Employee Attendance Policy: Use Our Sample Language to Get Started

Creating a written employee attendance policy can be difficult when you’re starting from scratch. While anyone can print out a template policy from the internet, a generic document won’t always work for the unique needs of your business and its employees. 

To accomplish your employee attendance objectives, small businesses need language that is uniquely their own. In this post, I’ll walk you through a few key best practices to keep in mind as you’re writing your business' employee attendance policy and procedures down. I’ll also provide well-vetted language you can borrow or reference from attendance policy examples along the way. 

Customize these employee attendance policy examples in a way that lets your culture shine—and you’ll be well on your way to having a clear and tangible representation of your organization’s standards and expectations. 

1. Company Attendance Standards

Your attendance policy should clearly outline the expectations for your employees. It's about finding the right tone that reflects a positive culture while being explicit about the requirements.

While some business owners and managers struggle with putting hard and fast rules down on paper, it’s always a best practice to be transparent about your expectations, and you can do so without being curt. You can always make exceptions down the line, but memorializing general rules in writing gives your employees concrete guidelines to adhere to. 

Employee attendance policy sample language:

Company Attendance Standards: Employees must be present during their designated working hours, which will be communicated to you by your manager. Regular business hours are from 9:00 a.m. through 6:00 p.m. Monday through Friday.

If you believe extenuating circumstances exist, speak to your manager. 

Employees are entitled to reasonable break times, including a 30-minute meal break. Break times may be taken in the employee break room. 

RELATED: Effective Ways to Handle Poor Attendance at Work >> 

2. Punctuality and Tardiness

Many small businesses struggle with getting their employees to show up (and actually be ready  for work) on time. Your attendance policy is the perfect place to address this concern using clear language. 

Employee attendance policy example

Punctuality and Tardiness: Employees should be ready to work at the start of their designated working hours, which typically means you will need to arrive a few minutes early to settle in and prepare for your day.

Repeated tardiness will be addressed in accordance with the Company’s discipline policy. If you know you will be tardy by more than 15 minutes, you should contact the Company’s office to inform your manager of your expected arrival time. 

3. Time Tracking Requirement

Are your employees required to clock in and out? Unless they are exempt from the provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), they should be keeping track of their time. 

For more information about how you can discern whether your employees should be tracking their time, check out our post: FLSA Overtime Regulations: The Basics for Employers. Reach out to experienced HR compliance experts to double-check your practices and learn more. 

Employee attendance policy example

Time Tracking Requirement: Employees are required to clock in and out using the Company’s time-tracking system. 

It is against Company policy to request or allow another employee to clock in or out on your behalf. Management periodically reviews time and attendance records and may address discrepancies or other concerns with employees as needed. 

If you breach this policy or otherwise do not accurately record your attendance, you may be subject to discipline in accordance with the Company’s discipline policy. 

4. Flexible Working Hour Arrangements

Some business models revolve around the punctuality and in-person presence of their employees—but not all do. If your organization has wiggle room surrounding when employees need to be actively working on tasks, you may consider allowing employees to use their own discretion surrounding their hours and break times. 

When feasible for the business, offering employees a reasonable degree of flexibility can directly translate to improvements for a company’s overall bottom line. Business News Daily reports that employees with “rigid schedules” are “2.5 times more likely to try to find a new job within the next year than employees with flexibility,” a stat that shows just how crucial the benefit is to employee satisfaction and retention long-term. 

Employee attendance policy example

Flexible Working Hour Arrangements: Employees who consistently meet performance goals and uphold company attendance standards are eligible to participate in flexible working hour arrangements. Generally, flexible working hours are available between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. 

Flexible working hour arrangements are designed to allow employees to attend to their personal needs and maintain a work-life balance. However, flexible working hour arrangements may not be utilized to allow consistently shorter working hours during a given week. Requests for flexible working hour arrangements will be permitted at the sole discretion of your manager. 

5. Attendance Bonus Program

The Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM) reports that attendance incentives, like bonuses, can be an effective way to decrease absenteeism in the workplace. Providing incentives for employees who make the effort to observe rules is a fantastic way to maintain their motivations to do so—and to showcase your company’s driven and rewarding culture. 

If you’re looking for ways to incentivize compliance with your attendance policy, examples of creative ways to boost attendance are available in this post >> 

Employee attendance policy example

Attendance Bonus Program: Employees who consistently exhibit compliance with the Company’s attendance policy are eligible to participate in the Attendance Bonus Program. Employees who meet all eligibility criteria within a given month will receive a $100 bonus to be added to the employee’s regular pay or issued in the form of a gift card in the Company’s discretion. Eligibility for each calendar month will be determined at the end of the given month and bonuses will be issued in the first week of the month that follows. 

Attendance Bonus Program eligibility criteria are as follows: Within the calendar month, the employee has not exceeded their allotted sick days and has placed all vacation and personal leave requests in advance and in accordance with the Company’s Leave Policy. 

The employee has not been tardy to work by more than 15 minutes on any given day during the calendar month without prior approval from their manager. 

The employee has not ended their workday early during the calendar month without prior approval from their manager. 

The employee has not exceeded their allotted break period during the calendar month without prior approval from their manager. 

6. Ensure Compliance and Culture Fit with HR Expertise

Axcet HR Solutions is a full-service, certified professional employer organization (PEO). We handle a range of HR tasks for small businesses, including policy development, HR compliance, employee relations, and so much more. We know that fully-compliant and well thought-out policies are the backbone of a strong employee culture, and we want to help you design and implement your own. 

Let Axcet take care of the HR details so you can focus on growing and scaling your core business. Interested in learning more about Axcet can help? Schedule a consultation with our experienced consultants today.