Tag: attendance

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A complete guide to attendance write-ups [free template included]

Oil painting of a man writing a letter

Summary

  • Attendance write-ups are warnings issued to employees to address time and attendance policy infractions.

  • Attendance write-ups should include information about the employee and their role, outline infractions and previous disciplinary measures taken, and explain how the employee must adjust their actions going forward.  

  • Click here for an attendance write-up template.

Employee attendance is crucial to maintaining productivity and operational efficiency within any organization. However, there are instances when employees fall short of meeting attendance expectations — leaving managers and HR professionals in a difficult situation. 

Absenteeism and chronic tardiness disrupt workflow and place additional burden on other team members, leading to increased stress and burnout. According to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, businesses in the service industry experience some of the highest rates of absenteeism. Workforce.com’s own research corroborates this, with 31% of businesses listing shift disruption caused by employee absenteeism as one of their biggest problems.

As an HR professional or manager, addressing attendance issues is essential to maintain a productive workplace effectively. This is where attendance write-ups play a significant role. Attendance write-ups are formal documentation (or written warnings) for addressing attendance infractions and reinforcing punctuality expectations.

Free Attendance Write-Up Template

Throughout this article, we will delve into the essential components of an attendance write-up, explore best practices for writing one, and provide a sample write-up letter for reference. By understanding the significance of attendance write-ups, HR professionals and managers can proactively tackle employee attendance issues, promote a culture of accountability, and create a more productive work environment.

When should you use an attendance write-up?

An attendance write-up should be used in situations when an employee’s attendance falls below expected standards or violates company attendance policies, including the following examples: 

  1. Regular tardiness: When an employee consistently arrives late for work without valid reasons.
  2. Excessive absenteeism: When an employee develops a pattern of no-call, no-shows, or unscheduled absences. 
  3. Violations of company attendance policies: These could include failing to properly request time off or abusing paid or sick leave policies. It could also include failing to notify supervisors and/or HR managers before taking a leave of absence or not providing a doctor’s note after taking sick days. 

It’s important to note that the decision to use an attendance write-up should be consistent, fair, and in accordance with established company policies and applicable labor laws such as the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). 

What your attendance write-up should include

Write-ups should include several key components to address attendance problems and communicate expectations to employees effectively:

    • Employee information: This includes the employee’s name, position, and any other relevant identifying information.
    • Employee absences: Highlight the employee’s attendance record, explicitly showing the dates and times when they were late or missed work. If you use an attendance point system, be sure to provide a history of where, when, and how points were accrued. 
    • Outline any previous action taken: This could include anything from verbal warnings to disciplinary action. 
    • Outline the company’s employee attendance policy and how it was violated: Provide clear references to the HR policies or guidelines to ensure transparency and avoid misunderstandings.
    • Explain the importance of the company’s attendance policy: Highlight the negative consequences of violating it. Show how unexcused absences negatively impact coworkers and harm the organization as a whole. 
    • Highlight any further disciplinary action: Outline what the company’s policy says about what disciplinary measures will be taken after an attendance write-up. This could be anything from another written reprimand to termination. 
    • Instructions on how employees can reply to a write-up: It is essential to give employees the opportunity to respond to a write-up by providing feedback and/or insight into their poor attendance and or excessive absenteeism. Your write-up should explain how they can do this and through which channels. 
    • Manager and employee signatures and dates: Include spaces for the employee, supervisor, or HR manager to sign and date the write-up. This acknowledges that the employee has received the write-up and understands its contents.

Maintaining consistent documentation and following company protocols is essential to ensure fairness and compliance with legal requirements.

Attendance write-up best practices

The purpose of issuing an attendance write-up is about more than punishing or scaring an employee. It should be seen as a step toward finding and implementing a solution. Here are some tips that will help you get the most out of attendance write-ups. 

Be sure to have all of your facts straight

Presenting an employee with an attendance write-up is a serious measure to take, so it’s vital that it is based on indisputable facts. If an employee is chronically tardy for work, pull up their attendance record and highlight where they haven’t kept to their work schedule. If you use a digital time clock, you can get this information from past timesheets in the form of punch-in variances or even from point totals if you use a point system. 

