Update to Medical Center Policy HR704 - Attendance

The policy change is the result of an extensive review which included input from the Medical Center HR Policy Committee, Human Resources, Inpatient Nursing Directors, Service Line Administrators and Clinical Operational Services Administrators. The review was initiated in order to address the needs of operational units, to allow for flexibility as needed, and to ensure patient care needs are met.

In the past, tardies and absence occurrences were counted on a calendar year basis, which resulted in a re-setting of the number each January 1 for anyone who had fewer than 6 absences or tardies. Beginning in 2020, the calendar year will no longer be considered and there will be no re-setting each year.

For example, if you had three occurrences at the end of one year, in the past they would have been re-set to 0 on January 1, no matter when the occurrences happened. In the future, absences and tardies will be counted from the date they occurred rather than from January 1. If you have 3 occurrences at the end of the year they will continue to carry over to the new year and will be counted from the date of the earliest occurrence.  

A team member with six tardies is subject to attendance counseling. Effective February 9, 2020 the number of tardies or occurrences will be reduced by one, so an individual with six tardies will move to five. Thus, they will remain in the same counseling step as they were previously.  

Yes, a team member who goes for 180 days without any recorded occurrence or tardy will have the earliest occurrence/tardy removed.

You may want to review your department’s Attendance Addendum to ensure that it is in line with departmental needs and is being consistently followed. A new Addendum template is available. Managers can modify their addendum at any time, with approval by their Administrator or designee. 

One of the key conclusions drawn during the policy review was that managers are not always following the attendance policy consistently. Managing attendance means paying attention to absences and tardies before they become a significant problem, as well as recording excused absences in a timely manner.   

With the decrease in steps, we encourage you to review Kronos records regularly, and have conversations about attendance before a team member reaches the step 5 threshold for informal counseling.

There may be some team members who are disappointed that they are close to the 90 day limit just as the policy changes. If a team member reaches the 90-day mark right before or on the policy change they will fall under the 90-day schedule; however, after that the 180-day schedule will be followed. If you have questions, please discuss with your HR Business Partner.   

Changes about the policy in general should be discussed with either your manager or your HR Business Partner. Question about specific team members who are approaching or in counseling status should be addressed to Employee Relations. If you have questions about how absences or tardies are reflected in Kronos, please contact the Kronos team.