Attendance Policies

It is the policy of the City of Miami Beach to provide and promote a productive work environment.  The City requires its employees to report to work as scheduled.  Productivity is jeopardized when employees do not  report to work as scheduled.

Definitions for the following procedures are as follows:

• Absence - not reporting for work or not remaining at work as scheduled.
• Incidents - an unauthorized absence on one or more consecutive days due to a non-work related illness.
• Excessive absenteeism - ten (10) incidents or ten (10) days in a twelve (12) month period.
• Excused absence - documented medical reason, such as serious illness, non-work related injury, or surgery; absences approved under the Family Medical Leave (FML) Policy.

1.  All absences from duty are to be reported to the supervisor as soon as possible, preferably before the start of the employee's work schedule.  If reported later than one hour after the start of the employee's work schedule, the employee is Absent Without Leave Without Permission (AWOL) for the entire day.  The supervisor's good judgment will determine when proof of absence could not be reported within that time.  If the absence may be expected to be of considerable duration, it shall be reported as specified on the first day.
2.  In cases where an employee has been absent for periods exceeding ten (10) working days, the Human Resources Director must require the employee to undergo a Fitness for Duty Examination.  (Time donated by employees will not count when calculating days and incidents.)  In cases where the employee is absent for less than ten (10) days, the Human Resources Director may require a note from the employee's privatephysician or a Fitness for Duty Examination prior to the employee's being permitted to return to work.  Where the physical condition is such that an employee cannot perform the duties of his/her classification,the provisions of Personnel Rule IX, Section 4 and Section 5 will apply.
3. Appointing Officers have the authority to excuse absences deemed to be legitimate and of such emergency that they are beyond the employee's control, i.e. where a physician requires the employee to refrain from work.
4. Ten (10) incidents, or ten (10) days, in the preceding twelve (12) months, is considered excessive and therefore requires an employee and supervisor conference.
5. Supervisors take progressive disciplinary action as required by these Guidelines on any and all classified employees.
6. Applications of these Guidelines and corresponding actions require good supervisory judgment.
   

   Guidelines For Action

   Days	Number of Incidents	Maximum Action	Performance Level
   0	0 - 1	Thank You/Feedback Session	10
   0	2 - 3	Thank You/Feedback Session	9
   5	4 - 5	Supervisory Review and Counseling with Employee	8
   6 - 9	6 - 7 - 8	Verbal Warning(s)	7
   10 - 14	9 - 12	Written Reprimand	5 - 6
   15	13 - 14	Suspension	4 - 3
   20	15 - 16	Demotion**	2
   21	16 +	Contact Human Resources to Determine Action	1

   *   Review each union contract for changes or differences.
   **  Demotions will not be used for some classifications.
   All disciplinary action requiring a change to the employee's salary, i.e. suspension, demotion, or termination, must be pre-approved by the Human Resources Director.

   • Supervisors should attempt to take preventative action to reduce absences before taking corrective action by:
   •  encouraging dependability by praising those employees with good attendance records as well as those who improve their attendance;
   •  using every opportunity to stress the importance of regular attendance to employees;
   •  keeping good records and using them to show concern and interest in employee attendance;
   •  referring to the Employee Assistance Program or other appropriate services as needed.

REMINDER:  All policies and procedures require good judgment from all employees.

EXAMPLES 

1.  Employee A has a series of doctor's appointments which are scheduled  in advance, i.e. once a week for ten weeks.
   Recommendation:
   • First effort should be to adjust employee's schedule, when possible, encouraging the employee to make doctor's appointments so they will not interfere with his/her workday.
   • Allow employee to make up the time if he/she wants to.
   • Count as one instance since it is related (i.e. employee needs one hour per week - 10 hours).  For the purpose of appraisals and/or applying discipline, this incident does not apply.
   • Have employee apply for intermittent Family Medical Leave (FML) in combination with a) or  b).
2. Employee B has an auto accident over the weekend in which he/she is in the hospital for ten days, is home recovering for two weeks, and then has to go the physical therapy two times a week for eight weeks. Recommendation:
   • For the time the employee is in the hospital and home recovering,  count as one incident and use guidelines for #1 for the physical therapy.
   •  Employee may apply for Family Medical Leave.

3. Employee C has a series of unspecified or vague illnesses for which he/she has called in sick at least once or twice per month for the past nine months.

4. Employee D has documented asthma.  Over the past six months he/she has left work eight times giving  stress-related reasons each time.
   Recommendation: (#3 & #4)

5. Once the employee has been out four or five times, supervisor would schedule a review meeting with the employee to go over the attendance, counsel the employee, offering E.A.P. referral or advising of the Family Medical Leave Policy if appropriate.  As absences continue, follow the procedure in this policy offering E.A.P./FML as an option at each step along the way, if appropriate.

6. Employee E used 100 hours of sick leave in the past ten months for doctor's appointments and some unspecified illnesses.
   Recommendation: In the case where an employee does not share the nature of an illness, the employee has not taken the supervisor's offer of applying for FML, and his/her use of sick leave is excessive, then the supervisor may consider a Fitness for Duty Evaluation by the City's provider of employee health services or at least have verification if the employee can report to work.  If the supervisor does not feel this is a valid excused absence, he/she should proceed with the process outlined in this policy.  (See examples #3 & #4.)