Whatever data you use for a paper trail, you should be able to find it in your time and attendance software. Be sure to link these infractions to the policies that have been violated. 

Keep it professional

Objectivity is key when it comes to writing employees up. As mentioned above, your attendance write-ups should be based on facts and should not include any subjective opinions. Including something like “John is lazy and irresponsible; he clearly doesn’t care about his job and is always trying to avoid work” can lead to employees becoming defensive, which would make the situation worse.

Instead, highlight the specific issue at hand, such as “John has been late for work on three occasions in the past two weeks, arriving an average of 15 minutes past his scheduled start time without any valid reasons or notifications.”

Don’t view them as final warnings

An attendance write-up shouldn’t be seen as a precursor to termination. It’s just a warning and should be perceived as an opportunity to improve an employee’s behavior and promote good attendance. 

Map out the next steps

Your write-up should include what happens next — like what an employee needs to do to get back in line with your attendance policy and when this progress will be reviewed. 

On the other hand, you should also state what measures will be taken if the employee continues to infringe on your policy. 

Templates

Feel free to copy and paste the templates below for your own personal use. You can also download a file with each template right here. 

Attendance write-up template

[Date]

[Employee’s Full Name]

[Employee’s Position]

Dear [Employee’s Name],

This is an official warning regarding your violation of [Company Name]’s time and attendance policies. 

Attendance infraction:

On [Date(s)], you were observed [mention infraction with details on how it violates the company policy].

Expectations and policies:

[Quote the relevant areas of your time and attendance policies and include a hyperlink to where they can access them directly.]

Previous action taken:

We have discussed this matter on [X] previous occasions. We first [action] on [date]. Additionally, we [action] on [date].

Corrective action and further consequences:

This attendance write up serves as formal documentation of the infraction. Going forward, we expect you to prioritize punctuality and adhere to the established attendance policies. 

Failure to improve your attendance and address this issue may result in further disciplinary action, including [list specifics according to your company policy].

Improvement plan:

To rectify this situation, we recommend that you review and familiarize yourself with our company’s attendance policy and procedures. Additionally, we encourage you to make any necessary adjustments to ensure your timely arrival at work. 

If you encounter any challenges or have concerns related to your attendance, please communicate with your supervisor or the HR department for guidance and support.

Please sign below to acknowledge that you have received and understood this attendance write-up. If you have any questions, feedback, or concerns regarding this write-up, please inform your supervisor. 

Employee’s Signature: _______________________

Date: ________________

Supervisor’s Signature: _______________________

Date: ________________

Please note that this write-up will be kept in your personnel file for future reference. We trust that you will take this matter seriously and make the necessary improvements to maintain consistent attendance.

Sincerely,

[Supervisor’s Name]

[Supervisor’s Title]

[Company Name]

Tackle employee absenteeism at the source

HR managers and supervisors should spend less time and energy on drafting attendance write-ups and implementing disciplinary action. The process can be demoralizing to both employer and employee. 

Having proper time-tracking technology alongside a fair attendance policy can help HR and Ops teams achieve lower absenteeism rates, increase employee loyalty, reduce labor costs, and improve the company culture. 

To find out how, check out our webinar, How to Reduce No Call, No Shows.

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A guide to writing employee performance reviews

oil painting of a hand writing on paper

Summary

  • Provide employees with clear, constructive, and actionable feedback.

  • Give employees an opportunity to offer valuable peer and managerial feedback with performance management software. 

  • Use objective, measurable criteria when reviewing or setting performance goals.

  • Focus where an employee has room for growth and opportunities to improve.

Without regular performance reviews, an employee’s work may not align with the job they’re paid to do. This can negatively impact managers, from missing early indications of underperformance to losing out on opportunities to celebrate an employee’s achievements. 

Annual performance reviews can also have a significant impact on your company culture. These assessments help confirm that team members’ overall performance supports the company’s goals. They also strengthen working relationships by ensuring a continual feedback loop with your employees. 

When conducting performance evaluations — especially for the first time — it helps to work from an established template to ensure your evaluations are thorough and your performance review period goes smoothly. In this guide, we’ll review some critical areas to cover in a performance review. When done right, performance reviews can keep employees motivated and engaged while resulting in higher achievements for the team.

