Attendance and Punctuality

To maintain a safe and productive work environment, SWVEMS expects employees to be reliable and to be punctual in reporting for scheduled work. The Council's standard office schedule is Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Office personnel will follow this work schedule. If the need arises to alter this schedule, prior arrangements should be made with the employee's immediate supervisor. If the immediate supervisor is unavailable, then arrangements should be made with the Executive Director.

The Council recognizes that Field Coordinators or other non-office personnel may require non-standard work scheduling. Employees must complete and submit to their direct supervisor a weekly itinerary detailing their work schedule. The itinerary must include hours to be worked, scheduled meetings, and contact information for the location of the meeting, and scheduled weekly office hours. The Council must be notified of any scheduling changes immediately. Attendance at scheduled meetings will be periodically verified and monitored. Weekly office hours shall comply with the standard office schedule.

Absenteeism and tardiness place a burden on other employees and on SWVEMS. For the purpose of this policy, unexcused absence is any absence for which prior authorization is not obtained and/or for which an employee has no accrued leave. Tardy is defined as arriving after 9:00 a.m. for any scheduled office work day unless prior approval has been granted by the employee?s supervisor. In the rare instances when employees cannot avoid being late to work or are unable to work as scheduled, they should notify their supervisor as soon as possible in advance of the anticipated tardiness or absence. If paid time off is not available, employees must provide a doctor?s excuse or other documentation requested by their supervisor for consideration to excuse the absence.

Poor attendance and excessive tardiness are disruptive. Either may lead to disciplinary action, up to and including termination of employment.

An employee who is tardy or receives an unexcused absence twice during a single pay period will be given a verbal warning and the supervisor will write a report about the verbal warning that will be forwarded to the Executive Director and placed in a company record.

An employee who is absent or tardy within a 15 day period after the verbal warning or receives four unexcused absences or is tardy four times within any 12-month period will receive a written warning to be placed in the company record.

An employee who is absent or tardy within a 15 day period after the written warning or receives five unexcused absences or is tardy five times within any 12-month period will be suspended without pay for 3 to 5 days. The supervisor will consult with Executive Director to determine the length of the suspension, and whether the employee should be returned to "probationary" status or terminated after the suspension. The Executive Director will be responsible for decisions on all terminations and will consider past performance evaluations, past attendance records, and other disciplinary actions against the employee.

Any employee who is absent or tardy within a 15 day period after suspension, who receives six unexcused absences, or who is tardy six times within any 12-month period will be terminated.

Policy No.  704  Issued  5/1/2007  Applicable  5/1/2007