Employee attendance policy
- Points that end employment, in the window
- 8
- Unexcused absences alone that reach it
- 8
- Tardies alone that reach it
- 16
Every figure on this page is computed from the policy figures you enter, by the method stated below it. RollCallWorks publishes no norm for points, thresholds or windows and asserts no legal rule: the defaults are a worked example to replace with your own policy.
An employee attendance policy is the document a small employer running shifts writes once and cites every time a write-up is issued, and the one most crews have only in the lead's head. Written down it is five numbers and three definitions: what an unexcused absence, a tardy and a no-call score, the threshold that ends employment, the window the points live in, and the notice rule, grace and cut-off that decide which event a missed or late shift is. This guide walks through choosing each of those for your own crew, where the reminder and warning lines go beneath the threshold, and which absences the law holds at zero whatever the policy says. The free attendance policy template on this site then prints the policy from the figures you choose, with no account.
Try the free attendance policy Free to use. No account, no card, no trial clock.
Choose the weights from the harm each event does the crew
A no-call costs the shift and the chance to cover it, an absence with notice costs only the shift, a tardy costs part of one. The worked example scores them 2, 1 and 0.5; set your own from that ratio and keep the numbers small enough for a lead to add in their head at the start of a shift.
Set the threshold and the window, and read the counts they imply
Ask how many no-calls in a year the crew can carry from one person, set the threshold from that, and check what it implies for absences and tardies under the weights. Choose a rolling window so points age out on their own anniversary, and set the reminder and warning lines beneath the threshold so the first conversation is not the final one.
Define the events, name the exceptions, and keep the record under the policy
State the notice rule, the grace and the cut-off as numbers so a lead never decides which event a late arrival was. Name the absences the law protects and hold them at zero with their reasons. Then keep every shift's roll call, the points and the write-ups against the employee under the policy version in force, which is what RollCallWorks Pro does for a crew.
Employee attendance policy: common questions
What should an employee attendance policy include?
The points an unexcused absence, a tardy and a no-call score; the threshold and the window; the reminder and warning lines beneath the threshold; the notice rule, the grace and the cut-off; the exceptions held at zero; a version date and an acknowledgement line. Stated as numbers, on one or two pages.
How strict should a small employer's attendance policy be?
As strict as the count of each event the crew can carry from one person in a year, which is the question the threshold answers. The worked example's threshold of 8 means four no-calls or eight absences in twelve months; a crew of six may want fewer, a crew of forty may carry more. The template prints the counts the numbers imply.
Where do I get the policy as a document?
The free attendance policy template on this site prints the policy from your figures with no account. The free points calculator and tracker template score against it, and RollCallWorks Pro keeps employees, shifts, points and write-ups under it at a flat price for the crew.
RollCallWorks Pro
Keeping what you make
The policy and the arithmetic are free forever. Pro turns them into the record: every employee with their points in the window, every shift's roll call, every write-up filed against the person with the policy it cited, your business name on it, and a clean export when the question comes.
- Download as PDF
- No RollCallWorks watermark
- Save every employee's points and reopen them later
- Your business name and logo on it
- Export the whole roll call in one go
- Points-threshold and write-up reminders emailed to your leads
- Connect your own Stripe account and get paid online
- Connect your QuickBooks Online or Xero
$7per month, whole crew
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Will it do what you need for Employee attendance policy?
Tell us what your crew needs and we will tell you straight whether RollCallWorks Pro does it today, whether it is coming, or whether you are better off with something else. A person reads these and replies.