Attendance Policy (PDF) - City of Bellingham

Policy -
City of Bellingham
Policy
Title:
ATTENDANCE AND TARDINESS
Code:
Chapter:
Level of Policy: Departmental
Date Issued: November 1, 2012
Date Developed: August 1, 2012
Developed by: Lorna Klemanski, Human Resources Director
Approved by: Kelli Linville, Mayor
Purpose
The purpose of this policy is to assure reasonable, fair and consistent treatment of all
employees. Employee attendance is critical to the City’s operation. The City of Bellingham
understands that employees will be ill from time to time and that an employee may need to be
absent on occasion. Absence and tardiness, however, disrupts the work schedule and puts an
unfair burden on the City, citizens and co-workers. The City will not accept excessive tardiness
or excessive absenteeism.
Scope
Applies to all City of Bellingham employees.
Definitions
Absence Occurrence - An absence occurs when an employee is gone from work for any reason
other than scheduled vacation, scheduled medical, dental or vision appointments for the
employee or the employee's minor dependent, scheduled compensating time off, bereavement
leave, jury duty, military leave, paid holiday and qualified leave protected by state or federal
statute such as Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments
Act (ADAAA), Washington Family Care Act or Workers’ Compensation leaves.
An occurrence of absenteeism is any day or consecutive group of days during which the
employee is absent from work. For example, an employee who takes three consecutive days of
sick leave has had one occurrence of absence. Should an employee return to work following a
sick leave absence, then resume sick leave for the same condition within 5 calendar days, the
entire time off will count as one occurrence.
Patterned Absenteeism - Patterned absenteeism is the repeated configuration of absences that
follows an identifiable pattern. Some patterned absence examples include, but are not limited
to, days preceding or following other days off such as holidays, weekends or scheduled
vacation, calling in sick or leaving early frequently or on particular days such as debit days,
using sick leave as soon as it is accrued and leaving a continually depleted sick leave bank.
Sick Leave Approved Uses - See your bargaining unit contract, E-Team handbook or City
policy, as appropriate for approved reasons to use sick leave.
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Tardiness - Tardiness includes arriving at work after the scheduled start time, leaving before the
scheduled shift ends or overstaying meal or rest periods. Two tardiness occurrences equal one
additional absence occurrence.
Rolling 12-month Evaluation Period - A twelve-month period of time immediately preceding the
most recent tardiness or absence occurrence.
Vacation or Compensatory Time in Lieu of Sick Leave - When earned vacation or compensatory
time is substituted for sick leave per policy or bargaining unit agreement, the time away from
work will be considered an absence occurrence unless the vacation or compensatory time
usage was pre-approved and scheduled by the supervisor or department manager.
Policy/Conditions
Departments comply with standards of attendance and tardiness policy.
Standards for Determining Excessive Absenteeism
The City recognizes that different departments and workgroups have different requirements for
operational and customer service needs.
In general, unless a department establishes a different standard, the City of Bellingham
standards and disciplinary processes shall apply. Absence occurrences during the previous
12-month period will result in the following actions:
4 th Occurrence of Absence Documented Verbal Warning
5 th Occurrence of Absence Written Warning
6 th Occurrence of Absence 1-Day Unpaid Suspension
7 th Occurrence of Absence One Week Unpaid Suspension
8 th Occurrence of Absence Termination of Employment
Patterned or Habitual Absenteeism/Tardiness
Although occurrences will roll off an employee’s record after twelve months, those who have
established an ongoing pattern of absences, such as consistently having six or more
occurrences in any given twelve-month period or routinely calling off on Mondays and/or Fridays
(or other patterns as shown above) may trigger step discipline, even though twelve month old
infractions have fallen off, if the employee continues to incur occurrences.
Employees are expected to schedule appointments outside of work time when possible.
Consistently utilizing sick leave for scheduled medical, dental and vision appointments when it is
possible to schedule them outside of work time will be considered patterned absenteeism.
Absence Records Review
Supervisors are responsible for maintaining and reviewing absence records of their employees.
If an employee has an attendance problem (excessive tardiness, absences or a combination of
both it will be addressed with the employee as soon as it is noted. No formal corrective action
will occur without prior counseling of the employee. Absence records may be used for any
performance evaluations and advancement considerations. Absence records will be based on
absence occurrences. The reason for each absence occurrence will be recorded in order to
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ensure the protected status of qualifying leaves.
Medical Certification
Employees with a single absence occurrence of more than 5 days (or equivalent number for
employees on alternative shifts) will be required to provide their Department Head with a
doctor’s statement supporting the necessity for the absence. Absences in excess of 5 days may
be FMLA qualifying (see PER 07.01.07). These occurrences must be evaluated by Human
Resources and, if found to be FMLA qualified, processed in accordance with the policy. FMLA
qualifying absences are to be recorded as such on absence records and will not be counted as
an occurrence of absenteeism.
When an employee has accrued 4 absenteeism occurrences, the City may require the
employee to provide a doctor's statement supporting the necessity for each additional
occurrence of absence, regardless of the length of the absence.
Procedure
Reporting Procedures
Employees must report absences in advance following their work group's established
procedure. If there is no work group procedure, employees must call their supervisor or
manager at least 15 minutes before the scheduled start time unless an emergency has occurred
or previous absence notice was given. The employee must provide information regarding the
reason for the absence, specifying whether the employee is ill or the employee is caring for a
dependent child or other family member. If the absence is due to illness, employee must
provide an estimated return-to-work date and a phone number where the employee can be
reached for follow-up. Should the supervisor or manager be unavailable to take the call, the
employee must leave a voice mail message providing the same information.
Should an employee be incapacitated to such an extent as to be unable to call in personally,
he/she is responsible to have someone else report the absence.
Failure to notify the supervisor when the employee is not able to be at work is a serious offense
due to the disruption to work schedules and the burden it places on fellow workers. The
disciplinary process may be accelerated for no-call absence occurrences and may result in
immediate termination of employment.
Any single no-call absence occurrence lasting three consecutive days will be considered
voluntary job abandonment. In this circumstance, the City will presume the employee has
voluntarily resigned and end the employment relationship.
Legal Compliance
At no time will this policy serve to over-ride any greater legal protections under the applicable
federal or state statutes such as ADAAA, FMLA or the Washington Family Care Act. Any
questions regarding either the ADAAA or the FMLA should be referred to Human Resources.
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Employees Exempt from Overtime
Employees holding positions that are legally exempt from the overtime provisions of the Fair
Labor Standards Act (FLSA) are paid for the body of work they accomplish, rather than hours
worked. This exemption may alter the application of this policy.
Administration of this Policy
The City reserves the right to exercise its discretion in applying this policy under special or
unique circumstances and to accelerate the corrective action schedule or repeat steps, as
appropriate to the situation, to appropriately apply the principles of progressive discipline.
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