{"id":23531,"date":"2023-04-01T00:00:08","date_gmt":"2023-04-01T00:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/todaysveterinarybusiness.com\/?p=23531"},"modified":"2023-03-30T18:40:13","modified_gmt":"2023-03-30T18:40:13","slug":"attendance-policy-hr-huddle-0423","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/navc.sitepreview.app\/todaysveterinarybusiness.com\/attendance-policy-hr-huddle-0423\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Craft an Attendance Policy"},"content":{"rendered":"

For your veterinary practice to provide excellent client service and patient care, you must adequately staff it, which means team members are in attendance when scheduled to work. Although your practice can\u2019t avoid absences when employee emergencies arise, significant absenteeism costs money, lowers productivity, damages the quality of services, and poses safety issues when not enough people are present.<\/p>\n

A well-defined attendance policy can help by clarifying what you require of employees and giving them flexibility when unexpected situations occur.<\/p>\n

What goes into a solid attendance policy are equitable rules that state when employees should arrive at work and when they can leave, and how they should register their presence. The policy should define terms, as needed, and give examples, such as the difference between excused and unexcused absences.<\/p>\n

In your case, an excused absence might require approval from the practice manager, two days\u2019 notice and sufficient accrued paid time off. An unexcused absence, meanwhile, might involve one or more unfulfilled conditions. Also, list what employees should do when a 48-hour notice isn\u2019t possible, such as with a sudden illness or a car accident on the way to work.<\/p>\n

What stays out of an attendance policy is anything you aren\u2019t willing to enforce equitably. I use \u201cequitably\u201d instead of \u201cequally\u201d because, although impartiality and fairness are vital, not all job situations are alike. For example, you could have different policies for people depending on whether you pay them a salary or hourly<\/a> or if they sometimes work remotely.<\/p>\n

In: Consequences for Absenteeism<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Besides clearly stating the rules and allowing flexibility, your attendance policy should address what happens when someone violates it. Two of the most common consequences involve warnings and points.<\/p>\n

Your policy might describe the warning system as one in which team members receive a series of verbal notices, followed by written notices, as they violate the rules. On the other hand, some practices assess points \u2014 certain numbers for infractions and a one-year limit before other consequences kick in. For example, employees might receive a small number of points for tardiness or leaving work early and more for an unexcused absence or a no-show.<\/p>\n

Consequences can include a pay reduction. If employees accumulate a set number of warnings or points, for instance, you can explain that their earnings will be reduced by $1 an hour in the following pay period the next time a tardy or absence occurs.<\/p>\n

Assessing financial penalties comes with a couple of cautions:<\/p>\n