Your HR Guy hates Attendance Issues

March 12, 2007 · Filed Under Adventures in (Mis)Management 

A person asked me over email about attendance issues and all sorts of mean, nasty things came to my mind when it was mentioned.

Oh how I loathe ye great attendance policy. My post on ROWE is the only time I’ve mentioned my despise for workplace attendance policies. There are a lot of different folds of attendance policies that I would like to address:

  • They are archaic. I would say that any attendance policy that isn’t flexible enough to keep your best people at work is archaic. I would think that besides ROWE workplaces or those who are super flexible, your attendance policy is crap. If your attendance policy punishes supervisors for being flexible with work times, it is crap. I heard of one workplace where a person worked 4-10’s as pre-arranged with the supervisor and counted the fifth day as an excused absence in their attendance policy (which had a limit). That’s insanity
  • Attendance policies were meant to be abused. You have hard limits on the number of absences and tardies that employees get and those crappy employees get right there on the edge of that limit all of the time. The abusers know the limits of the attendance policy.
  • Attendance discharges are so easy. HR loves the attendance discharge. As long as they’ve executed each attendance discharge by the book, it is a great, nearly risk free discharge. Of course, these don’t always happen to bad employees. And “Sorry my hands are tied” is a really awful response to a manager who didn’t understand why a pre-arranged absence is now leading to termination.
  • Which doesn’t mean we don’t need a policy. No, no, no. Unless you are ROWE, you definitely need guidelines in place. My ideal would be an attendance system that is much like a performance policy. Less hard limits, more understanding how attendance really makes their work suffer. Abusers are still gone under the system.
  • I am the executor of bad policy. Every HR person inherits bad policy and they should petition to change bad policy as soon as possible. That being said bad policy isn’t a reason not to enforce bad policy (now illegal policies, that’s another issue altogether). You do yourself and the business you work for disfavor if you don’t fairly apply the rules of the workplace.

So there is my crusade against attendance policies. And yes, this doesn’t work for every situation I realize. But even different situations can use better attendance policies.

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Comments

4 Responses to “Your HR Guy hates Attendance Issues”

  1. Ragan Jones on March 13th, 2007 8:56 am

    I agree totally - if people are doing their jobs, doing it well and everything is fine, then who cares if they take a friday off, or come in late or leave a bit early. If an employer cannot be flexible with time-off, employees will find one that is because there are plenty of them out there that are more than willing to be flexible.

    Attendance policies remind me of school and treating employees like children does not make for a good working environment. It breeds resentment and rebellion - treat your employees like children and they will act like children.

    [Reply]

  2. Your HR Guy on March 14th, 2007 9:44 am

    Exactly Ragan! And sorry your comment got killed by my spam zapper. I saved you :-)

    [Reply]

  3. Scott Ray on April 18th, 2007 2:14 pm

    It is my true belief that it is according to the business. Some business need a more strict policy. Some business may be able to say ok you manage your time but it will be a performance issue at rating time. One way of handling attendance does not fit all organizations.

    [Reply]

  4. Wendy on October 24th, 2008 9:58 am

    I disagree, I come in on time all the time but the employees around me come in when they feel like it, this means someone has to pick up their slack, since I’m there it gets tossed on me. I think business should treat their employees like kids. Face it these are adults they know their shifts and they abuse it by coming in late all the time or taking really long lunchs so they should be treated like children. They are suppose to be more responible then kids, so why aren’t they.

    [Reply]

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