1. Evaluate how the employee’s current duties fit with their job description

As a starting point, compare what an employee does daily to their duties as outlined in their job description. This provides a baseline for determining if the employee is doing their primary job functions as assigned.

If an employee isn’t meeting the duties of their job description, you can begin to plan the next steps to address performance issues. If they’re performing their job duties as expected, you can move forward with your standard process for evaluation.

Comparing an employee’s current duties with their assigned duties also helps identify who might be going above and beyond in the workplace. If an employee has taken on more responsibility than their job description, they may be on track for a promotion or a raise, or they could be at risk for burnout.

2. Be comprehensive in employee evaluations 

Performance appraisals are about more than whether or not an employee is fulfilling their daily responsibilities. Evaluations also help address their competencies holistically. Below are various areas to consider including in your performance review template.

  • Attendance and punctuality: Is the employee working their assigned days and shifts? Do they consistently arrive at work on time and stay until their scheduled end time?
  • Quantity of work: Is the employee completing the amount of work they’re supposed to? Are they meeting productivity requirements?
  • Quality of work: Is the employee’s work being accomplished to your expected quality standards? Are there frequent errors? Are they going above and beyond?
  • Achievement: Is the employee meeting other standards or metrics for success?
  • Problem-solving: Does the employee help solve problems and find solutions when faced with challenges?
  • Time management: Does the employee meet deadlines as assigned?
  • Communication skills: Is the employee communicative about the status of their work and proactive with issues that arise?
  • Teamwork: Does the employee work well with the rest of the team and clientele?

3. Be specific and use objective criteria

Vagueness can create uncertainty and confusion in performance reviews. Use specific language and examples whenever possible. 

For example, instead of relying on general phrases like, “Is usually good with customers,” try, “Excels at helping customers find the product they need and find alternatives when a product is out of stock.” Do point out where someone makes mistakes in their work but frame it as constructive criticism. Help employees understand how to do better, especially if it involves a skill they already have and could further develop.

Use objective, measurable criteria when you review or set performance goals, such as deadlines met, tardiness and absences, or sales goals. You should have solid data to support your performance assessments. This can also help when considering promotions, bonuses, and other incentives.

4. Use relevant data when applicable

As mentioned in the previous point, numbers are essential. Broad discussions about performance goals tend to go nowhere, especially when conducted too frequently. It helps to back up your performance reviews with concrete, historical data. 

For hourly staff in general, this could take the form of attendance points. When conducting a review, ensure all the points an employee has accumulated for attendance infractions are clearly laid out for them. Visualizing these numbers brings urgency to the conversation and helps employees better understand where they fall short with attendance and how to improve. 

Webinar: Points-Based Attendance

For sales associates, relevant data could be closed deals, while for retail workers, it could be something like time taken to serve a customer or sales per labor hour. No matter your industry, there is almost data to back up a staff member’s performance. Just be sure that your performance review does not hinge entirely on data – account for the human behind the numbers as well. 

5. Cover areas of improvement and where the employee has already improved 

Review areas where employees need performance improvement and provide constructive feedback. Also, offer positive feedback on areas where they’ve shown improvement since their last review. 

Don’t just tell an employee what is going wrong — provide examples and make it a conversation. In addition to telling them about potential solutions you see, ask for their ideas and feedback. Invite them to collaborate and offer their own ideas.

Cover both strengths and weaknesses of the employee throughout their review. You might tell a direct report, “Your knowledge of our add-on products could be more thorough, and I know with your demonstrated work ethic that you can master those.”

Review areas where the employee has shown improvement and reflect on their growth. Discuss how these improvements have positively impacted the employee’s work, team, or company, if possible.

6. Set realistic, actionable goals and plans

Create plans that include specific goals for employees with clear expectations for their professional development.

Wherever possible, use SMART goals — Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound. If you’re setting goals for an employee who is frequently late, a SMART goal might be for them to arrive to work on time for every shift for the next quarter.

Be transparent about what’s needed from employees so they understand what they’re doing well and what they need to work on. Provide a written plan at the end of the review or send them a follow-up later. Include potential development opportunities where they can grow in their position and their career.

