Policy 3.35

TITLE: ABSENTEEISM POLICY POLICY

3.35

Rev. August 2023

PURPOSE AND SCOPE:

This policy outlines Kokua’s expectations regarding absenteeism. Kokua’s absenteeism policy outlines the various requirements for effective employee attendance in hourly shifts. The purpose is to:

 Establish a fair and effective policy for employees

 Proactively manage employee attendance, absence and tardiness.

 Minimize absenteeism.

 Promote high quality of client services and healthy work-life balance for all employees.

Please note:

 “Timeliness” is indispensable to hourly shifts.

 “Tardy” behavior (coming late, taking longer breaks or signing out early without approval) and other absences impact client services and safety. This policy details various measures to counter such violations, including expected employee behavior and agency disciplinary steps.

See also Kokua Policy 3.3. This policy adheres to the Federal Family and Medical Leave Act, Washington State Family Leave Act, Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994, Initiative 1433 and all Labor and Industry standards.

A. Employee Attendance

Kokua believes in providing a fair policy, one that considers life circumstances and creates parameters to follow in order to ensure a good work experience for its employees.

All employees are entitled to the following:

1. Personal time off – this includes scheduled days off as well as use of Paid Time Off.

2. Emergency personal time – this includes sudden or unexpected events such as illness, medical and legal appointments, accident, death and other unavoidable emergencies. Employees must have earned paid time off in order to use PTO for such absences. Please see policy 3.3 regarding PTO accrual and carryover year-to-year.

Employees requiring more than three (3) consecutive shifts off for medical reasons need to produce a note/letter from a medical professional excusing this absence. Medical notes act as both verification of need as well as proof of fitness to return to work.

3. Compassionate leave – Employee absence due to serious accident or medical emergencies, wherein the employee is unable to report immediately.

Note: The following will not fall under excused time off:

 Waking up late

 Running personal errands

 Non-approved time off

 Bad Weather

 Traffic

 Car maintenance/repair issues

 Public transportation delays

Excuses during extreme weather events will be considered for approval.

B. Clocking In and Out of Shift

“Clocking in” and “Clocking out” refers to starting and ending a shift. Kokua considers these essential tools to measure attendance and productivity. It is a requirement of all Kokua staff to clock-in directly upon start of shift and clocking out when the shift ends on both Staff Log and Timesheet. These times should match the times the staff is scheduled to work unless approved by Kokua management.

Clocking in and out creates an accurate recording of “actual hours worked”. Failure to properly document start and end times violates the work attendance policy and expectation. Consistently failing to abide by these policies will lead to disciplinary action.

C. Approval and Notification Procedures

Kokua encourages a healthy work-life balance for all employees. In order to provide this to our employees it is vital that all staff respect their co-workers by obtaining pre-authorized time off. That staff’s supervisor will review all time-off requests and grant them if possible/feasible. Feasibility may depend on many factors, including:

 Staffing levels

 Delegation levels

 Client care needs

 Time of year

 Employee availability

The following list outlines the expected timeline for notifying supervisors of time-off needed:

1. Emergency Notifications:

 An unplanned absence requires notice before the start of shift. We ask that all staff give ample notice to the supervisor or on-call staff regarding the need for absence. For example: a medical emergency for a family member.

 In order to leave shift early staff should inform the supervisor/on-call staff as soon as they are aware of the emergency.

 Note: a pattern of calling out of shift with little or no notice will necessitate disciplinary action, though protected PTO usage will be considered. This is not supportive of fellowstaff or clients who rely on you for their care.

2. Planned Notifications:

 Approval must be granted by supervisor at least 5 business days ahead of planned absence of one (1) shift.

 Approval must be granted by supervisor at least 7 days ahead of planned absence of two to three (2-3) shifts.

 Approval must be granted by supervisor at least 14 days ahead of planned absences longer than 3 consecutive shifts.

