superstar you are, if your attendance sucks, it trumps everything else you bust ass to prove you're the best at. |
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attendance problem
posted at 10/5/2006 5:08 PM EDT
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Posts: 20
First: 9/21/2006 Last: 10/19/2006 |
Set a standard and live by it. Starting time is a standard; every time you allow someone to start late you have set a new standard. At what point will you decide which standard to enforce and what argument will you use? If these employees have a legitimate reason for starting late maybe they need to have their schedule and pay adjusted. Good employees can become bad employees if they are allowed to set their own standards. |
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attendance problem
posted at 11/28/2006 3:15 AM EST
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Posts: 3
First: 11/28/2006 Last: 1/23/2007 |
By all means, you should enforce whatever policies you have. If you're reluctant to enforce them, you should be asking yourself why? Is it that they're too harsh? Do you think that they won't accomplish what you're after? Usually a policy that goes unenforced is one that is poorly written, or doesn't accomplish company goals.
I'd talk with the managment and decide as a team what your goals are, formulate a policy that will provide the results, explain it to employees, and then enforce it vigillantly. If your employees still can't come in on time, they're in effect choosing to quit. (and you're well rid of them.) |
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attendance problem
posted at 11/28/2006 3:44 AM EST
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Posts: 6
First: 6/13/2006 Last: 10/26/2007 |
Thank you all for your expert advice. I agree with all of you that the best way to handle our problem is enforcement of policy. We have decide to incorporate these "warnings" as a part of each employee's performance evaluation (and salary review) this year. I am confident that this will settle the issue for our problem employees and reinforce our committment to standing by our policies for the non-offenders. |
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