7. Consider adding self-evaluations and other employee feedback.    

When you include a self-assessment as part of the performance review process, you may capture insights that would be otherwise missed. Employees may have ideas for their own development that help support their career goals and the company. This participation can increase employee engagement.

You can go beyond a manager-to-employee review and self-assessment by incorporating 360-degree feedback. With this Workforce feature, employees can provide feedback to each other at all levels. Peers can review each other, employees can review managers, managers can review direct reports, and more.

Performance review periods also present an opportunity to ask employees to engage in other types of assessments. If there are business processes you want to improve, for example, consider sending a survey to employees for their feedback. Or, promote employee recognition by asking your team to offer positive feedback to their coworkers.

Make use of tools that can help you track ongoing performance.

While formal performance reviews typically happen on a fixed schedule, be sure to connect with employees regularly. Workforce.com can help you do both with performance management software that’s mobile-first, non-intrusive, and designed for shift-based workforces.

To find out more, get in touch with our team today.

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5 tips to reduce employee no call no shows (2023)

Summary

  • No call, no shows are damaging to businesses.

  • High no call, no show rates could suggest problems with company attendance policies.

  • Employers can use Workforce.com software to reduce employee no call, no shows.

The Society for Human Resource Management reports that unscheduled absences (also known as no call, no shows) cause a 36.6% loss in productivity. This loss in productivity can not only have a big financial impact on the business, but it can also place a strain on other employees. However, continuous employee absenteeism could reveal issues in company policies that are up to leadership to address. While fully preventing 100% of no call, no shows is virtually impossible, employers can use the following tips to reduce employee no call, no shows.

1. Make sure staff are made fully aware of their shifts

One of the reasons why staff might not show up is that they are not aware of their scheduled shifts. This can either be because of a miscommunication, or they simply forgot. It’s important to give your employees the benefit of the doubt — one-off no call, no shows are not a huge cause for concern. However, continuously missing work without a good excuse is a warning sign of job abandonment.

But it’s still important to make sure all staff are aware of their shifts. This can be done by having a clear schedule, where employees always know which shifts they are working.

Employers should also do the following:

  • Communicate shifts to employees clearly. Having an employee schedule where staff can easily see their shifts eliminates confusion.
  • Remind staff about upcoming shifts ahead of time. You can do this by emailing staff, or if you have workforce management software, by enabling push notifications on a scheduling app.

2. Require staff to accept their shifts with management

To avoid the typical “he said/she said” excuses from absent employees that might sound like “The manager said I could have today off” or “I didn’t know I was supposed to be working today,” require staff to accept their shifts with management, so there is no confusion. Both staff and management will know who is scheduled to work.

Employers should:

  • Make sure shifts are confirmed as soon as possible by employees in a timely manner while also complying with predictive scheduling laws.
  • Make sure that accepted shifts are recorded in a place that is visible to both employees and other management staff. This could be a physical printed copy of a rota in the staff break room, or for a more direct approach, it could be an employee app.
  • Make sure that any open shifts (when employees have not accepted shifts) are clearly visible on the schedule. Employees who are looking for extra shifts should be able to claim some.

3. Address any employee scheduling problems

If you have an employee who has a high track record of no call, no shows, this could expose a scheduling issue. Employers should work with employees to address any scheduling problems.

  • Does your schedule work for all employees? Consider sitting down with employees who have the highest no call, no shows and asking if there are any scheduling challenges leading to these no call, no shows.
  • Work with employees to address any scheduling problems. It’s possible that some staff live too far or have difficulties with other arrangements like childcare. If possible, make changes to this employee’s schedule that will reduce no call, no shows.
  • Consider using smart and automated scheduling systems that collect data on employee attendance. For instance, AI-assisted scheduling can recognize when employees most commonly miss shifts, and it will adjust future schedules accordingly.

Tackle employee scheduling problems with shift replacements

One way to tackle employee scheduling problems is to allow shift replacements via a mobile workforce management app. This is where employees exchange scheduled shifts with managerial approval. Instead of the responsibility of finding a replacement falling squarely on a manager, shift replacement software streamlines the whole process, automatically picking the best fit employees as replacements – all a manager needs to do is approve the swap. Managers can also post open shifts in a centralized location where qualified employees can receive notifications about available shifts.

