Common attendance policies are asked about by a small employer who wants to copy one that works rather than invent one. There are fewer kinds than the templates suggest, and every kind reduces to the same five numbers: what an unexcused absence, a tardy and a no-call score, the threshold that ends employment, and the window the points live in. The kinds differ in how they set those numbers, not in whether they do. This page compares the common ones as numbers so the choice is about arithmetic and not about the name, and the free attendance policy template on this site writes whichever the employer chooses from their own figures, with no account.
The points policy: three weights, one threshold, one window
The most common attendance policy for a crew on shifts scores each event with a weight and ends employment at a threshold. On this site's worked example an unexcused absence is 1 point, a tardy 0.5, a no-call 2, the threshold is 8 and the window is 12 months rolling. Its strength is that any mix of events is scored the same way, so a lead does not have to decide whether two tardies are worse than one absence: the policy already did. Its weakness is the window, which a spreadsheet forgets to apply, so employees are carried at totals that should have aged down. The attendance points calculator on this site works the total with the window applied.
The no-fault policy: the same numbers with the reason removed
A no-fault attendance policy is a points policy that scores an event without asking why it happened, on the argument that the lead should not be judging excuses. It uses the same five numbers; the difference is that the only excused events are the ones the law excuses. That makes it the most consistent of the common policies and the one most likely to score an event it was not allowed to, because nobody asked. A no-fault policy needs the record to hold protected absences at zero with the reason attached even more than a fault-based one does, and the Department of Labor's and the EEOC's pages describe the absences that must be held that way.
The occurrence policy: one weight, a count instead of a threshold
An occurrence policy scores every event as one occurrence and ends employment at a count, which is a points policy with all three weights set to 1. It is simpler to explain and it treats a no-call the same as a tardy, which is why most crews that start with it add weights within a year. Written as numbers it is 1, 1, 1, a threshold of some count and a window, and the policy template on this site will state it that way; the moment the employer wants a no-call to count for more, it is a points policy again. Comparing the two as numbers makes the choice visible before the policy is issued rather than after the first no-call.
The window: rolling, calendar or none, and why it is the number that fails
Every common attendance policy has a window, and the choice between a rolling window (points expire twelve months after the event), a calendar window (all points reset on a date) and no window (points never expire) changes the totals more than the weights do. A calendar reset lets an employee at 7 in December start at 0 in January; a rolling window ages each point out on its own anniversary; no window means the threshold is reached by everyone eventually. Most small employers choose rolling and then fail to apply it by hand, which is the case for keeping the record somewhere that computes it. The Bureau of Labor Statistics table linked below is where national absence rates are published, for an employer who wants to set the threshold against a benchmark rather than a guess.
Questions people ask about common attendance policies
What are the most common attendance policies?
Points policies (each event weighted, a threshold, a window), no-fault policies (points with the reason removed, only legally excused absences excepted), occurrence policies (every event counts one, a count ends employment) and the choice of window across all of them: rolling, calendar reset or none. Each reduces to five numbers.
Which attendance policy is best for a small crew on shifts?
A points policy with a rolling window is the one most crews end up with, because it scores a no-call higher than a tardy and lets old points age out. Its cost is that the window has to be computed on every date, which the free tools on this site do from the policy's own numbers.
Is there a free template for a common attendance policy?
The attendance policy template on this site states any of the common policies from the employer's own five numbers and prints as it stands, with no account. RollCallWorks Pro keeps the events, points and write-ups against each employee under the policy chosen.