Get your employee attendance policy right

Having clear, documented policies is essential across all business areas, but one of the most critical expectations to put in writing is your employee attendance policy.

Poor attendance plagues many businesses, from frequent tardiness to excessive absenteeism. In response to in-office work requirements, new attendance issues like coffee badging have also popped up.

These issues impact the flow of business, causing meetings to be delayed, work time missed, and, in some cases, the customer experience to be negatively affected.

Employee attendance problems also tend to have a ripple effect throughout the work environment. When team members observe their peers always arriving late without consequences, they lose the motivation to work hard to arrive on time each morning.

Employees may need clarification on their expectations if you still need to have a written attendance and tardiness policy or need to enforce your policies consistently. Set them up for success by developing and uniformly implementing clear attendance policies.

Why do employers need an employee attendance policy?

Good attendance is necessary for maintaining an orderly, productive workplace. Even if your organization has moved to a more flexible work schedule to promote work-life balance, it’s still important for employees to show up consistently and provide notice when unplanned absences, tardiness, or early departures are needed.

A written attendance policy ensures that all employees understand your expectations around attendance. It also creates a paper trail and a policy to reference should you need to take disciplinary action based on an attendance issue.

What to include in your employee attendance policy

While many attendance policies are fairly succinct, you can (and likely should) include many items in your policy.

Attendance expectations

Spell out attendance, time tracking, and time-off policies to ensure everyone is on the same page. Expectations around attendance can vary based on industry, company culture, and job role. Don’t assume that everyone joining your organization will automatically know what is considered appropriate or expected.

Including your company’s standard work hours in your attendance policy used to be expected. It’s still OK to do this if your team works onsite and you have set operating hours.

However, it’s optional to include and may only apply to some organizations, as companies have become increasingly flexible about work hours in the era of remote and hybrid work.

Time and attendance tracking requirements

If you have specific time tracking expectations, such as for employees to clock in and out each day at a physical time clock or an app, you can also mention that in your attendance policy.

Call-out procedures

Let employees know what to do if they miss work unexpectedly or run late. Keep this simple: Inform employees to alert their manager or the HR department as soon as possible when they anticipate an unscheduled absence or late arrival.

Policy on no-call no-shows

No-call no-shows are a specific form of unscheduled absence that occurs when an employee does not show up for work and does not alert their manager or anyone within the organization. This form of absence can be particularly disruptive to teams, so employers often have specific policies or guidelines regarding them.

These may include more severe consequences, including termination of the first or second offense. Also, warn employees that no-call no-shows for several consecutive days (usually three) can be considered job abandonment, which may impact their rehire and unemployment benefits eligibility.

Types of absences covered (and not covered)

Your attendance policy is one of many policies in your employee handbook that covers employee absences. Employers should round out their handbook with policies on different types of leave, such as the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and bereavement leave.

You’ll also need an Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) policy regarding reasonable accommodations, which may include scheduling accommodations.

Your employee attendance policy should focus primarily on non-leave-related absences and tardiness, including unexcused and excused absences. Employers are particularly concerned about unexcused absences.

Unexcused absences are absences that are not approved or do not follow the set procedure. For example, if someone calls out sick after their scheduled shift starts without a valid emergency.

Meanwhile, an excused absence is any absence that has been approved by the employee’s supervisor or manager (including sick leave, PTO, jury duty, etc). Not all absences will be able to be properly planned and scheduled.

Employees may wake up ill and need to call out for the day. However, an unexpected absence should still be excused if it’s due to something unforeseen, like a sick day or family emergency. This is only true if employees follow company policy and notify their supervisor.

Consequences for policy violations

Make it clear that there will be consequences for repeated violations of the company attendance policy. It’s OK to leave this somewhat open-ended, but do mention that there will be consequences and that termination is a potential consequence.

Some employers use a point system with more specific guidelines around consequences for poor attendance. Points or partial points are assigned to varying degrees of lateness or absenteeism; employees who rack up enough points during a set period (month, quarter, etc) will face consequences.

Employees may receive 1 point for being 10 minutes late and 2 points for being 15 or 30 minutes late to a scheduled shift. There may also be points for unexcused absences.

After an employee accumulates a set number of points, they may receive a write-up or be placed on probation. This can help track tardiness and attendance issues, particularly if you have many employees and require strict adherence to start times.

Considerations when crafting and enforcing a tardiness policy

Deciding how to define and implement tardiness issues can be tricky. Being overly harsh and penalizing people for occasionally arriving two minutes late but being too relaxed can cause tardiness issues to spiral.

