Your Employee is Absent or Late Again! What Should You Do?

In order to curb absenteeism or lateness, HR practitioners should practice regular communication and motivational sessions for all the employees. These are necessary to avoid absences, lateness, and missing from the workplace.

Here are some situations of absenteeism or lateness:

1. Absence from work for 1 day at a time or habitual late coming, missing from place of work, taking long meal breaks

Step 1 (by Immediate Supervisor)

When absenteeism/lateness occurs for the very first time, talk to the employee and find out the reasons and counsel them on their actions and its impact towards the operations in private. If absenteeism or lateness continues, prepare an incident report to let the Human Resource Department know.

Step 2

Human Resource Department can counsel the employee, monitor and escalate disciplinary proceedings on a progressive basis, as documented in Discipline Policy.
 

2. Absence Of More Than Two Consecutive Working Days But Turns (Shows) Up To Work

Step 1

When the employee returns they should not be allowed to start working. The employee's immediate superior should ask them why they was absent and the immediate superior should submit the incident report form with the employee's explanation.

Step 2

The process will depend the employee's explanation for their absence, as follows:

• If the explanation is reasonable:

  • . The employee may be allowed to resume work, but they could be given a reminder that in future they should either inform their immediate superior, head of department or HR Department.

  • The period of their absence may be treated as unpaid leave or they may be allowed to apply for annual leave.

• If the explanation is unreasonable:

  • A show cause letter will be issued to the employee

  • If the reply is unreasonable and  the employee's previous record, has a history of similar misconducts, they may be dismissed without notice; or

  • If the employee’s reply is unreasonable but has a clean past record, give them some other lesser punishment e.g. warning or suspension from work.

• If the explanation raises a doubt:

  • Give the employee opportunity to produce proof.

  • If the employee is able to produce satisfactory proof, inform them that their explanation is accepted.

  • If the employee cannot furnish satisfactory proof, they may be punished immediately.

3. Absence for an indefinite period of time

If the employee does not report for work for a long period of time i.e. more than two consecutive working days without informing management, then the following steps should be initiated.

Step 1

A letter should be sent to the employee's last known address in the company's records by way of A.R. Registered Post, explaining their conduct and the consequences.

Step 2

If the employee turns up after the AR Registered Post, a show cause letter will be issued to the employee

• If the reply is unreasonable and  the employee's previous record has a history of similar misconducts, they may be dismissed without notice; or

• If their reply is unreasonable but they have a clean past record, give some other lesser punishment e.g. warning or suspension from work.

Step 3

The period of absence would be without wages.
 

Step 4

If they do not respond, the company can assume that they have abandoned their employment without notice and make a claim against them for pay in lieu of notice.

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