Employee consistently late

[lou7575]

Male employee consistently late by 5-10 minutes nearly everyday. The excuse is about getting the children ready for school etc...he has 4 children between 1 and 9 years so I understand this is probably very hectic however his wife doesn't work, never has, and is a stay at home mum and does the school run etc normally. Other employees have commented as everyone else manages to get here on time. Myself and other manager have mentioned this to the employee however he really doesn't seem to care. Not sure if we are being unreasonable by giving written warning etc but we have tried to be understanding of the situation. Any advice or past experience in similar situations?

It definitely needs addressed and as PP have said, there's a way to do it that isn't confrontational, but just matter of fact.

In the chats you've had with him, has it been noted that the company are no longer accepting his latecoming? From what you've said it seems to have been a softer approach about why he's struggling rather than a direct conversation about his lateness being unacceptable.

If that conversation hasn't yet taken place, it needs to happen before a formal warning. You have to give him the opportunity to improve once its been made explicit that his persistent lateness is no longer being accepted.

If in the conversation he maintains its impossible to be on time then I would be as flexible as I could and offer him the chance to adapt his working hours. I wouldn't get too hung up on the fact his wife is at home and could do the school run as you honestly can't be sure of the circumstances. Instead, I'd accept that his personal circumstances meant an adjustment needs made but it is his responsibility to make sure he does his contracted hours in full.

As for the face time, reiterate at staff meeting or via email the company's policy on personal calls during work time. If it continues from that point, a formal warning.

When employees are falling short for whatever reason, expectations need to be explicit and there needs to be a degree of flexibility on both sides.

It may be that things don't change but by addressing the issue in a direct and supportive way, you're at least giving him the opportunity to alter his approach. If he chooses not to, that becomes an entirely different situation.

he is a CF and getting away with it. Gender doesn't matter, reason doesn't matter. You as manager begin the management process to deal with this. Don't prejudge where that process goes. It may end up in changing T's and C's for everyone but it shouldn't end up with one/some staff getting preferential treatment because they have kids or for any other reason. I am also not in agreement with "does the work get done" because if he is not putting in the full required hours then there is time that could be used to do more work being stolen. The how long to hire and train a relacement is not relevant...its not just affecting him. Everybody else who sees him do this and get away with it day after day is either going to start doing it too or feeling annoyed because he is getting a benefit that they don't. This is not good for team morale.

@Ozanj

Before you tackle the lateness issue ask yourself how much it would cost (in time and money) to hire and train his replacement. Because the minute you have this chat you may make him realise that he needs an employer who is more family friendly & he may be out like a shot. So many inflexible employers are losing talent and unable to fill it because people will not stand to be treated like crap any more & because there’s a lot more options.

Hardly. 🤣🤣

His constant lateness and chatting to his wife when he’s supposed to be working is not the sort of employee that anyone wants to employ. It shows he has a poor attitude to work and towards his hard working colleagues, who will resent him getting away with it.

I managed several p/t staff members when I was working (retired now) including two mums of young children who were probably the two most effective employees in my whole team. They’re the sort of employees that family friendly policies are designed for, not workshy lazy men.

Formal warning. He doesn’t take the job seriously, or respect the management. School run is ok as a one off excuse, but if it is genuinely an ongoing problem, he needs to find himself a different job with a later start.

That said, I simply don’t believe he does much for the school run given his wife is SAHM. He just isn’t bothering to be on time. Probably to arrive 10 mins earlier he’d have to get a train 30 mins earlier or something like that.

And taking personal calls at work every day is extremely unprofessional and again a sign of zero respect for the job.

Formal warning.

the 5/10 minutes late I could tolerate if the performance was high and all other expectations of the role were met. The facetime calls are absolutely unprofessional and I would not put up with that.

I manage a team of 6, all really different personalities and like to work in different ways and we have flexible working that is afforded to people who can demonstrate discipline and productivity.

@HowIsThisRight

OP: in this particular field, flexible working is not feasible and the employees need to be available from 9am on the dot.

MN: aw, can't you just let him start later and finish later?

Ffs.

In my job, mobile phones outside of break times are banned. It looks like this guy can't separate his work life from his home life and you may need to start setting firmer rules. Can't get your kids ready in an hour? Prep the night before or get up earlier. End of.

I’m just picturing the posts of everyone was given the flexibility lots of posters here think they should have.

“Hi, does anyone know roughly what time the checkout operators in Tesco on Main St. tend to start? I know the people on the fish counter typically come in at around 10 but I need to be gone by then so hoping there’s someone there to open the shop before 9.10 and a checkout operator has started by 9.45”.

