Employee attendance write up sample

Writing up employees is one of the worst parts of management, but sometimes, it is necessary to improve performance. Employee attendance is among the most common performance issues leading to workplace write-ups.

Employees who consistently come in late or have excessive absences can reduce your team’s productivity and increase other workers’ workloads.

Managers must address this issue, and they need clear communication and fair, consistent processes when writing up employees for poor attendance.

Find out when to take action on attendance issues and explore how to best approach attendance write-ups. Plus, analyze samples and templates for writing up employees for poor performance in different attendance areas.

When to write employees up for attendance issues

A little sick leave or a personal day is fine, but when does absenteeism or tardiness become a bigger problem? Find out when to write up employees for their chronic attendance issues.

When previous verbal warnings have not worked

Employee attendance issues are best addressed through a progressive disciplinary approach. This approach starts with informal discussions and, if necessary, moves to formal verbal warnings.

Finally, a written warning or other measures are used if the issue persists. These different measures could include probation or a performance improvement plan.

If an employee has received prior coaching and warnings for their attendance issues and you have not seen an improvement in their tardiness or poor attendance, it’s time for an official write-up.

When an employee does a no call no show

No-call no-shows are a severe issue. In these instances, an employee is absent from work. Additionally, they do not call or contact the employer to inform them of their absence. Therefore, you may want to skip the verbal warnings. Instead, you can go directly to a write-up.

These absences are very disruptive. They disrupt the team’s workflow and the manager’s workflow because the manager does not know if the employee is late or absent.

As a result, the manager cannot reassign tasks or cancel meetings at the start of the workday. Managers waste a lot of time trying to contact the absent team member and often worry that something terrible has happened.

It’s also unprofessional and a more overt disregard of the attendance policy than other unexcused absences. No-call no-shows are usually not tolerated, and most employers will issue a written reprimand the first time they happen.

This is instead of providing an informal or verbal warning. However, there are exceptions. For example, a major car accident on the way to work may be considered an emergency. Similarly, a medical crisis that requires immediate care is also an exception.

When tardiness or absenteeism is impacting the business

Sometimes, an employee’s poor attendance can cause serious problems for the business. Some positions don’t allow much work schedule flexibility and require greater punctuality.

Suppose an employee frequently arrives late in a role where a co-worker needs to wait for them to be relieved to clock out. In that case, tardiness can cause the company to rack up overtime expenses or mealtime penalties while also creating a major inconvenience for that other employee.

Similarly, employees in customer-facing roles who arrive late or call out at the last minute can hurt customer satisfaction by making clients wait or having to reschedule appointments or meetings unexpectedly.

How to write employees up for attendance issues

Before we discuss employee attendance, we will write sample templates and explore the process of disciplining an employee for attendance matters.

Review the company policy

Disciplinary measures, like written warnings or performance improvement plans, should uphold your company’s policies.

As such, it’s very important that your company has a clear, written employee attendance policy and that you review it to verify that a policy violation has occurred before proceeding to an employee warning letter or write-up.

Document attendance issues

Document employee absences and lateness consistently. When writing an employee up, it’s helpful to be able to point to specific instances of misconduct or quantify the number of unexcused absences or late arrivals.

The easiest way to maintain detailed attendance records is to use a time clock or time-tracking software.

If your business uses manually entered time sheets or does not require salaried staff to account for their hours, keeping track of employee attendance and timeliness can be difficult.

Managers can still document instances of attendance issues, but the documentation may need to be more consistent and reliable.

Speak with the employee

Having an informal conversation is a good first step before proceeding to formal warnings or disciplinary action. Find out what’s going on and if there is anything the management or human resources team can do to help.

Are they calling out more because they feel burned out from an overly strenuous workload? Does their current work start time not work well with their child’s school start time?

Did they just find out their mom has cancer? Allow employees to ask for help or schedule adjustments before moving on to disciplinary action.

Issue a verbal warning

The next step may be a more serious verbal warning, though some employers skip this step and issue a written warning. Verbal warnings are more formal than the conversation approach detailed above.

