Question

CHAPTER 13 CASE STUDY        

GOLD STAR SHOES LTD.

Absenteeism at Gold Star Shoes

Another busy day for Jane Reynolds, special assistant to the human resource manager. Pat Lim, the general manager of marketing (who has also assumed responsibility for the human resource function), had sent yet another memo to Jane (see below).

Memorandum Gold Star Shoes

To:	Jane Reynolds
From:	Pat Lim
Re:	Absenteeism Case/Absenteeism Policy
Dear Jane:
As you are aware, we’re having trouble with absenteeism at the plant. Could you look into the following grievance involving Glenda Feltham, discuss it with the union, and see if we can resolve it?
Also, the problem is much deeper than simply a single grievance. Please review the relevant part of the collective agreement and the absenteeism policy that we developed some years ago with the union. Meet with the union and see if we can put together a more proactive policy.
Don’t hesitate to contact me if you need my assistance.
Regards,
Pat

First things first. Jane decided that resolving the Feltham grievance was her first priority. While she recognized the importance of developing a good attendance policy, that would take some time. At 11 a.m., Jane met with the employee, Glenda Feltham, and her union steward, Shaun Robberman. The facts of the Feltham grievance are reported below.

THE FELTHAM GRIEVANCE

Ms. Glenda Feltham, 32 years of age, has worked at Gold Star Shoes for six years. During the past year, as a result of family and health problems, she was absent or late on a number of occasions. The collective agreement between Gold Star Shoes and the union does not specifically address the issue of absence from work; it merely states that “no employee may be given a written reprimand or written warning, or be suspended, demoted, or dismissed unless the employer has just cause.”

The absenteeism policy at Gold Star Shoes, which was developed several years ago as a joint effort between union and management, requires the application of progressive discipline for offences involving tardiness or absenteeism. The policy also provides for “wiping the slate clean” if an employee’s attendance is satisfactory for a one-year period. Both union and management acknowledge that, at times over the years, the policy has not been strictly enforced. However, four months ago, Gold Star management notified the union that it would strictly enforce the policy.

A review of Glenda Feltham’s file showed that she has received the following disciplinary penalties:

• Fourteen months ago—oral warning for being 22 minutes late.
• Nine months ago—written warning for being absent for two days. Glenda failed to call in sick or provide any explanation for her absence upon returning to work.
• Seven months ago—one-day suspension for being 1 hour and 14 minutes late.
• Six months ago—five-day suspension for being absent for one day. Again, Glenda failed to call in sick or explain the reason for her absence.

It appeared that the five-day suspension had alerted Glenda to the fact that unexplained absenteeism and lateness are not acceptable behaviours at Gold Star Shoes. After this suspension, Glenda was not late or absent for almost six months. However, one week ago, Glenda failed to show up at work or call in sick. When her supervisor called Glenda’s home, no one answered. The next day, Glenda called in sick, but was reportedly seen that afternoon entering a local fitness club. The following day, Glenda showed up for work, met with her supervisor, and explained that her absence was due to the fact that her boyfriend of six years had told her he was moving out of their apartment and ending their relationship. She said that she was so upset she couldn’t face coming to work or trying to explain her absence over the telephone.

Question 1

Assume the role of management representatives (Jane Reynolds’ perspective) or union representatives (Shaun Robberman’s perspective). Using the information given and researching findings, negotiate a resolution to the Glenda Feltham grievance.

THE POLICY ON ABSENTEEISM

Prior to meeting with the union to address the development of a new policy on absenteeism, Jane reviewed the absence records for the plant. She found that, on average, employees missed about 7.9 days a year. A recent consulting report for the industry indicated that the absence rate for the industry as a whole was 6.7 days a year. Jane realized that the number of absences varied among individuals, but still she was troubled by the high absenteeism rate at the Gold Star plant. A review of the absenteeism policy indicated that the policy was very short and had not been updated in several years. The policy read as follows:

1.         The need for managing absenteeism is recognized by both the employer and union. While some absence from work is unavoidable, management is concerned that an employee absence creates more work for other employees. Management also believes that it is important to acknowledge both healthy and sick employees.

2.         In instances of absenteeism or lateness, the employer will apply principles of progressive discipline. If an employee is able to maintain a satisfactory attendance record for one year, all previous disciplinary infractions relating to attendance issues will be removed from the employee’s file.

3.         Management has the right to discipline employees for “excessive absenteeism.” In the event that an employee will be late for work or absent from work, the employee is required to make a reasonable effort to contact the employer and indicate that he or she will be late or not present at work. Upon returning to work, the employee is required to provide an explanation for his or her lateness or absence. Depending on the circumstances, the employee may be asked to provide a doctor’s note in support of the explanation.

Question 2

Develop a new policy on absenteeism. Sources on the Internet may be extremely helpful in developing an absenteeism policy.

Answer 1

Develop a new policy on absenteeism. Sources on the Internet may be extremely helpful in developing an absenteeism policy.

A staff attendance policy is a recorded collection of regulations to increase efficiency of workers, minimize absence and lay down simple and consistent workplace standards. An attendance policy for workers can seem rather rigid. Below are the aspects:

Taking the existing work culture into consideration – chances are you are creating an employee participation strategy to fix unresolved issues. Your workers may have been sluggish to arrive on time, fail to avoid calling before they begin changing, or simply take for granted the lack of attendance policy. Nonetheless, it is necessary to note that an attendance policy does not change employee conduct overnight.

Keep it simple — An attendance policy can clearly be read on paper — it is not a lack of effort, and everyone needs to be there to keep business going. An employee attendance policy could easily begin to spin out, making it difficult to read and even harder to remember a binder-size text. Rather of taking the stage by stage, everyone in plain language will understand common attendance subjects and describes the standards for them: absences, unplanned absences, late arrival, no-show and sick days.

Including practical steps for each situation – it is now time to decide what happens next as you have defined the categories of participation policies. It is essential that a consistent attendance policy is not based on individual views or perceptions only. It's not fair to good workers to enforce a "only because" null tolerance policy. And while you may believe like it is the same degree of inacceptable employee conduct after five minutes or 30 minutes of late work, the actual effect on your company may not be so equal.

Get an employee sign-up — It is time to revisit phase # 1 once you have prepared an updated draft of your attendance policy: share this with your staff and buy into it. You may want just to loop into leadership, or give all workers a chance to provide feedback depending on the size of their team. A policy for attendance will help keep the company running smoothly, not cause chaos. Although resistance to change can occur (particularly when there was no structured policy already in place), good participation would look like a team effort and a way to enhance everybody's work. When the staff responds negatively instantly, know that their input is heard.

Think on how you would like to be handled — You would be able to work with yourself in a fair attendance policy at the end of the day. Don't be afraid of the difficult questions. Don't forget the most important factor: empathy as you put together your new employee attendance policy. It's not fair to expect your workers even if you can't comply with the attendance policy of your company. And while absences and low performance can be frustrating, emergencies can not be expected.

Ideally a decent attendance policy for workers makes some room — that's why. As you establish your strategy, depending on your working culture and what makes sense for your business, you can allocate many degrees of seriousness. Not all absences (and not all rules for attendance) are the same. A fair policy also provides a framework for measuring performance and strengthens one of the most critical principles in the workplace: respect for one another and for the other.