Understanding Attendance Policies
Almost every employer has an attendance policy, and it is usually one of the first things you are expected to acknowledge when you start a new job.
It can be tempting to skim past it. After all, you already know you are supposed to show up for work.
The part that is easy to miss is what happens when you do not.
Missing work can affect more than your own schedule. Depending on the job, someone else may have to cover your shift, a manager may have to rearrange the schedule, customers may have to wait longer, or work may not get completed on time. At the same time, employees have lives outside of work. People get sick, cars break down, children need care, and emergencies happen.
Attendance policies exist because employers need some way to manage both realities.
Your Attendance Matters
Think about a restaurant that has six people scheduled for a busy Saturday night and one person calls off an hour before the shift. The restaurant still has the same number of customers, but now there are five employees trying to handle the workload.
Maybe another employee has to stay late. Maybe the manager has to step in. Maybe tables take longer to get served. If this happens regularly, the employees who are consistently there can start feeling like they are carrying the extra work.
If you are the person who is supposed to open the store, someone else may have to come in early. If you are responsible for a particular task, someone else may have to stop what they are doing to handle it. If you are working on a deadline, your absence may leave someone else trying to finish the work without you.
The same thing happens in offices, healthcare, retail, warehouses, schools, call centers, and just about anywhere else people work as part of a team. One less employee means the workload they would have taken on now has to be spread across those who are working. When this happens often, it can reduce morale, and can result in more employees calling off due to burnout and exhaustion. This only amplifies the staffing issue, usually causing a serious change in the work environment.
That does not mean you should come to work when you are genuinely sick or ignore an emergency because your coworkers need you. It means your attendance has an effect beyond your own paycheck. This is also why coworkers may react differently to occasional absences versus a pattern. Most people understand that things happen.
What becomes frustrating is repeatedly having to rearrange their own plans because someone else is not showing up. When it becomes a habitual issue, corrective action may be taken.
How Attendance is Tracked
Attendance is not usually about expecting an employee to never miss a day.
Employers know people get sick. Cars break down. Family emergencies happen. Appointments cannot always be scheduled outside of work. Depending on the job and the circumstances, employees may also have approved leave or other protections that allow them to be away from work.
What employers generally need is some level of predictability.
If you are scheduled to work Monday through Friday from 8:00 to 4:30, your employer is planning around you being there during those hours. When that changes, they need to know.
This is where attendance adherence can become important.
Some employers use attendance points or occurrences. Others track tardiness and absences individually. You might receive a point for missing a scheduled shift without enough notice, while an approved absence is handled differently. Reaching a certain number of points could result in a warning, additional discipline, or eventually termination. The exact system depends on the employer.
Your attendance can also become part of the overall picture your manager has of you. An employee who consistently arrives when scheduled, communicates when something goes wrong, and follows the call-off procedure is generally easier to plan around than someone who regularly arrives late or does not show up without notice.
That does not mean attendance is more important than doing your job well. It means that being good at your job does not completely cancel out a pattern of attendance problems.
Always Give Notice When You Can
If you cannot make it to work, how you communicate can make a significant difference.
Every employer has its own procedure. You may need to call your supervisor directly, contact a manager on duty, use an employee hotline, or report the absence through scheduling software.
Do not assume that telling a coworker is enough just because they know you are not coming in. It is not the coworker's responsibility to inform your employer, and relying on someone else to report it can put you in a position that jeoporadizes your employment. Often a No Call No Show (NCNS) is considered a higher offense that a standard absence. A NCNS is when you have not informed your employer of your absence at all, or failed to report it in the timeframe they request.
For example, imagine your shift starts at 7:00 a.m. and you wake up at 5:30 feeling sick. Your employer's policy says you need to notify your manager at least two hours before your shift.
Calling at 5:45 gives your manager time to start figuring out coverage.
Calling at 7:15 and saying, “Sorry, I just woke up,” will likely lead to short staffing
Missing the entire day and notifying the manager the following day is even more of an issue, and can be subject to corrective action.
There will be situations where you cannot provide advance notice. An accident, medical emergency, or other unexpected event may make that impossible. In those situations, communicate as soon as you reasonably can.
You also do not need to give your manager every detail of your personal life. Depending on the circumstances and the employer's requirements, a simple explanation may be enough. Employers typically will not ask about your personal circumstances or medical information. If documentation is required, your employer should be able to tell you what is needed and when.
What If I Am Late?
Most people are late at some point. You hit unexpected traffic. Your alarm does not go off. Your child needs something before school. You get a flat tire on the way to work.
One late arrival is not the same thing as regularly being late.
The problem starts when lateness becomes predictable in the wrong way. If you are supposed to start at 8:00 but regularly arrive at 8:10 or 8:15, your coworkers may have to cover for you until you get there. Your manager may have to keep adjusting the schedule. If your job involves customers or a position that has to be staffed continuously, the impact can be even more noticeable.
There can also be a difference between arriving at the building at 8:00 and being ready to work at 8:00. Some employers expect employees to be at their workstation and ready to begin their shift when the scheduled time starts. If you are expected to begin work promptly at your scheduled time, double check with your employer how to handle the preparation time prior to clocking in.
For example, if you are scheduled to clock in at 8:00am, but you are required to unlock the building, set up the work station, and stock supplies all before 8:00am, and you're clocking in late because you are handling work-related tasks, this is an entirely different type of concern. For these situations, look into Wage Theft: When You're Owed Money.
Your attendance policy may spell out exactly how tardiness is handled. Read that part carefully because “a few minutes late” may still count as an attendance occurrence depending on the employer.
When Attendance Starts Affecting You
Attendance problems can eventually affect more than your attendance record.
If an employer has a formal point or disciplinary system, repeated absences or tardiness can lead to warnings and other consequences. Depending on the workplace, attendance may also come up during performance discussions.
If you are regularly unavailable for scheduled shifts, a manager may be less likely to schedule you for certain responsibilities that require consistency. You may miss training because you were not there when it was offered. You may have difficulty being considered for positions that require a dependable schedule.
There is another side to this as well. If you are constantly missing work because of something outside your control, the problem may not be that you are simply “bad at attendance.” Transportation, childcare, an ongoing personal situation, or another issue may be making your schedule difficult to maintain.
That is when it may be worth talking with your supervisor or HR before the situation turns into a disciplinary issue. Depending on the circumstances, there may be scheduling options, leave programs, employee assistance resources, accommodations, or other solutions available.
Not every situation will have an easy solution, but staying silent while the same problem continues usually leaves fewer options later.
Final Thoughts
Your attendance is part of your job, but it is not the whole story of who you are as an employee.
Know how to call off. Know how much notice you are expected to give. Know how lateness and absences are recorded. Know what happens when you reach a certain number of attendance occurrences. And if something is making it difficult for you to maintain your schedule, address it before it becomes a pattern that affects your employment.
Good attendance is not about never having a problem. It is about being someone your coworkers and employer can generally count on, while also knowing what to do when you cannot.
Up Next: Sometimes you need time away from work that is planned well in advance. Sometimes you need it because something unexpected happens. Paid time off can give you that flexibility, but employers have their own rules about how PTO is earned, requested, approved, and used. Next, we will look at What PTO is and How to Use It.
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