Attendance Policy Planner

An employer’s attendance policy must be communicated to all employees so that its provisions can be enforced. The policy should be in writing and included in the employee handbook. Most important, it should be applied consistently. Employers may be sued for discrimination if they penalize some employees for poor attendance, but not others.

A formal, written attendance policy clarifies the employer's viewpoint and makes clear to employees at what point chronic lateness and absenteeism is cause for discipline. The policy should state how many absences or instances of lateness are acceptable (and within what period of time).

Excessive lateness and absenteeism are the most common work rule violations and can be difficult to deal with. There are many solutions to attendance problems; some are proactive, others are reactive. Some employers have adopted progressive discipline procedures in their attendance policies such as offering a compressed workweek, flextime, job sharing, rewards, and telecommuting. These proactive solutions should be tried, if possible.

Learn More about Creating and Implementing an Attendance Policy
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The HR Library has more helpful attendance policy resources like these:

Sample Attendance Policy
What is a “no-fault” Attendance Policy
Don’t make these FMLA mistakes