Presenting employees with flexible shift options like this leads to fewer no call, no shows.

Create an on-call list

On-call lists should be used as a last resort for last-minute spontaneous absences when there is no time for shift swaps. Make sure that the on-call list is well planned and handled by management to eliminate further confusion.

At the beginning of each week (or whenever you are shift planning), ask employees if they are available to be on an optional on-call list for each day.

Make sure employees know what the on-call list is and how it works. Think of ways to incentivize staff to be on the on-call list. You could offer a few dollars an hour extra for workers working on-call shifts.

Outline a clear procedure for the on-call list. It could look something like this:

  • If an hour and a half have passed and an employee scheduled to work has not arrived and hasn’t reported their absence via a phone call, this is a no call, no show.
  • Management will call other team members who are on the on-call list and ask if they are available to cover the shift. It is important to give on-call members enough advance notice. For example, it’s not reasonable to call employees at 10 am to come in at 10:30 am.
  • If another member of staff is available, they will come in and cover the shift.

4. Evaluate your attendance and absence policy

Loads of no call, no shows could indicate issues with your employee attendance policy. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, a service worker in the service industry has an average absence rate of 4.2%.

If your employees have an absence rate higher than this, it’s possible that your employees are not familiar with the attendance and absence policy.

There are a few things to consider:

  • Have you clearly indicated what absences (PTO or sick leave) employees are entitled to? It’s possible that employees are committing no calls, no shows when they should be using their PTO or sick leave.
  • It’s also possible that staff may have family members to look after, and this is has caused a lot of no call, no shows in the past. If this is the case, the employee may be entitled to absences under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), and the employee should have notified management. It’s important to note that if the employee did not apply for FLMA leave and does not show up, despite the family circumstances, it is still a no call, no show.
  • Do your employees know how to request time off? Sometimes, employees aren’t aware of their PTO and may not show up and not call.
  • Do your employees know how to report absences? Is the information about company policies in the employee handbook?

Absences could also be due to unusual circumstances (medical emergencies, car accidents, etc.), and it’s important that your attendance policy accounts for unexpected occasional absences.

5. Create a fair no-call, no-show policy

Creating a formal no-show policy that has consequences such as disciplinary actions or written warnings will reduce no call, no shows. When employees realize there are repercussions for their actions, it can make them reconsider their conduct.

However, it’s important that the no-show policy is fair; having a zero-tolerance policy (one strike and you’re out approach) for no call, no shows is ineffective. You might end up risking high-quality employees over one mistake, and it is already challenging to attract quality workers in today’s job market.

Instead, consider an approach like this:

  • An employee has missed work for three consecutive days. The first two days, the employee reported the absence as per the company policy, but the third day they did not show up. This employee should be given a verbal warning. However, if the no call, no shows persist, the employee can be given a write-up — including the dates of the absences and further consequences.
  • On a separate occasion, the same employee has had repeated no call, no shows spanning a three-month period. This employee should be given a formal disciplinary review with a chance to fix their attendance. If the employee does not fix their attendance within the agreed-upon timeframe, terminating their employment may be the next step.

Companies should make sure no-call, no-show policies and the consequences stay in line with labor and employment laws.

Use no call, no shows as an opportunity to refine your scheduling

Identifying potential problems and taking actionable, preventative steps will help reduce employee no call, no shows. Workforce.com can assist you with this by optimizing your shift scheduling and timekeeping requirements to best mitigate unforeseen employee absences. Master your attendance and contact us today to reduce the damage no call, no shows can have on your business.

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What is an attendance point system? [Examples + Template]

Astronaut Husky staring up at numbers in the sky

Summary

  • Attendance point systems give employees points for being absent – too many points can result in being fired.

  • Benefits of an attendance point system include reduced absenteeism, increased employee engagement, and enhanced managerial objectivity

  • Point systems can be automated with the right attendance software.

Everybody loves points. Points are positive.  Points earn rewards. Points equal winning. This obviously holds true when it comes to workplace attendance, right?