3. Unexcused Notifications:

 This includes absence from shift with no notice given (“No Call-No Show”).

 Employees are required to be aware of all shifts, an online schedule is provided to all employees (Wellsky). It is the employee’s responsibility to ensure they know of, and arrive to, each shift.

 Employees absent for more than three (3) consecutive shifts without approval will be considered abandoning their shift and self-terminating their employment per Kokua’s At-Will policy. Kokua will mark the third abandoned shift as the employee’s separation/termination date. Abandonment of shift will lead to shift revision or employment termination.

Note that all Paid Family Medical Leave/FMLA qualified absences will be exempt from point system. See policy 3.3.

Unpaid Leave of Absence:

Requests for unpaid leave time that do not meet the criteria for Family and Medical Leave or other protected leave programs, may be granted unpaid leave authorization. The amount of unpaid leave will be 40 hours per year. The approved usage of this leave:

 Severe Mental Health needs/hospitalization

 Death in the family or family member who is dying

 Jury Duty

 Pet death/severely ill

 Only member of a family/friendship needed to support a pregnancy or illness

Employees who take an unpaid leave of absence will not be eligible for paid medical benefits for any full month they are absent from work.

D. Absenteeism Point System and Accountability

Kokua hopes that by establishing this policy all staff will be supported and no staff or team is burdened by sudden shift openings or miscommunication. We seek to find ways to assist staff to find a good work-life balance as well as ensure that continuity of client care is optimal, the following sections outline the steps Kokua will be making to ensure this.

Kokua has adopted a “points system” designed to ensure that absenteeism problems are handled properly, objectively and speedily.

At any time, an employee breaches this policy a point designation will be assigned. There are differing levels of infraction and scaled responses. Our hope is that all staff will succeed without the use of this system, however Kokua staff and clients have borne the burden of staff call-outs, late arrivals and noshows, this is both unacceptable and dangerous. Note that approval to come in late, leave early is granted by SQA ahead of the shift.

Examples of approved (no points given):

 Emergency involving yourself or a loved one. This may need to be verified, see above for expectations regarding Emergency Notification call-outs.

 Too many staff on shift – one approved to leave early

 Oncoming staff worked a double and needed time between shifts for a break, approved to come in later than normal start time

 Planned appointments (see timeline of notice above) do not count towards this point system if proper notice is given.

Kokua’s administration reserves the right to excuse staff from gaining points for verifiable, reasonable reasons. Staff may ask Kokua’s Training Team for their current points level at any time. Points drop off after one year.

Employees will face disciplinary action when their total points reach these levels. Each level is only offered once before moving to the next step. These points are removed after one calendar year from last infraction.

 10 points: Verbal Warning

 15 points: Written Warning

 20 points: Corrective Action

 25 points: Final Corrective Action

 30 points: Termination

E. Attendance Bonus

Kokua seeks to recognize those staff that fulfill their duties by arriving on time, limiting call-outs and otherwise follow policy and support their teams/clients. Acknowledging these staff is important to Kokua culture.

If employees have:

 Acted to get approval for all absences per policy and have not been marked for any infractions (see chart above), they will be eligible for an enhanced holiday bonus at the highest tier.

 Acted to get approval for all absences per policy and have had less than 3 infractions, they will be eligible for a holiday bonus at the second tier.

 Those who have had more than 3 infractions or have not shown good teamwork, have failed to get approval for absences, etc. will not be eligible for an enhanced holiday bonus.

 Executive Director will reserve the right to consider life circumstances when determining bonus level.

Note that all absences covered by federal or state law are excused from infraction and bonus alteration. See policy 3.3.

All employees must sign a copy of this policy upon policy adoption, edit and/or new employee hire.

By signing below, you are accepting the terms of this policy (and your employment).

Employee Name (Printed): ________________________

Employee Signature: ____________________________

Date Signed: ____________________________

A copy of this signed policy will reside in each employee’s training file.