Note: If you are in a state with mandatory sick leave entitlement, you should proceed with caution when disciplining employees for tardiness or absences that are covered by their sick leave. In particular, if an employee is using accrued sick leave hours, it's unlikely that their tardiness or absences would be considered "excessive" by the state or a court. Additionally, though 30 minutes is usually not an unreasonable amount of notice to require, if there were extenuating circumstances when an employee was using their state sick leave, an employer would not want to discipline them for failing to follow the notice requirement. As long as the employee gave notice as soon as practicable, you should not discipline them.
Employees are expected to be at work and ready to go when their scheduled shift begins or resumes. If an employee is unable to be at work on time, or at all, they must notify their manager no later than 30 minutes before the start of their scheduled workday. If an employee’s manager is not available, the employee should contact another member of management. If an employee is physically unable to contact the Company, they should ask another person to make contact on their behalf. Leaving a message with a coworker or answering service is not considered proper notification.
Excessive tardiness or absences are unacceptable job performance. If an employee is absent for three consecutive days and has not provided proper notification, the Company will assume that the employee has voluntarily quit their position and will proceed with the termination process.
When an employee calls in absent, they should provide their expected time or date of return. The Company reserves the right to require proof of the need for absence, if allowed by law.
If an employee becomes ill during their scheduled workday and feels they may need to leave before the end of their shift, they should notify their manager immediately. If an employee is unable to perform their job at an acceptable level, they may be sent home until they are well enough to work.
Absences should be arranged as far in advance as possible. When an employee needs to be absent during the workday, they should attempt to schedule their outside appointment or obligation so that their absence has the smallest impact possible on business operations.
