To establish the requirements for reporting absences, to provide guidelines for the handling of excessive and/or unscheduled absences, and to outline employees' need to adhere to established work schedules to maintain efficient, effective operations within the University.

Employees are expected to be at their place of work at the times established by supervision (supervisor or a designee). Employees are responsible for notifying supervision of absences or late arrivals each day of the absence or lateness, in accordance with their unit’s call-in procedure, which typically requires employees to advise supervision when they will report to work. Excessive absences or tardiness (whether excused or unexcused) may be cause for progressive corrective action and could result in termination. (See Policy U208-Termination of Employment)

The University also reserves the right to terminate employees who are absent for two (2) consecutive working days without giving appropriate notification. Such termination will be considered job abandonment

1. An employee is considered absent if he/she is not present for work as scheduled, regardless of cause. Absences resulting from approved time off or University- approved leaves are exceptions to this policy.
2. Units are expected to communicate to staff employees the importance of timely and regular attendance, and to develop a written unit guideline that outlines a call-in procedure and a definition of excessive absenteeism and tardiness. The guideline should include the consequences of non-compliance, along with the procedure. The call-in procedure should define when and whom an employee should call if he/she is going to be absent or tardy. It should also address a timeframe when an employee who will be delayed is required to notify supervision (for a lateness of 15 minutes or more, call-in should be required).
3. Supervisors should give special attention to absence patterns such as:
   • absences on scheduled weekends, Saturday, Sunday or both;
   • absence the day before and/or after a scheduled holiday or day off (holiday pay may be withheld in such cases);
   • absence the day after payday;
   • calling in sick as rapidly as sick time is accrued, especially if used one day at a time;
   • coincidence of absence after having been denied a request for time off;
   • coincidence of absence when an employee is given a work assignment that is undesirable to the employee; and/or
   • repeated or patterned absences on a specific day of the week.
4. An employee will not be allowed to apply paid absence accruals to any unexcused absence, regardless of the circumstance. Neither meal periods nor breaks may be used to cover absences at the beginning or end of the work day.
5. An hourly employee who is six (6) or more minutes late may have his/her salary reduced; salary reductions are decreased in increments of one-tenth (1/10) of an hour. Even though the tardiness may be less than six (6) minutes, units may consider the employee to be late for work.
6. Extenuating circumstances that prevent an employee from contacting the unit regarding the absence or lateness will be given consideration.
7. In cases where the employee has not reported to work or contacted the appropriate unit designee for two (2) consecutive workdays, a decision may be made to terminate employment. In such cases, supervision will attempt to notify the employee of his/her termination by contacting the employee by phone, followed by a letter sent by a verifiable method. Copies of the termination letter and the mail receipt should be submitted with the termination form.
8. Any documented corrective actions for attendance-related matters that are issued at the suspension or termination stage, will first be approved by a representative of the Employee/Labor Relations Office. (See Policy U703-Progressive Corrective Action).
9. For assistance in preparing or revising unit call-in procedures and for establishing definitions for progressive corrective discipline on absenteeism, tardiness or job abandonment, contact the Employee/Labor Relations Office at 702-4411.
   
   

U208 - Termination of Employment and U703 - Progressive Corrective Action