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?

I don’t mind a certain element of flexible working - I’ve found in my many years of being a manager that a bit of coming and going means I get more out of my team as they’re happy to go the extra mile when needed. Adjusting a start and finish time by 10 minutes to accommodate a need isn’t flexible working - it’s acknowledging that there are issues which might mean it’s hard for someone to be there at 9. Otoh, I would expect them to speak to me about it rather than just turning up late and never making up the time - and I certainly wouldn’t be happy with the FaceTiming so would be addressing both.

@LethargeMarg

Oh god I'm often five minutes later for work -but I rarely take my full lunch break and rarely finish on time. To me late is well over five minutes late. I hope people don't think this about me !

If it's often, they will.

They won't notice the other stuff as much, but they'll clock that you're regularly late.

I had exactly this as a manager. After twice a warning and told anymore would be official and invoke the disciplinary procedure. It stopped instantly and he went on to have a good career. Other staff were pleased and he got told off when he complained to fellow workers. You are doing him no favours and putting your own job at risk. Why should you be paid as a manager unless you are prepared to do the basics of managing

Surprised at the amount of PP saying it doesn't matter, it does!
Would you like if your child's teacher turned up late, you know cos it's only 10mins?
I would be issuing a warning and not taking any excuses, plenty of mothers get their kids up and out and into work, so this guy can too.

This thread is peak Mumsnet. Imagine the outrage if someone had posted about going to the supermarket at the opening time on the website and it was shut because the employees had taken their kids to school and well, five or ten minutes doesn't matter, they'll make it up at the end of the day. Or worse, (gasp) the cleaner or nanny hadn't turned up when they said they would!

'Flexible working' (that hasn't even been requested) is fine if you aren't the one being affected. Seems like it's hard for some people to imagine that clients/customers/the world doesn't revolve around them and their poor time keeping skills.

The outrage of posters when nurses are chatting on a break and not devoting every second to their relatives. Imagine if the nurses rocked up 10 mins late for a shift because, you know, getting kids ready is hard. Posters would explode with rage. But somehow with this bloke it is all ‘be kind’. Mumsnet bemuses me.

Habitually late despite being pulled up on it and constant interruptions at work - time for a written warning or he will drag the morale of the whole team down with him.

We had an employee like this due to the school run and then battling through the city centre, he'd turn up stressed and late which isn't a good start to the day as a one off never mind every day.

We offered him a 15 minute later start and a 15 minute shorter lunch, he was very relieved. It's paid dividends as he is no longer stressed out and acknowledges we have done him a favour so is willing to go the extra mile where required.

The wife face timing is a separate issue, that's for lunch/break only and needs nipping in the bud.

It would annoy me he doesn't appear bothered about being late, that's basic in any working environment, you turn up on time and ready to work. That warrants a warning.

I work with a lady who I get on with really well
Thing is she’s always late/doesn’t show up for her shift
Expects to go home early if she does show up-she works reduced hours
The problem is,if she’s late then she can’t cover my break and I either go without one or somebody else has to leave their post to cover me
Nothing is ever said/done and it’s causing resentment even though she’s a lovely lady
A lad missed a shift the other day and they where all over him like a bad rash-warnings and a telling off
I was two minutes late once on almost 6 years-I got shouted at even though I’d rang to explain traffic was bad

She does it-nothing (she lives two streets away from me so if I can get in on time,she definitely can)

Have you tried putting in writing that as he Chas communicate she cannot attend his contracted hours due to x reasons - you are offering either an alternative contracted time (start 15 minutes later and finish 15 minutes later or shortening his weekly hours and will adjust his age accordingly.)

This obviously is only worth it if you don't think he can be replaced with a better candidate and the timing issue isn't worth fighting due to the business needs.

Also I find once people think they'll have to stay later or get laid less they suddenly manage to arrive on time!