Attendance Policies:
How to Structure an Enforceable Plan
When attendance expectations clash with employee rights
As an employer, you expect those you hire to show up when scheduled. After all, work can’t get done without employees to do it. However, many exceptions frequently come up. People get sick. Dental appointments happen. Young employees start families and older employees end up caring for their parents. Workers with disabilities encounter setbacks. Religious beliefs and practices require occasional time off, even during busy seasons. Reservists are called to active duty during military engagements and weather emergencies. These are only a fraction of the reasons you might encounter.
Several laws guarantee employees these rights. However, they also have their limits. You need an attendance policy that makes it clear attendance is essential, but with built-in checks that ensure you’re not illegally enforcing it.
On April 2, join employment lawyer Anniken Davenport as she walks you through everything you need to know to craft an attendance policy that balances those needs. You’ll learn how to address legally protected absences, and what expectations you need to have in writing to cover your organization.
Webinar Agenda
- Why you need a formal attendance policy. Learn how to structure a policy that establishes attendance as an essential job function.
- How the FMLA impacts absenteeism. Understand when intermittent absences are a protected right and how they affect your attendance policies.
- Tracking absences while staying compliant. Learn how to account for FMLA absences in performance evaluations and no-fault attendance policies.
- Handling attendance issues with disabled workers. Discover how to prove attendance is an essential job function while complying with ADA regulations.
- Accommodating pregnancy-related absences. Reasonably accommodate pregnancy-related absences and restrictions before and after birth under the new Pregnant Workers Fairness Act.
- PUMP Act compliance. Manage unlimited milk-expression breaks under the PUMP Act rules.
- How military leave impacts attendance. Learn the rules under USERRA, including extended absences for active duty.
- Spotting and addressing leave abuse. Identify red flags and implement strategies to prevent misuse of protected leave.
- Balancing religious accommodations. Navigate new Supreme Court standards on religion-based time-off requests while maintaining fairness in the workplace.
In this 75-minute online training, you will learn how to:
- Create a policy statement and outline an attendance policy. Emphasize the importance of regular attendance while accommodating employees’ medical, religious, military and family-related needs.
- Determine eligibility and coverage. Specify who is eligible for FMLA and clarify what ADA and PWFA coverage entitle workers to.
- Enforce your policy. Outline the potential consequences for noncompliance with the attendance policy, ensuring all disciplinary actions will be within legal regulations.
Get answers to YOUR questions from presenter…
Anniken Davenport is a noted employment law attorney and the legal analyst and senior editor of HR Employment Law Advisor and HR Specialist: Employment Law. She has authored several books, including Employer’s Practical Legal Guide and Bullet-Proof Your Employee Handbook. Anniken has served as a professor at Penn State University, where she taught business law and HR management, and she directed the Legal Studies Program at Wilson College. Her legal career includes representing government units in discrimination and other employment law cases and representing school districts in labor negotiations.
Registration bonuses included:
Everyone who signs up will receive a copy of Employee Handbook Essentials. Whether you’re starting from scratch or simply updating your handbook, this white paper will walk you through a foolproof process and provide 20 customizable sample policies. Take the guesswork out of one of the most important documents for your organization.
You'll also receive one month of exclusive access to The HR Weekly – our comprehensive service with all the HR advice and compliance tools to simplify your job … and to keep your organization out of court. So that you continue to benefit from The HR Weekly, we will continue your subscription after that for the then current rate, unless you tell us "no, thanks" – your choice.
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Professional Recertification Credit Hours Included
Business Management Daily is recognized by SHRM to offer Professional Development Credits (PDC) for SHRM-CP® or SHRM-SCP® recertification activities.
This Program has been pre-approved for 1.25 HR (General) credit hours toward aPHR®, aPHRi™, PHR®, PHRca®, SPHR®, GPHR®, PHRi™ and SPHRi™ recertification through HR Certification Institute® (HRCI®).