In FAQs

This is the area in which a supervisor has the most day-to-day involvement.The key to avoiding problems is to set clear expectations and to address infractions firmly and fairly. For example you can let the employee know that you expect them to request approval for any leave at least 48 hours in advance, and that anything outside of that time frame would be considered an unscheduled absence. You can set an expectation that each employee can have no more than two unscheduled absences in a three month time period.It would then be up to the the supervisor to monitor and reinforce the expectations. You shouldRead More →

In 9. Tardiness & Absenteeism

– PLACE ON YOUR DEPARTMENTAL LETTERHEAD – DATE Employee Address Dear Ms. Employee: Please take notice that you are issued a letter that equates to a two-day suspension. Although you will not miss work or have your pay docked, this non-punitive disciplinary action carries the weight, in terms of progressive discipline, as if you had actually been suspended without pay for two working days. The grounds upon which this disciplinary action is being taken are in accordance with Section 4 of Civil Service Commission Rule XIII as follows: A: Absence without Leave. Absence without leave shall mean any time an employee is absent from theRead More →

In 9. Tardiness & Absenteeism

– PLACE ON YOUR DEPARTMENTAL LETTERHEAD – DATE Name Classification Department (Hand delivered) Dear Mr. NAME: Please take notice that it is the intent of this office to issue you a non-punitive disciplinary letter that equates to a 3-day suspension. Although you will not miss work or have your pay docked, this non-punitive disciplinary action carries the weight, in terms of progressive discipline, as if you had actually been suspended without pay for three working days. The grounds upon which this disciplinary action is being proposed are in accordance with Section 4 of Civil Service Commission Rule XIII as follows: A. Absence without Leave. AbsenceRead More →

In 9. Tardiness & Absenteeism

– PLACE ON YOUR DEPARTMENTAL LETTERHEAD – Date: To: Employee, Classification From: Supervisor, Title Subject: Letter of Reprimand This is an official Letter of Reprimand for your excessive absenteeism. On (date) you were issued a warning letter that outlined my concerns regarding your excessive use of sick leave and placed you on leave restriction. That letter had followed a verbal counseling session that did not result in your improving your attendance. You were advised that minimal improvement would be considered no more than two unscheduled absences over the next three months and for each three-month period thereafter. Within two weeks after receiving this memo, onRead More →

In 9. Tardiness & Absenteeism

– PLACE ON YOUR DEPARTMENTAL LETTERHEAD – DATE: Today’s Date TO: Employee, Classification FROM: Supervisor, Title SUBJECT: Letter of Warning and Leave Restriction This is a letter of warning regarding your excessive absenteeism. You currently have no sick leave and only 8 hours of vacation in your leave balance. So far this year, you have used 56 hours of sick leave and 24 hours of vacation for unscheduled absences due to illness. You have also used 28 hours of leave without pay for unscheduled absences after exhausting your sick leave. During the first 7 months of this year, you have been absent 12 full daysRead More →

In 9. Tardiness & Absenteeism

DATE: Today’s Date TO: Name, Office Assistant II FROM: Name, Supervisor SUBJECT: Tardiness EMPLOYEE NAME, on (dates) you were tardy in your arrival to work. On those dates, I counseled you regarding the need to be at your desk ready to begin work at 8:00. Since then, you have been tardy on DATE and on DATE. Your late arrival adversely impacts our ability to serve our clients and can no longer be tolerated. It is your responsibility to arrive to work on time. My expectation is that you have no tardies in excess of 15 minutes, and no more than two tardies of 15 minutesRead More →

In 9. Tardiness & Absenteeism

As stated in the MOUs, approval to use accrued vacation, holiday, and compensatory time hours is and has always been at management’s discretion. Historically, some departments, in some circumstances, have allowed the usage of vacation, holiday or compensatory time rather than sick leave to cover unplanned medical absences, while other departments have not. Effective April 22, 2007, departments which had been allowing the usage of other accrued leave in lieu of sick leave for unplanned medical absences will no longer continue that practice in work weeks where an employee works overtime.Read More →

In 9. Tardiness & Absenteeism

AFSCME, Confidential, PDA, SEIU, SMCCE: Employees who use paid sick leave and work extra hours in the same work week code the corresponding extra hours as “overtime at straight time”, pay code 069. For example: Under the previous contracts, a Monday-Friday employee could code eight (8) hours of sick leave on Tuesday, work ten (10) hours on Saturday, and be paid at the rate of time-and-a-half (code 066 or 051) for the full ten (10) Saturday hours he/she worked. The eight (8) hours of paid sick leave taken on Tuesday is not considered to be “time worked”. The employee in this example would still codeRead More →

In 9. Tardiness & Absenteeism

In all contracts bargained between employee organizations and the County of San Mateo in years 2005-2007, it was agreed that paid sick leave would no longer considered to be “time worked” when determining whether an employee had put in a full 40 hours during a work week and is thus eligible for overtime pay rates when working beyond 40 hours.Read More →

In 9. Tardiness & Absenteeism

Although there is no magic number of absences that equate to excessive absenteeism, there are a number of factors to consider which can lead to a determination that absenteeism is excessive. The factors listed below should be reviewed and considered as indicators of possible excessive absenteeism. If one or more of the factors indicate a possible problem, the employee should be interviewed to determine whether there are acceptable reasons for the absenteeism. Contact Employee & Labor Relations for advice in interpreting the factors and in reviewing any reasons cited by the employee. Sick Leave Usage in the Current Year. If an employee has used 80%Read More →

