Attendance Policy

What is a good attendance policy?

A good attendance policy is one that includes all the necessary guidelines for taking leave, including tardiness, early outs and even no shows. A good attendance policy should be well detailed and list down all the repercussions for an employee's poor attendance.

What is a "no-fault" attendance policy?

A no-fault policy, like the name suggest, is one based on a point system. Employees can be granted a certain amount of leaves, and accumulate points each time they use one of their leaves. When a certain point limit has been reached, the employee has exhausted all his available leaves and cannot avail any additional leaves. Further, the employee can also be terminated if he or she continues to be absent.

How do you create an attendance policy?

The ways to create an attendance policy are:

1. Clearly outline the organisation's expectations
2. Distinctly explain the difference between paid & unpaid time off
3. Design a disciplinary policy in case of non-adherence
4. Lead by example
5. Be fair and consistent

What is the purpose of an attendance policy?

Highlighting the importance of employees being present for work on time, every day is the main purpose of an attendance policy. Regular attendance and punctuality not only optimizes productivity, employees should be made aware that any deviation from the organisation's attendance policy will result in lower productivity levels which in turn will cost the company money.

How can employee attendance problems be improved?

Most employee attendance problems can be improved by simply:

• Monitoring the leave days
• Clearly setting expectations
• Investing in activities that improve morale and engagement
• Engaging in regular dialogue with employees
• Training management and supervisors on how to manage their teams.
  Check out are blog on Attendance Management For Your Employees - Methods and Merits

What should be included in an attendance policy?

An attendance management policy is an organisation's defined policy with the objective to ensure timely attendance and tracking and reduce employee absences. Employee absence at work can be costly for an organisation, often leading to losses in both productivity and eventually profits. While absences due to illness and injury cannot be avoided, policies that strike a balance between offering enough time off as well as discouraging excessive or unnecessary absenteeism are most beneficial.

A good attendance policy will clearly define:

• The objective of the policy
• Organisational expectations
• Distinctions between different types of leaves
• Disciplinary actions that will be taken in case of non-adherence

What are the different types of attendance policy?

These are the commonly used attendance policies:

1. Point Systems: Where employee accrue points for various infractions
2. Rolling Attendance System: Where attendance infractions are recorded for a period of 6-12 months, after which, the record is refreshed.
3. Tardiness Policies: Where the policy outlines how the organisation will handle tardiness, including explicit definitions of what is considered tardiness.
4. Absence Notification: Where the organisation sets a predetermined window within which the employee has the option of changing his/her shift timings prior to the start of the working day.
5. No-Call/No-Show Policy: Where no call/no show employees will be terminated after a certain fixed amount of time.

How to create attendance policy for WFH?

A Work From Home (WFH) Policy is one that outlines and clearly defines the expectations and responsibilities of employees who WFH. These are a few key attributes that need to be defined in a WFH policy:

1. Who is eligible to WFH
2. What is the established an approval process
3. What are the defined regular working hours
4. What are the available communications channels
5. What are the established security standards
6. How can employees avail any IT support

How to use PTO policy to reduce absenteeism?

While it might sound counter-intuitive, offering employees paid time off can actually help curb absenteeism, because when an employee knows he or she only has a finite set of paid leaves available, they will be more careful about how they use these leave and when. Employees consider PTO a benefit and oftentimes plan ahead so they can use the paid time off for family vacations, or even when they unexpectedly fall sick, etc.

How does attendance affect the workplace?

Employee attendance is crucial to any organisation. Employee absense at work can be costly, often leading to losses in both productivity and profits. While absences due to illness and injury cannot be avoided, policies that discourage excessive or unnecessary absenteeism as well as prevent workplace disruption can be most beneficial to any organisation.