Wrong. Turns out, attendance policies are like golf. You never want points. The more points you accumulate, the closer you come to getting life’s double bogey – unemployment. 

Many large and well-established companies in the US currently utilize attendance points in this way to discourage absenteeism and simplify disciplinary procedures.

Known as points-based attendance, it’s a method gaining popularity across hourly workforces today. 

In this article we’ll explore:

What is an attendance point system?

An attendance point system is an absence policy that penalizes employees with points every time they are late or absent for a shift. Accruing a certain number of these points results in disciplinary action, and with enough points, termination. 

 

Webinar: Points-Based Attendance Overview

 

Attendance point system examples

Amazon is perhaps the most well-known, albeit somewhat notorious, company with an attendance point system. 

Here is a breakdown of Amazon’s point system: 

  • 1 point = employee misses part of a shift
  • 2 points = employee misses a full shift without calling out at least 16 hours beforehand
  • 2 points with an “absence submission infraction” = employee misses an entire shift without calling out at least 2 hours beforehand

Points expire two months after the date they are assigned. If an employee receives three absence infractions and eight points within a two-month period, Amazon will consider firing them.

Walmart is another major company known for its points-based attendance policy which it adopted back in 2019. 

Here are the basics of Walmart’s attendance point system:

  • ½ point = employee arrives between 15 minutes to 2 hours late for a shift or leaves a shift between 15 minutes to 2 hours early. 
  • 1 point = employee calls out of work
  • 1 point = employee is late for over half their shift
  • 2 points = employee is a no-call/no-show

Walmart employees can receive up to 5 points before they are considered for termination. Points are reset to zero after six months. 

Attendance point system template

While both Amazon and Walmart’s attendance policies enforce strict adherence to schedules and effectively limit absenteeism, they often receive backlash for being unfair. 

If you are considering a points-based attendance policy for your business, it may be best to avoid copying Amazon and Walmart’s policies. Instead, adopt a basic point system and refine it over time. 

Here is a basic attendance point system template to get you started: 

 

Example Attendance Point System

disciplinary action for point accumulation

The timeline for removing points varies, but generally speaking, management should be lenient in this area. Points should typically be reset after roughly two months of perfect attendance. 

Special considerations should be made in the case of no call/no shows. On top of the points given, management should consider the following actions:

  • First no-call/no-show: verbal warning
  • Second no-call/no-show: written warning
  • Third no-call/no-show: termination

Legal considerations for an attendance point system

Are all absences created equal? 

Well, in theory, no. But in practice…sometimes. 

While attendance point policies are legal, they do have to comply with various laws protecting employees from discrimination. Unfortunately, some companies overlook these laws. 

Many “no-fault” or point-based attendance policies have no explicit provisions protecting special case absences from penalization. In essence, these policies unfairly treat all absences the same, no matter the situation. 

According to the EEOC, this is illegal. For an attendance point policy to be legal, it must excuse absences for legally protected reasons such as medical, disability, and sick leave. 

Here are the kinds of absences excused from disciplinary action: 

Family and Medical Leave Act

  • Military caregiver leave
  • Military qualifying exigency
  • Birth of a baby
  • Placement of a child for adoption or foster care
  • Care for a sick immediate family member
  • Serious health conditions

California Family Rights Act 

  • Pregnancy
  • Childbirth
  • Bonding with a new child

Americans with Disabilities Act

  • Substantially limited in one or more major life activities due to a physical or mental impairment

Non-compliance with any of these acts can result in some serious consequences. Back in 2011, the EEOC reached a $20 million settlement against Verizon for denying reasonable accommodations to hundreds of employees. 

At the time, Verizon had a “no-fault” attendance policy that made no exceptions for FMLA-protected absences. As such, employees found themselves repeatedly disciplined for taking medically-related absences.

Unfortunately, illegal attendance policies like this are quite prevalent in the workforce. 

In 2020, a study conducted by A Better Balance involving 18 major US employers showed that “over 80% of the attendance policies failed to make clear that employees will not receive points for qualifying disability-related absences.” Moreover, only 12% of the policies actually acknowledged that emergencies might prevent a worker from complying with company call-out procedures. 

