How to Manage Problem Employees

choose), the employee is terminated. There must be two exceptions to this system. First, the Family Medical Leave Act requires covered companies to give up to 12 weeks unpaid leave time for certain mostly medical-related issues. Second, there needs to be a provision for a catastrophic illness or injury. This system isn’t intended to punish an employee who is in a coma for three months. This system punishes the employee who has a different excuse every week.

to 30 minutes late = ½ of a point
31 to 45 minutes late = ¾ of a point
46 minutes up to 1 hour late = 1 full point
One full day absent (8 hours) = 8 points
If you require that employees give you advance notice when calling out sick, you can also work this into the system. If you require a one-hour advance notice, an employee who calls out sick but gives you one-hour notice might receive 8 points. If he gives less than an hour notice, he receives 10 points. If he calls in after his scheduled start time, he receives 12 points. If he doesn’t call in at all, he receives 16 points. It is also common for companies to assign double the normal points for missing critical days such as those before or after holidays. The roll-off mechanism for this is monthly. For each 30 days of perfect attendance, 8 points are subtracted. At 50 points (or whatever cutoff level you

demerits to students. Some companies call them occurrences. A basic system works like this:
One tardy = ½ point
One absence = 1 point
One absence without calling in = 2 points
At 6 points, the employee is terminated. One year after the date of the occurrence, the point or fraction of a point assigned for that occurrence drops off his record. Under this system, the employee can’t accumulate more than 6 points within any 12-month period. The 6-point cap is only an example, and can be adjusted up or down based on what you think is reasonable. The number is not important; the concept is. You are setting a clear limit on how much tardiness and absenteeism you will tolerate.
A more sophisticated system prorates the points by how tardy the employee is:
Up to 15 minutes late = ¼ of a point