Regular and prompt attendance on the job is an essential part of every employee’s job. The evaluation of job performance includes a consideration of the employee’s attendance record.
Absenteeism and tardiness are costly. It disrupts production schedules, creates additional work for your fellow coworkers, increases the company’s costs, and negatively impacts morale.
We recognize that a reasonable amount of absence is beyond the control of employees. However, we believe that when absenteeism goes beyond an acceptable level, disciplinary action is justified. The purpose of this policy is to ensure consistent treatment of all employees and to clarify for each employee the expectations with respect to acceptable levels of attendance.
Definitions:
Absence – An employee fails to report to work on a scheduled workday.
Tardy – An employee reports to work after the scheduled shift start time.
Early-Leave – An employee leaves the workplace before the scheduled end of the shift.
Point – System by which the Company will monitor absences, tardiness, and early leaves.
General Attendance Rules
Employees are expected to:
• Report to work and remain on duty as scheduled.
• Notify their store operator and immediate supervisor no later than 9 a.m., or one hour prior to the start of their scheduled shift (whichever is earlier in the day) when prevented from reporting to work as scheduled and advise the expected date of their return to work or arrival time.
• An absent or tardy employee must personally speak to a supervisor on the telephone. Voice-mail or e-mail messages are not acceptable except in extreme emergencies and the employee must leave a phone number where a supervisor can call them back that day. Text messaging and social network messaging are not permitted as acceptable ways to notify your supervisor of an absence. You must be available when called except in extreme emergencies. Employees must call in each additional day of absence unless other arrangements are approved by a supervisor. These other arrangements will be recorded on the attendance report form submitted to the Human Resource Department. Failure to call in each additional day will result in the accumulation of an additional point per occurrence. Failure to call in for three consecutive scheduled workdays will be considered a voluntary resignation.
• In cases of suspected abuse or to determine any potential work-related restrictions, Riesbeck Food Markets, Inc., may require a doctor’s certificate to substantiate a claim of illness or injury and/or prior to return to work.
• Certification also may be required under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and our leave of absence policies.
Occurrences and Points
For each employee, the company will maintain a record of each absence, tardy, and/or early leave. Employees will be charged with a point(s) for each absence, tardy, or early leave as follows:
Occurrence Points Received
Absence: 1 point, 1 extra point for each day thereafter
Absence without notification: 2 points
Absence with doctor’s note: ½ point per occurrence
Tardy, more than 10 minutes: ½ point
Early leave, more than 10 minutes: ½ point
Three absences without notification: 8 points
Excused Absences
No points shall be added to an employee’s record if the absence is due to any of the following reasons:
*FMLA
*Authorized Personal Leave
*Authorized Paid Time Off (Vacation and Bonus Days)
*Jury Duty
*Worker’s Compensation Leave
*Leave Given as a Reasonable Accommodation to a Bona Fide Disability
Accumulation of Points
The sum of all points due to absenteeism, tardiness, and leaving work early during the previous 12 rolling months shall be considered in determining whether disciplinary action is appropriate. Under this policy, accumulation of points shall start as of the day of employment or effective date of policy (January 1, 2004).
Disciplinary Actions
The following accumulations will result in the following disciplinary action:
5 points = Verbal Warning
6 points = First Written Warning
7 points = Final Written Warning
8 points = Termination of employment
Three or more points during an orientation period will result in failure to complete orientation. Employees who are excessively tardy less than 10 minutes may be subject to discipline.