A no call no show policy is the part of the attendance policy that gets tested first, because a no-call is the event a crew notices: the shift starts and the person is neither there nor on the phone. Most small employers have a rule about it in their heads and nothing on paper, and the rule in their heads changes with the person. Writing it down means writing numbers: how many points a no-call scores, how the threshold turns that into a count of no-calls that ends employment, how long the points last, and what counts as calling. This page says what those numbers are and how to state them, and the free attendance policy template on this site writes the policy from the employer's own figures, with no account.
The points a no-call scores, and the count it implies
A no-call no-show is scored higher than an absence because the crew had no chance to cover the shift. On this site's worked example a no-call is 2 points against a threshold of 8, an unexcused absence is 1 and a tardy is 0.5, in a 12-month rolling window. The count of no-calls that ends employment follows from the arithmetic rather than being a separate rule: at 2 points each, four no-calls with nothing else in the window reach 8, and three no-calls plus two absences do the same. Writing the policy as points rather than as a bare count of no-calls means the employee who alternates absences and no-calls is scored the same way as the one who does either alone, and the attendance points calculator on this site shows the total either way.
Consecutive no-calls and job abandonment: a separate line, stated plainly
Most policies also state that a run of consecutive no-calls, commonly three, is treated as the employee having resigned. That is a distinct rule from the points, and it should be written as one line with its own number, because it is the line a dispute turns on. The policy template on this site states it as a count the employer chooses. What the line does not do is remove the need to check the reason: a run of no-calls that turns out to be a hospital stay is not abandonment, and the exceptions below still apply. The points and the abandonment count are both in the policy so that neither is applied from memory.
What counts as calling, and how far ahead
A no-call is defined by the notice rule, so the policy has to state it: who is called, on what number, how long before the shift, and whether a text or a message to a co-worker counts. A policy that says notify your supervisor is a policy every employee will read differently. The template on this site takes the notice window as a number of minutes or hours before the shift and the channel as a named line, and the roll call records whether the notice arrived within it. An employee who called an hour late is a tardy or an absence under the policy's other numbers, not a no-call, and the record should show which.
The no-calls that score nothing
Some no-calls cannot be scored, whatever the policy says: an employee who could not call because of an emergency covered by protected leave under the FMLA, an absence that is a reasonable accommodation under the ADA, or a service obligation under USERRA. The Department of Labor's and the EEOC's pages linked below describe each. The policy should say that an event later shown to be protected is re-scored to zero with the reason recorded, and the record should be able to hold it that way, so the write-up that follows the next unexcused no-call can show the exception was honoured.
Questions people ask about no call no show policy
How many no call no shows before termination?
The policy's own arithmetic decides: on this site's worked example a no-call is 2 points against a threshold of 8, so four no-calls alone reach it, or fewer with absences and tardies alongside. Most policies add a separate line treating a run of consecutive no-calls, commonly three, as job abandonment. Both numbers are the employer's to set and to write down.
What is the difference between a no-call no-show and an absence?
The notice. An absence with notice inside the policy's window scores as an absence; a missed shift with no notice inside the window is a no-call no-show and scores higher, because the crew could not cover it. The policy has to state the window and the channel for the distinction to hold.
Is there a free no call no show policy template?
The attendance policy template on this site states the no-call points, the threshold, the window, the notice rule and the abandonment count from the employer's own figures, prints as it stands and needs no account. RollCallWorks Pro keeps the events and write-ups against each employee under that policy.