It’s clear that not all employers utilize attendance point systems legally. If your aim is to deploy one in your organization, make sure to do it compliantly and fairly. 

Benefits of an attendance point system

If you choose to use an attendance point system, doing so could come with many benefits. Here are just a few you could experience: 

Reduced absenteeism

This is perhaps the most obvious benefit. Points give employees a clear and concise visualization of their attendance history, promoting punctuality. And with disciplinary actions clearly associated with certain point levels, employees will be extra careful to avoid point accumulation. 

Increased employee engagement

A point system helps employees feel more engaged in their work. Without clear tardiness and absenteeism policies, it is easy for employees to become lackadaisical in their attendance. With a point system, they are more likely to be invested in their attendance records and more likely to communicate with management when they might be running late. 

Whitepaper: Boost your employee engagement strategy

Enhanced managerial objectivity and transparency

A points-based attendance system holds management accountable too, not just hourly employees. With absenteeism points, subjectivity and managerial favoritism are eliminated, giving all employees an even playing field when it comes to disciplinary action.

Automate your point system with Workforce.com

Staff Point History Profile on Workforce.com

Assigning and keeping track of points can get pretty overwhelming when done by hand, especially if you are operating a company with over 20 employees. Luckily, there is a way around all this manual work.

With Workforce.com’s attendance point software, you can easily create a points policy that works for both managers and employees alike. The system is completely automated, assigning points based on deviations from scheduled time clock punches. You can even generate attendance reports, view employee point history, and set up alerts to notify managers whenever employees surpass a certain point threshold.

Cool stuff, right? Check out our feature walkthrough below to find out more, or contact us today to discuss how a point system could work for your business. We’d love to talk you through it.

Webinar: Points-Based Attendance Overview

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10 employee timekeeping & tracking best practices

Summary

  • Using a software solution to improve your time-tracking is a great way to ensure you’re recording time and attendance data regularly and accurately. 

  • Following our time-tracking best practices helps you identify problematic patterns that lead to employee lateness.

  • Understanding the extent and causes of lateness inside your company will allow you to implement changes that will help reduce tardiness altogether.

Your employees turning up late to work from time to time is normal and to be expected, to a certain extent. The problem is when patterns of habitual tardiness start to emerge. 

The most obvious issue with employee tardiness is the added costs to your business. An employee who is 10 minutes late every workday will have taken the same amount of time as one week’s paid vacation by the end of the year. 

Besides the cost, employee lateness and absenteeism can negatively affect productivity, which trickles down to your customers and can tarnish your company’s brand image. Tardiness can also mean more pressure if work is shifted onto other team members, leading to burnout and low morale. 

Accurate employee time-tracking and consistent recordkeeping help you identify the patterns and causes of employee lateness. Business owners often turn to time-tracking software to do this and to prevent tardiness from getting out of control.  

Here are 10 employee timekeeping best practices you can use to encourage timeliness and efficiency at your business.

1. Keep precise records

Accurate time and attendance data is the foundation of any timekeeping initiative. Without knowing exactly who is on time, who’s late, how often they’re late, and by how much, fixing the problem feels like working in the dark. Having access to this data in real time makes employee time tracking easy.

Use time and attendance software to put this informational bedrock in place from the start. Once you know that you are accurately recording attendance data in a usable form, you’ve made any new timekeeping initiative much easier to manage.

2. Track data regularly

Manual entry timekeeping systems are prone to errors, yet so many small businesses still rely on spreadsheets for tracking employee hours. The longer you leave gaps in the data, the greater the chance that employees will forget what time they arrived or left.

If your company is still using manual timecards and employee timesheets, you should be collating that data daily, when possible, or weekly at the very least. Don’t get complacent if you’ve swapped manual methods for a software system. Be sure to generate attendance reports at a similar cadence, at least once a week. The sooner you spot a problem, the more quickly you can address it.

3. Spot problematic patterns

Consistent data tracking helps you spot the problematic patterns holding your business back.

Once you have your regular cycle of time and attendance data in place, take a holistic view of what it is showing you about your business over time. Look for deeper recurring patterns related to particular shifts, managers, or locations. There may be a simple fix for hotspots of poor timekeeping methods, but if you don’t know a hotspot exists, you’ll never be able to address it.