Add these warnings to the employee’s personnel file. Inform the employee that further disciplinary action may result if attendance does not improve.

Issue an employee attendance write-up

Provide a detailed write-up describing the employee’s behavior, your expectations of good attendance, and the current or potential consequences. It can be helpful to list specific infractions and previous discussions regarding attendance with dates.

The HR manager should review this form, present a copy to the employee for their record, and then place it in the employee’s file.

Be consistent

Follow the same attendance standards for all employees on your team. Extenuating circumstances like intermittent FMLA leave or ADA accommodations might require more flexibility.

Writing up some employees for tardiness or absenteeism while ignoring others’ attendance issues can open you up to accusations of discrimination or favoritism.

Due to differences in departmental culture, management style, and business functions, absolute organization-wide consistency won’t always exist. However, managers should strive to be consistent with their direct reports and departments.

Employee attendance write-up sample for excessive absenteeism

[Employee Name]

[Job Title]

[Department]

[Date]

This notice is just to inform you about your excessive absenteeism over the past [time period of issue]. Your conduct violates the [company name] attendance policy, as detailed in our employee handbook.

You have exceeded the number of allowable unexcused absences for [time period]. The company recorded that you were absent on the following dates without providing advanced notice or following appropriate absence procedures.

On [Date], you received a verbal warning from [Manager Name] regarding your ongoing attendance issues. Since then, you have accumulated three additional unexcused absences.

[Company Name] understands the need for sick time and personal days. Still, the company also relies on regular and reliable employee attendance to maintain business operations and best serve our clientele. Your excessive absenteeism has negatively impacted your team and our customers.

As a result, we are placing you on probation for 30 days. During this time, you are expected to minimize unscheduled absences. If an unexpected absence cannot be avoided, you must alert your supervisor, [Manager Name], as soon as possible to minimize work disruption.

At the end of the probationary period, [Company Name] will review your performance. If the attendance problem persists, your probationary period may be extended, or your employment may be terminated.

Manager Name:

Manager Signature:

I acknowledge receipt of this document.

Employee Name:

Employee Signature:

Employee attendance write-up sample for frequent tardiness

[Employee Name]

[Job Title]

[Department]

[Date]

In line with the company’s attendance policy, [Company Name] expects employees to demonstrate punctuality by arriving on time for all scheduled work shifts. Frequent tardiness disrupts the workplace and can negatively impact your peers, managers, and clientele.

In the past 60 days, [Company Name] has noted that you have been ten or more minutes late to work on eight instances. The following cases of tardiness were recorded in our timekeeping software:

• On 10/2/2023, you clocked in 23 minutes late for your scheduled shift.

• On 10/5/2023, you clocked in 16 minutes late for your scheduled shift.

• On 10/11/2023, you arrived 35 minutes late for your scheduled shift, which caused you to miss the opening of our morning standup meeting.

• On 10/20/2023, you clocked in 19 minutes late for your scheduled shift.

• On 10/31/2023, you clocked in 25 minutes late for your scheduled shift.

• On 11/7/2023, you clocked in 14 minutes late for your scheduled shift.

• On 11/13/2023, you clocked in 17 minutes late for your scheduled shift.

• On 11/27/2023, you were 36 minutes late for your scheduled shift, which resulted in a customer complaint regarding a delayed appointment start.

You were counseled regarding your recurring tardiness on 10/11/2023 and received a verbal warning on 10/31/2023. Following these conversations, your attendance needs to improve sufficiently.

As a result of this conduct, [Company Name] will be placing you on a 30-day probationary period. This letter is to let you know that beginning on 12/1/2023, you will be placed on formal work probation.

If, during the 30-day probationary period, you do not improve your attendance and arrive on time for your scheduled shifts, your employment at [Company Name] may be terminated.

Manager Name:

Manager Signature:

I acknowledge that I have received a copy of this letter.

Employee Name:

Employee Signature:

More Resources:
Employee attendance: Addressing violations & setting expectations
Get your employee attendance policy right
Employee attendance issues and how to address them