How to Deal With Tardy Employees

Tardy employees can put a drag on company morale.

Employees who are habitually late can create problems in the work environment, from dragging down morale to impacting productivity. While not necessarily a serious offense, tardiness should be addressed by supervisors in a professional and respectful manner, keeping in mind that it's the behavior -- and not the person -- that needs to be changed.

Things You'll Need

• Time records
• Warning forms

Instructions

1. Bring the problem to the employee's attention. It could be that the employee simply pays little attention to time and does not realize there is a problem, or he may think that if you are not saying anything to him that you don't notice or don't care. Letting the employee know it's an issue of concern is the first step and the first thing you should do to give him a chance to correct the problem.

2. Discuss the matter with the employee, and explain why it is a problem. You can explain that it hurts the morale of the office by letting his coworkers see that he skirts the rules, while they are doing their part to obey them. You can also explain how it impacts productivity.

3. Ask the employee to suggest solutions to the problem. If he feels he is being part of the process to find better habits, he'll have more buy-in than if he is simply being told what to do.

4. Change the employee's schedule to meet his needs, so long as it's not to the detriment of your organization. If a hard-and-fast start time of 9 a.m. is not necessary and the employee seems unable to arrive at that time anyway, work with him to create a new work schedule, allowing him to come in at a later hour so long as he leaves at a later hour. Be careful, however, that arrival at the new start time is not also abused.

5. Use official institutional corrective action measures. Your company should have in place a formal process for discipline and notification of failure to meet rules. It may be a verbal warning for the first offense and then a written warning and finally termination. If you go through the proper channels you will help the employee see that he should take this seriously and also help to cover yourself legally should the employee become upset if you must terminate his employment.

6. Set the proper example with your own punctuality. If you are not punctual and are consistently late, you set the example for your employees that this behavior is okay in the workplace. If there is a reason for you to be late, let your employees know ahead of time, but otherwise maintain a consistent and on-time schedule so that they understand the expectations for the entire office.

Tips & Warnings

• Combine lateness with absences and discipline for attendance problems. In both cases the employees are not there and someone has to cover for them or your business suffers.

• Treat all employees the same when it comes to lateness. When a really good employee suddenly starts coming in late, don't ignore it just because they're so valuable. They may try to get away with things because they think you favor them. Other employees are watching this as an example.

• When new employees are tardy take action quickly. If a new person is late it does not get better. In fact your standard should be stricter, since a good new employee will be on his best behavior.

• Don't discipline an employee for taking advantage of her rights under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA). If you are covered under the act and she follows proper procedures, she is protected. Employees may be entitled to intermittent leave for treatment or caring of immediate family members.

• Don't keep employees around who are always late because it's hard to hire new ones. You are setting a standard and example for other employees. Other employees will start to come in late because they think it's OK.

References

• Manager Training Center: Deal With Employees Who Are Always Late
• "Small Business Review"; Dealing With the Chronically Late Employee; Gary M. Stern
• HumanResourceBlog.com: Dealing With Tardiness in Florida
• "IA Magazine": Dealing With Tardy Employees
• Stapels.com; Late Again: Dealing With Employees Who Are Never on Time; Maura Gallagher Ardis