In 9. Tardiness & Absenteeism

Generally, an employee is not required to provide a release to return to work after illnesses. Some examples of when a release should be required are: If an employee has had a contagious illness. If an employee has had a physical injury that might limit their ability to perform physical aspects of their job. Prior to return from a Medical Leave of Absence. In these cases, the requirement to provide a release is stated on the leave form.Read More →

In 9. Tardiness & Absenteeism

Some departments have a written or unwritten policy that any absence in excess of three working days must be accompanied by a physician’s statement. The MOUs and the Ordinance Code provide management the right to require a physician’s statement or make whatever other investigation into the circumstances of a request for sick leave that appears warranted before taking action on the request. Under this provision, a supervisor may require an employee to submit a physician’s note upon return to work if the supervisor feels there are circumstances that warrant such a statement. In order to require the employee to provide a physician’s statement in thisRead More →

In 9. Tardiness & Absenteeism

The County Ordinance Code and the various MOUs provide that sick leave may be used for the employee’s preparation for or attendance at the funeral of a member of the immediate family. Immediate family is defined as parent, spouse, domestic partner, son, daughter, sibling, stepchild, mother-in-law, father-in-law, grandparent, or grandchild. Even though sick leave may not be used for attending the funeral of individuals who do not meet the definition above, use of accrued vacation, compensatory time or holiday time is appropriate. Managers and supervisors are strongly urged to make every effort to allow employees to be excused from work for attending funerals of friendsRead More →

In 9. Tardiness & Absenteeism

No. Sick leave is used for very specific purposes as outlined in the various MOUs and in the Ordinance Code. An employee whose sick leave usage is unacceptable should be referred to EAP through a direct management referral and should be issued a leave restriction letter, requiring a doctor’s note for any period of illness. Remember, you are not a doctor, so you cannot determine if the doctor’s reasons are correct, but you should look carefully at the note to ensure the dates of illness correspond with the dates of leave. Also, when an employee calls in to advise you they are sick, you canRead More →

In 9. Tardiness & Absenteeism

No. Vacation leave is requested in advance and approved or denied by the supervisor or manager based on such factors as workload and office coverage. The important thing is to be consistent with all employees, use the same considerations when making decisions on requests, and base all decisions on work related issues. However, please be aware that the Family School Partnership Act allows an employee who is a parent, guardian or custodial grandparent with children in a licensed day care facility or in Kindergarten through 12th grade to take up to 40 hours a year to participate in day care or school activities. The employeeRead More →

In 9. Tardiness & Absenteeism

No. For occasional instances of tardiness, it is appropriate to allow employees to charge the tardy to vacation rather than charging AWOL or Leave without Pay. However, once a pattern of tardiness emerges, you should counsel the employee and advise him/her that future tardies will be charged to LWOP (if the employee calls in) or AWOL as appropriate, and that such a charge may lead to further corrective or disciplinary action. Please see Sample Counseling Memo for Tardiness. Once the employee has been placed on notice, it is appropriate to charge tardies to LWOP or AWOL, unless there are extenuating circumstances.Read More →

In 9. Tardiness & Absenteeism

Leave without pay (LWOP) is considered approved leave. If an employee requests time off and the request is approved, but the employee does not have accrued leave to cover the approved absence, leave without pay is appropriate. As a general rule, employees who wish to take more time off than they have in their vacation/holiday/compensatory time balances should not be approved for LWOP. Absence without Leave (AWOL) is an absence that is not approved. AWOL is a violation of Civil Service Commission Rule XIII and is cause for disciplinary action.Read More →

In 9. Tardiness & Absenteeism

Tardiness – Everyone will arrive late to work on occasion due to unexpected traffic problems or unavoidable occurrences prior to leaving home. Tardiness becomes a problem to be dealt with when it becomes too frequent, when the arrival time is too far beyond the start time, or when a pattern forms. A supervisor must exercise judgment within general guidelines in determining when tardiness becomes a problem to be addressed. Some general guidelines are: Late more than twice a month for any reason. If, for example, an employee is 5-10 minutes late once or twice a week due to traffic problems, he/she should consider traffic delaysRead More →

In 9. Tardiness & Absenteeism

Corrective Action Steps As in all corrective action, supervisors/managers must consider all pertinent facts and potential mitigating circumstances before taking action. Some factors to be considered are the employee’s past attendance record, the nature of the position, the impact of tardiness on customers and coworkers, the frequency of tardiness, and any actions previously taken in an attempt to correct the tardiness. Generally, tardiness should be dealt with as follows: The first instance of tardiness should normally be dealt with through oral counseling. Infrequent tardiness which does not have an adverse impact on customers or coworkers should also be dealt with through oral counseling. In theseRead More →

In 9. Tardiness & Absenteeism

Scenario I – George is a Fiscal Office Assistant II who works from 8:00  5:00 with a one hour lunch. George drives his children to childcare in the morning and is 510 minutes late about twice a month. George’s tardiness does not have an adverse impact of service delivery or on his ability to complete his workload. Recommended Action – There are two alternatives which should work in George’s case. As long as the instances of tardiness remain infrequent, you could allow George to make up the 510 minutes by extending his workday by the length of the tardiness on those days he is late. Alternatively, if office coverage permits,Read More →