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Dealing with Tardiness in the Workplace

As a manager, you expect your employees to come into the office on time and put in a full day’s work. If you often find yourself wondering where certain employees are first thing in the morning, only to have them show up well past starting time, it’s important to address the issue.

When people are constantly late to work, it disrupts order in the office. It also causes problems with other employees in the office who do show up on time. It’s important to address a tardiness

Monitor Tardiness in the Workplace

problem as soon as you notice it, to keep it from getting out of hand.

Tips to Deal with Consistently Tardy Workers:

  • Set a Clear Attendance Policy.
    If a number of employees have recently been showing up late to work, set a clear attendance policy to let everyone know the hours you expect them to be in the office. Even if you already have a policy in place, calling a staff meeting to remind workers that you do enforce the policy can be an effective strategy.
  • Confront the Issue.
    Talk to a chronically late employee in private to find out the reason they’re always late for work. Ask the person to come up with a solution for their habitual tardiness. For example, if traffic is to blame for their constant lateness, ask the worker to leave a bit earlier each morning. Confronting the issue lets the person know you’ve noticed them sneaking in late and that the behavior is not acceptable.
  • Be Consistent.
    It’s important to follow the rules stated in your company attendance policy. If you’re supposed to give a worker a verbal warning for being consistently tardy, then do so. Document each time the person comes in late and every warning you give, so you’ll have evidence to use if the problem persists and you’re forced to terminate the employee. When employees know what to expect from you, they’re more likely to take your warnings seriously.
  • Treat Everyone Equally.
    You can’t play favorites when it comes to disciplining workers for coming in late. If you turn a blind eye when a favorite employee is late everyday for a week, but give a verbal warning to someone else who is late three times, the office is going to become tense very quickly. If you’re going to enforce an attendance policy on one worker, you must make everyone abide by it.

Do you have questions on how to set and enforce an attendance policy at your company? Contact PrideStaff North Dallas with any questions. We’re here to help you with all your staffing needs.

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