Some employers offer a grace period of 5 or 10 minutes before they count someone as tardy. Whether or not this is a good idea for your team will depend on several factors:

• How does lateness disrupt business operations? Roles in which an employee relieves another staff member opens up the office or establishment or supports customers at the start of their shift will demand more punctuality. Work-from-home roles where work is completed more independently won’t significantly impact mild tardiness unless a meeting is scheduled, so more flexibility makes sense.
• How are employees getting to work? If your office is in a busy downtown setting, giving a five or 10-minute buffer is more practical, as public transit delays frequently impact staff, and parking can be challenging.
• What is your company culture like? Are employees generally given a great deal of freedom or autonomy? What is communication between management and staff usually like? Craft a policy that fits your culture. More formal traditional company cultures suit stricter policies. Laid-back cultures allow flexible shift start times or offer employees a more considerable grace period for tardiness.

Sample attendance policy template

[Company Name] expects all employees to be punctual and regularly attend work. This attendance policy outlines our policies and procedures regarding employee attendance.

Employees are expected to arrive prepared and on time for all scheduled shifts. Tardiness is arriving [X] minutes late to your scheduled shift without authorization from a supervisor. If you anticipate being late, please let your manager know immediately.

If you cannot report to work for a scheduled shift, you must notify your supervisor or department head as soon as possible before your scheduled start time. Failure to inform the company about your absence may result in disciplinary action.

If you cannot communicate an expected absence due to a valid emergency or delay, please get in touch with your supervisor as soon as possible. Verification may be requested.

You will be considered a no-call no-show if you do not report to work or contact your manager or the HR team. Three consecutive no-call no-shows will be considered job abandonment, and your termination will be processed.

Note that this policy does not apply to time off under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) or the Americans with Disabilities Act. Please see our FMLA and ADA policies for further information on absences under those federal laws.

Violations of this policy may result in disciplinary action, up to and including termination. Do you have any questions or concerns about this policy?

Perhaps you need to know how to request time off or report an unplanned absence. If so, please contact the human resources department or your manager.

Implementing your employee attendance policy

Once you’ve written your policy, you must implement it and communicate it to your team.

Communicate it to employees

Make sure all employees are provided with a copy of the policy. Encourage them to contact their manager or the HR team if they have questions. In addition, department leads should fill in any team-specific procedures or guidelines, such as whether the manager has a preferred contact method for employees to use when notifying them of absences or tardiness.

Enforce your attendance policy consistently

Once you have a policy, management and the staff must follow the guidelines. Be sure to be fair and consistent in implementing and enforcing the policy. It’s often best to use progressive discipline for attendance infractions when enforcing attendance expectations.

Life happens, and most people will occasionally need to catch up. If improvement does not occur, start with a verbal warning and progress to more formal methods, such as a written warning.

Update it regularly

Be sure to update the policy as needed. Reviewing your employee handbook annually, including the employee attendance policy, is also a good idea.

When making those updates, consider how your business operations have changed. Additionally, evaluate whether you are still actively enforcing each component of your attendance policy.

Additional resource: Updating your handbooks and company policies? Check our guide to employee handbooks.

Employee attendance policy FAQs

Still have questions? Learn more about attendance policies and procedures below.

Does every employer need an employee attendance policy?

Employers should have an employee attendance policy, but it’s not a one-size-fits-all solution. Some employers will need to adopt different attendance policies to accommodate asynchronous work.

How do I choose the best attendance policy for my organization?

Weigh your business needs. Also, consider your company’s culture. These factors will help you develop an attendance policy. The policy should promote smooth operations. At the same time, it should balance flexibility and structure for your employees.

Can employers require a doctor’s note for absences?

Depending on your state and local laws and attendance policy, you can request a medical note for absences. Some states have laws limiting when you may request a doctor’s note.

Be practical and considerate of your employees. Acknowledge that not every illness necessitates a doctor’s visit. Furthermore, recognize that seeing a medical provider can be cost-prohibitive for some.

Should employers use a point system for employee attendance?

A point system for employee attendance is a popular method. It tracks an employee’s attendance record and applies consequences for violations of the company attendance policy. This is one way to ensure that the policy is consistently applied.

However, employers should be cautious about following point systems with stringent discipline levels. If you set strict guidelines and consequences, be prepared to follow through. There will be times when doing so is inconvenient or undesirable.

Point systems tend to be most popular in retail or food service, where several people work in the same role. Suspending or terminating someone when they accumulate enough points won’t derail business operations as heavily.