An attendance point system is the policy a crew on shifts ends up with once a bare count of absences has failed it, because a count treats a no-call no-show the same as a tardy and the crew knows they are not the same. The system is three weights, a threshold and a window: an unexcused absence, a tardy and a no-call each score a number of points, the points live in a rolling window, and employment ends at the threshold. That is the whole thing, and it is arithmetic, which means it can be worked on the page. This page works it on one employee with the worked example this site uses throughout, and the free attendance points calculator does the same for any employee, with no account.
The three weights: what each event scores
On this site's worked example an unexcused absence is 1 point, a tardy is 0.5 and a no-call no-show is 2. The ratio is the policy's judgement about harm: a tardy costs the crew part of a shift, an absence with notice costs the shift but not the chance to cover it, a no-call costs both. An employer setting their own weights should start from that ratio and argue from it; a system where a no-call scores the same as a tardy is an occurrence policy with a longer name. The weights are the first three numbers the free policy template on this site prints, and the calculator applies them to whatever mix of events the lead enters.
The threshold and the window: when points end employment, and when they leave
The threshold on the worked example is 8 points, and the window is 12 months rolling, meaning a point earned on the fourth of March leaves the total on the fourth of the following March. The two numbers together set how many of each event reach the line alone: eight absences, sixteen tardies or four no-calls in any twelve months. An employee attendance point system without a window is one where everyone reaches the threshold eventually; one with a calendar reset lets an employee at 7 in December start at 0 in January. Rolling is what most crews choose and what a spreadsheet forgets to apply, which is why the total on the wall is so often higher than the total the policy allows.
One employee, worked: where they stand today and what crosses the line
Take an employee with two unexcused absences, four tardies and one no-call in the window: 2 plus 2 plus 2 is 6 points, 75% of the threshold used, 2 points of room. One more no-call ends employment; two more tardies do not, but the third does. If the oldest absence was eleven months ago, the total drops to 5 next month without anyone doing anything, and the room grows to 3. That is the whole judgement a lead needs at the start of a shift, and the attendance points calculator on this site shows it from the five numbers and the events, on the page, so the reminder happens at 6 and not the final warning at 8.5.
The events a point system must hold at zero
A points system applied without exceptions will score absences the law says it cannot. Leave protected under the FMLA, absences that are a reasonable accommodation under the ADA and service absences under USERRA are the ones a small crew meets most; the Department of Labor's and the EEOC's pages linked below describe each. The system needs a fourth event type, excused, that scores 0 and keeps its reason, so the total the lead reads is the total the policy is allowed to count and the write-up that follows can show the exception was honoured. The calculator on this site carries excused events at zero for that reason.
Questions people ask about attendance point system
How does an attendance point system work?
Each unexcused absence, tardy and no-call scores a set number of points (on this site's example 1, 0.5 and 2), the points live in a rolling window (12 months on the example) and employment ends at a threshold (8). Any mix of events is scored the same way, and the total on any date is the points not yet aged out.
How many points is a no call no show?
Whatever the employer's policy sets; on this site's worked example it is 2, twice an absence and four times a tardy, because the crew could not cover the shift. The attendance points calculator applies the policy's own weights.
Is there a free attendance points calculator?
Yes. The attendance points calculator on this site takes the five numbers and the employee's events and shows the total in the window, the share of the threshold used, the room left and which event would cross it, with no account. RollCallWorks Pro keeps the events and totals against every employee.