Corrective action for attendance is the sequence of steps an employer takes as an employee's points climb, and the reason to write it down is the same as the reason to write the points down: a sequence in a lead's head is applied by mood. Under a points policy every step has a number that triggers it, from the reminder at the first total the policy names, through the written warning and the attendance improvement plan, to the final warning and the threshold. This page states the sequence with its numbers, works each step on one employee using the worked example this site uses throughout, and says what the attendance improvement plan in the middle of it has to contain. The free attendance points calculator on this site shows which step an employee is at, with no account.
The sequence, and the total that triggers each step
On this site's worked example an unexcused absence scores 1 point, a tardy 0.5 and a no-call 2, the threshold is 8 in a rolling twelve months, and the corrective sequence is: a documented reminder at the first event, a written warning at 4 points, an attendance improvement plan at 6, a final warning at 7, and employment ending at 8. The numbers are the employer's to set and the employee attendance policy guide on this site walks through choosing them; what matters is that each step names its total and that the record sends the step when the total is reached, so that a lead who missed the reminder at 4 does not deliver a final warning at 7 as the first conversation.
Each step worked on one employee
An employee has a tardy on the 5th of January (0.5): a documented reminder, a note in the record that the policy was explained. A no-call on the 20th of February (2) and an absence on the 3rd of March (1) take the total to 3.5, still under the warning line. An absence on the 28th of March takes it to 4.5: a written warning, citing the four events, the total and the policy. Two tardies in April take it to 5.5 and an absence in May to 6.5: an attendance improvement plan. A tardy in June makes 7: a final warning. One more absence ends employment at 8. The attendance points calculator on this site shows the total and the step at each event, and the room left before the next.
The attendance improvement plan: what the middle step contains
The improvement plan is the step between the written warning and the final warning, and it is the one most employers write as prose. It should contain the total and the room as of its date, the period it runs for, the target for that period stated as events (no unexcused absences and at most one tardy in the next ninety days, for instance), the support offered (a change to the shift pattern if one is possible, the notice rule stated again), the date of the review, and what the policy says happens if the target is missed. It is signed by both, filed against the employee with the policy version, and reviewed on the date it names. A plan with a target stated as events can be checked against the roll call; a plan that asks for improvement cannot.
The events corrective action must not be built on
A sequence that counts a protected absence will send a step the employer has to withdraw. Leave under the FMLA, absences that are a reasonable accommodation under the ADA and service absences under USERRA are held at zero with their reasons and never trigger a step; the Department of Labor's and the EEOC's pages linked below describe each. The record should show excused events in the window at zero so that the total each step cites is the countable one, and each step's document should carry the reason column so it shows the question was asked before the step was taken.
Questions people ask about corrective action for attendance
What are the steps of corrective action for attendance?
Under a points policy: a documented reminder at the first event, a written warning at a total the policy names, an attendance improvement plan at a higher total, a final warning below the threshold, and employment ending at the threshold. On this site's worked example those totals are the first event, 4, 6, 7 and 8. The employer sets them and writes them down.
What should an attendance improvement plan include?
The total and room as of its date, the period it runs, a target stated as events (not as improvement), the support offered, the review date, what the policy says happens if the target is missed, and signatures. A target stated as events can be checked against the roll call at the review.
Can corrective action skip a step?
A single event can move an employee past more than one line (a no-call at 2 points can take a total from 5.5 to 7.5, past both the improvement-plan and final-warning lines), and the policy should say what happens then: usually the highest step reached is issued and the skipped step is noted. The free points calculator shows which lines an event crosses.