Employee Attendance Policy

Absenteeism generally refers to a circumstance in which an employee is habitually absent or not present at work during a normally scheduled work hours. The employee’s absences may be either scheduled or unscheduled.

• Scheduled: Absences typically scheduled in advance include vacation, medical appointments, military service, family activities, jury duty, funerals, and other events which cannot be scheduled outside of regular work hours.
• Unscheduled: Absences typically occur as a result of illness, family emergencies, transportation emergencies, family member illness and/or death, and household emergencies such as flooding.

Employers may designate absences are excused, unexcused, or no-fault.

• Excused: An excused absence is one which is scheduled and approved by the employee’s manager in advance of the absence for such events as vacation, medical appointments, military service, jury duty, funerals, and events or activities which are scheduled outside of regular work hours.   Unscheduled absences for illness, family member illness or death, and similar unanticipated circumstances may also be treated as “excused.”  Typically there is no disciplinary consequence for an excused absence, unless the employee is habitually absent.
• Unexcused: An unexcused absence is one that is not approved by an employee’s manager or embraced in the employer’s policies and procedures.  It may be more likely to lead to disciplinary consequences than is an excused absence.
• No-fault: Some companies treat all absences the same as "no-fault." The employer makes no attempt to classify the absence as excused or unexcused. Each employee is allowed a certain number of days off from work (typically paid), at the employee’s discretion (subject to requirements for advance notice and other procedures necessary to allow the employer to staff properly). Progressive discipline is used when the employee exceeds the number of allowed absences.  This is the model typically used in a paid time off program.

Absences are compensated and uncompensated.

• Compensated: Most large employers provide some combination of sick days and vacation for employees.  Some also provide for personal days and leave for jury duty, bereavement, and other circumstances.  When the employer has such a policy, the employee is typically paid his or her regular compensation for the days missed.  Many smaller employers are unable, however, to provide such a full range of leave
• Uncompensated: Absences are generally uncompensated in two sets of circumstances: (1) the employer does not provide paid sick leave or similar paid leave and the employee must take time off from work when ill at his own expense; or (2) the employee is absent for a reason that does not fall into the employer’s policy for employee leave. 

The following is an example of an employer's policy on excessive absenteeism:
"Excessive absenteeism is defined as three (3) or more unexcused absences in any ninety (90) day period.

• First offense - written counseling and warning that continued excessive absenteeism will lead to subsequent disciplinary action.
• Second offense - written counseling session and warning that continued excessive absenteeism will lead to termination.
• Third offense - termination.

FMLA and ADA Protections

 Under the FMLA, employees are allowed up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave because of their own serious illness, the serious illness of a family member, or the birth or adoption of a child.  The employer is obligated to return the employee to his or her former job or one that is substantially similar at the end of the leave.  Leave may be taken intermittently if necessary.
The Americans with Disabilities Act requires employers to make “reasonable accommodation” for disabled employees if the employee is qualified to do the job with the accommodation.  Reasonable accommodation may in some cases mean allowing the employee greater latitude with regard to the employee’s absences.    An employer cannot penalize an employee for taking time away from work if the absence is covered by the FMLA or is a component of reasonable accommodation under the ADA best practices for addressing absenteeism
As to formulating a policy, there is no hard and fast rule regarding how many absences must occur before the absences are considered "excessive." Most employers set policy based upon operating conditions and industry standards. Although regular attendance is a reasonable expectation of all employees, some businesses can more easily accommodate absent employees than others and therefore may be more flexible than others.  Typically, authorized absences that are properly taken under established attendance and leave policies are not regarded as excessive.
Thus, for example, if vacation and sick leave policies provide 20 paid days and your employee has used 19 of these days, this amount of time off should not be considered excessive, even if the absences occurred within a short period of time. However, if a company’s  policy only allows 15 paid days off, then any additional days taken may be excessive, unless they are protected by the FMLA or ADA or comparable state or local law.
Some organizations shy away from rigid rules and prefer more general policies that permit supervisors to make individual determinations about what constitutes excessive absenteeism. For instance, these employers may determine on a case by case basis how the absenteeism affects a particular department and its productivity. While this approach has appeal for its flexibility, the danger is that the decision-making may be highly subjective.  Consequently, if an employee is disciplined or discharged for excessive absenteeism, there is a risk of a wrongful discharge, discrimination, or similar claim.
Of course, any policy approach should be flexible enough to accommodate differences based on job classification or departmental need. For example, you may be willing to allow more time off to exempt management and professional employees because they are given more independence and often work long hours.
A clear and precise policy facilitates discipline when necessary.
Either way, a company should have a clear policy that explains attendance and punctuality expectations and job requirements. There will always, however, be the irresponsible employee whose behavior is a reminder why a clear policy is important.  The best way to manage absenteeism is to focus on the individual problem employee and then follow a progressive discipline program.