Webinar: The Best Way to Replace Call-Outs

4. Have a clear point of contact

A clear management hierarchy means there’s no confusion over attendance issue reporting.

Make someone responsible for time management and maintaining accurate timesheets. This could either be on a per-shift basis or per location or department. Make it clear their role isn’t simply to punish late arrivals but to work with employees to resolve issues that might be affecting their attendance.

5. Use a point system

More companies are switching to point-based systems to track and penalize employee tardiness. These attendance point systems work by automatically assigning staff points for various infractions such as clocking in late, leaving early, or never showing up. HR can use these point records to build a case and take appropriate action against repeat offenders. 

This kind of system is perhaps the most practical way of dealing with lateness. Since points are automatically accumulated for showing up late, employees are much more likely to be incentivized to be on time to avoid verbal and written warnings. 

Webinar: Points-Based Attendance

6. Normalize healthy working hours

If staff are constantly expected to work late, they’ll be tempted to claw the number of hours or minutes back from somewhere else.

This is the flip side of making sure everyone arrives promptly. Show staff they’re expected to leave on time as well as arrive on schedule while still encouraging those who actually want overtime hours.

The WHO recently released estimates of a 29% increase in deaths from heart disease and stroke brought on by long working hours. Even if those figures are off, the days when people would tolerate overwork are on the way out. Be ahead of the curve in this area, and staff will notice.

7. Introduce and automate break times

Offering breaks means staff have fewer reasons to be late in the first place.

Breaks and paid meal periods are not required by labor laws in the US, but they benefit employees and employers alike. Staff who take lunch breaks are more productive, loyal, and engaged.

Research shows that one in 10 employees never break for lunch, and nearly half just eat at their desks three or more times a week. If managers are seen taking their lunch break away from their desks or workstations, that gives employees permission to do the same. An effective employee scheduling system should allow you to automate these breaks into the daily workflow, sending staff reminders when it’s their break time. These reminders encourage staff to actually take their breaks, unlike in non-automated systems where properly timed breaks can often go overlooked.

If staff feel the company values their time, they’ll value the time they give to the company. When they know they’ll have an opportunity during the day to make that important personal phone call or just grab a sandwich, there’s less reason for them to cram those things in before work, which makes them late.

8. Use predictive scheduling

Often lateness occurs because people are trying to accommodate their lives around erratic working hours.

Predictive scheduling is already legally required in some states, but it’s worth considering, even if it’s not mandatory. Setting schedules two weeks in advance gives employees time to plan. By reducing the number of frantic child-minding emergencies and other last-minute problems, you reduce the reasons for people to arrive late to work.

Webinar: How to Optimize Your Staff Schedules

9. Lead by example

Creating a company culture in which timekeeping is valued starts from the top.

Hold yourself, managers, and even executives to the same standards as other staff. Make it clear that being diligent with work time is expected of everybody. If management rolls in at 9:30 am several times a week, don’t be surprised if staff start to view prompt attendance as a moving target and follow suit.

10. Set and reward goals

Rewarding staff for being at work can be seen as a false economy, essentially paying them twice for doing what they are already contracted to do. That doesn’t mean there aren’t ways to incentivize good attendance.

Applying bonuses to teams rather than individuals helps boost morale while maximizing engagement and attendance. Rewards don’t need to be financial in nature. If employees maintain punctual time reports by the end of the week, give them an early finish on Friday. You could even show appreciation through something simple like praise in the company newsletter or being given control of the workplace Spotify for an afternoon.

Identify and address lateness before you have an absenteeism problem

Proper attendance tracking is about more than just reprimanding people for being late. Patterns of poor punctuality are a warning. Addressing them is a health check of your company’s staff engagement and an opportunity to create a happier, more productive working environment.

Use attendance tools like Workforce.com to fully integrate these ideas into your business.

If you find your employee tardiness problem is morphing into a more severe absenteeism problem, it may be time to take additional measures. Watch our webinar on absenteeism below featuring Anne Laguzza, CEO of The Works Consulting. 

Webinar: How to Reduce Absenteeism