I'd pull him in and say that the lateness has got to stop. Everyone else arrives on time, he needs to as well. Tell him if this happens again, he will be given a written warning.

Do you have a policy regarding personal phone calls and contact during working hours? If he is relatively new is there a performance review process or probation? Or is it a recent change in behaviour if longer term?

If the other employees are getting bitchy that’s more of a problem. No one likes backbiters.

Have a word, change his start time and ban personal calls.

I'd just throw a team meeting and word it that no facetime calls were allowed in work hours on company property 'I'm looking at you there john' and that works starts at 9am, not 9.05, not 9.10, 9am on the nose and that in future, 4 lates in a 6 month period, would result in a formal warning'.

It needs to be addressed so that the rest of the team don't get pissed off that he is getting away with it. For the sake of team morale a slacker needs to be dealt with. Otherwise the 'one rule for him and different rule for others' will encourage others to try to get away with it. You will have no justification to call others out of they have all watched him get away with it. Nip it in the bud now as if you let him take the piss, he will.

@VodselForDinner some people honestly have no idea about other jobs etc. There are jobs that you absolutely need to be on time, and frankly if he cant do it for whatever reason he needs to approach management and try to sort the fact he isnt says it all.

I would warn first that if it continues you will have to give written warning if you have done this already then yes you should follow through.

It doesn’t really matter why, if he’s 10 minutes late every day that’s almost an hour a week he has off.
Do you have a HR dept/person who call deal with it using the proper legal processes? Unless of course he has been there less than 2 years, in which case you dint have to be as careful
It sounds like there are issues at home but at the end of the day he needs to do the hours he is contracted to and you should deal with it

@VodselForDinner haha yes, I was just wondering how much overlap there is between the posters who don't think people need to get to work on time, and the posters on threads about call centre queues. Imagine someone in customer service saying "yes I know we say the helpline opens at 9am, but none of us really like getting up that early"

The impact of dragging down total team's productivity is the key issue: I would have an informal meeting and explain that this is against policy and make the point that you can't have everyone doing that!

I would ask him if he wants to adjust his start time or be on time, and explain consequences of being late/skipping out early etc

Give it a month, if need be then a formal warning etc... an informal but serious meeting might be enough to sort things out though

IME a lot of people are like this!

He's taking the piss. Very disrespectful

This sort of thing totally depends on the job. If you arrive late but work through lunch or stay late to get things done, fine.

But if you eg work in a call centre or a shop where you have to be available from a certain time, then you have to be on time. If this guy needs to be on time, he needs to be on time. Therefore I agree the OP or their HR team need to start a process of informal warning and then proceed to formal warnings that go on his record.

It doesn't sound like he's a very good worker if his wife is always calling him. If he was, you might overlook the lateness.

If you short time him 15 minutes pay every time he's late it will build up over the month and he might just realise its costing him money and might just improve his timekeeping

I wouldn't have an issue with this. But I would expect the time to be made up. Such as shorter lunch break, or finishing late.

If the wife has no other issues than 4 kids are hectic, then there's no reason she can't manage. Of course, if she has MH issues, disability then that's a bit different.

@Franca123

Does it matter if he's five or ten minutes late to the work that needs to get done? That's a long toilet break for some people so does it even out across the day? Does he get the work done? For the team I manage and the work we do, I wouldn't care less. Years ago I was consistently 30mins late or so but I got so much work done and ran my team so well, no one ever said a word about it. I would have been pissed off if they had.

Why would you think it was ok to be half an hour late for work every day ?

Thanks all, these have been really helpful!

We don't have a HR department, we're a very small team of less than ten including myself and the other Director/manager. I really am trying to fight his corner and be understanding but he lives less than 20 minutes away and drives so commuting etc isn't an issue as in relying on public transport.

those who say fine provided the time is made up.....well yes but that should be by agreement with the manager and not just "oh I can do this"....similarly if there is any kind of disability issue in the family, that needs to be discussed with management and a plan agreed....yes certain aspects of disability need are protected in law but no one can just do what they like without the employer's agreement.....also employers only have to make reasonable adjustment and not just allow late arrival (or anything else) willy nilly

@lou7575

Thanks all, these have been really helpful!

We don't have a HR department, we're a very small team of less than ten including myself and the other Director/manager. I really am trying to fight his corner and be understanding but he lives less than 20 minutes away and drives so commuting etc isn't an issue as in relying on public transport.

Why are you trying to fight a CF's corner?

@godmum56 probably because I am an empath and really just want a nice, happy place for people to work and I understand people have issues and commitments. I know at the end of the day, it's all about the business, but I still try to be understanding.