The Company expects all employees to conduct themselves in a professional manner during their employment. This includes practicing good attendance habits. All employees should regard coming to work on time, working their shift as scheduled, and leaving at the scheduled time as essential functions of their jobs, i.e., good attendance habits form an integral part of every employee's job description.

Among other things, "good attendance habits" mean the following:

• appearing for work no sooner than 5 minutes prior to the start of the shift and no later than the start of the shift;
• being at your work station ready for work by the start of the shift;
• remaining at your work station unless the needs of the job require being elsewhere, except during authorized breaks (including restroom breaks);
• taking only the time normally allowed for breaks;
• remaining at work during your entire shift, unless excused by a supervisor;
• not leaving work until the scheduled end of your shift, unless excused by a supervisor;
• leaving promptly at the end of your shift, unless you have been given advance permission from your supervisor to work past that point; and
• calling in and personally notifying your supervisor or another member of management if you are going to be either absent or tardy, unless a verifiable emergency makes it impossible for you to do so (see "Notice of Absence or Tardiness" below for details).

Under some circumstances, absence or tardiness on your part may be excused, but only if you give proper notice of such a problem before the start of your shift. The Company needs advance notice of attendance problems so that other arrangements can be made to cover your absence, if necessary. "Proper notice" means that you call the Company at a designated number for such calls prior to the start of your shift and personally notify your supervisor or another member of management about the problem, unless a verifiable emergency makes it impossible for you to do so. It is not sufficient to call in and leave a message with a coworker or someone else who is not in a supervisory position. Office staff have been instructed to route all such calls to supervisory personnel. All supervisors and managers have been advised to make themselves available to take calls such as these, so there should be no reason to worry that you will not be able to reach an appropriate person to advise of your attendance problem. Similarly, the Company's telephone system has been set up to allow your calls to go through promptly and to not route you to an answering machine. If you fail to give proper notice of attendance problems in advance as explained in this policy, you may be subject to disciplinary action, up to and possibly including discharge.

If you are absent without notice for three days in a row, you will be considered as having abandoned your job, and the Company will process your work separation as a voluntary resignation on your part.

Again, it is not recommended to simply adopt this sample policy for your situation without first seeking the advice of an employment law attorney. There is almost an infinite variety of policies for various kinds of workplaces and different kinds of situations. Moreover, the laws vary widely from state to state in some areas of employee relations. Thus, it is very important to make sure that what you have in your policy handbook not only truly meets your needs, but also complies with your state's law.

Don't know an attorney? Contact ELANet for information on how to find an attorney concerning the design or review of employment policies for your situation:

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Employment Law Advisory Network, Inc.