Handling employee lateness and absence can put an employer in a difficult place. Knowing the best way to manage and resolve the issue is essential to avoid it progressing to drastic measures. Have a look at our thoughts below.
Make sure that the company’s policy is clear
It might be worth going over the rules of the company again when it comes to lateness and absence leave. To avoid singling people out straight away, calling a full team meeting or mentioning it in a briefing might solve the problem straight away. Most companies will give a ten minute lee-way to allow for traffic and other uncontrollable occurrences.
Have a one-to-one meeting
If lateness and absence is still a problem, call the employee into a one-to-one meeting. Remind them how important it is to arrive on time and that a large amount of (unexplained) sick leave is not acceptable. Explain any disciplinary rules that may be implemented should the problem continue to occur.
Consider reasons and be fair
In order to be a good employer and uphold respectable, indiscriminative company values you should consider reasons for lateness or absence and listen to your employee. Certain factors may affect their time management and so these should be assessed in order to find a possible way to accommodate change:
- Medical conditions: does your employee have any condition that would need regular doctor’s/hospital appointments or time away from the office environment? Certain health risks or mental illness might affect your employee. Seek medical documental if this is the case.
- Home or personal issues: is there something going on at home which is affecting your employee’s performance and punctuality? is there anything they need to do that can only be done during business hours? This could apply to relationship complications, childcare arrangements, or caring for elderly relatives.
- Grievances: is your employee aware of your company’s grievances policy? Make sure you reiterate the need to notify a manager and the allowance for time away from the office in such circumstances.
Explain the impact on other staff and the business
If none of the above reasons are relevant it is worth explaining to your employee that tardiness can affect their co-workers. Arriving on time and pulling your weight in the business makes for a happier team; show them how it is unfair on others if people choose not to follow this.
Follow through a disciplinary procedure
Although it is not nice to resort to formal warnings and letters, if the problem escalates it may be the only solution. Avoid haphazardly dismissing an employee unless the condition is impacting your business directly and on a regular basis.
Consider a rewards system
So as to think of all of your employees, creating a system whereby you reward those that are consistently on time and thoroughly productive throughout the day, may be a good option. This will give an incentive for punctuality.
If you need any further guidance, please don’t hesitate to contact Stella Yeoman. As an Employment Solicitor with years of experiencing dealing with various work issues, she will be happy to talk through any problems and offer advice.
There are two types of stress: the good type, which makes you excited and motivated to work, and the bad type; the one that makes you worry and uncomfortable. Unfortunately, for many workers, it’s the latter that they find themselves suffering with on a day to day basis.
So here we’re going to look at a few ways that you can deal with your stress at work and keep calm.
Keep it clean – If you sit at your desk surrounded by bits of paper, crisp packets, empty bottles, and other bits of rubbish, it’s going to make you feel stressed.
The first move towards reducing that stress should be to clear out your desk. Get rid of anything you don’t use and organise those all-important files so that they’re to hand, but not piling up around you. It’s important that you’re comfortable at work if you want to keep stress to a minimum, and no one is comfortable when surrounded by mess.
Diet – The food we eat drastically affects our moods, so if you’re finding yourself stressed at work, it could be down to your diet.
Office dwellers tend to starve throughout the morning and then when dinner time comes around, fill up on carbs. This means we’re pretty productive afterdinner, but at any other time we’re a little… lacklustre.
To avoid this, try snacking throughout the day. We’re not talking junk food, but fruit. This should keep your body well fuelled so that you can remain productive.
Communicate – Feeling overwhelmed at work does nothing for your stress levels. That’s why it’s important that you communicate your issues with the team and your employers. They may be able to re-distribute the workload or resolve another issue you have making working life much more enjoyable.
Exercise – Wherever you read something on keeping the body and the mind happy, you’ll hear the word exercise. It’s the best stress-buster, so whenever you get the opportunity, hit the gym or go on a run.
It can be quite hard to make room for exercise in your day to day routine, but it’s important that you do.
Try heading out on a walk at lunch. Stop getting the tram to work and buy a bike. Get up earlier and head out for a run. You can fit it in. You’ll just have to make a few adjustments.
Take a break – Many workers find it difficult to take time away from work. There workload hasn’t eased up in months, the boss is pressuring them to meet those targets; at what opportunity do we have to take a break?
Well you must. Time away from the office is your chance to recharge your batteries, take stock, and then when you return, go back at your job with everything you’ve got.