It is Star’s goal to maintain and happy and productive work environment for all our employees. In order to accomplish this everyone needs to fulfill their responsibilities to the team, which includes working all scheduled work hours and keeping unscheduled absences and tardiness to a minimum. Poor attendance, tardiness, and early departures place a burden on the Company, your fellow coworkers, and customers.
Below is a brief overview of our Attendance Policy, for more details please review the Employee Handbook or Collective Bargaining Agreement.
Tardiness and Unscheduled Absences – Star expects all employees to be on time and ready to begin work at the start of the employee’s scheduled work shift. We understand that on occasion unavoidable obstacles may prevent or delay employees from starting their shift. When this happens we require that any employee who is going to be tardy or who is unable to report to work, personally notify their supervisor by phone at least ninety (90) minutes before the employee’s scheduled starting time. If the Supervisor cannot be reached, you are to call a member of management or leadership, generally the shop supervisor or leadman on duty. When all else fails and as a last resort you may leave word of your expectation to be late or absent by text, by email, or by voicemail. Likewise, an employee who needs to leave work early for any reason must notify their supervisor as soon as possible.
Union employees should consult the CBA for tardiness and absenteeism policies and requirements.
Scheduled Absences – We understand that employees need time off from work. Star strives to be a flexible and accommodating employer. In order to plan for staffing and business needs we ask that requests for scheduled time off be submitted in writing to the employee’s supervisor as far in advance as possible, but no less than seven (7) workdays in advance. Vacation requests must be submitted in accordance with the vacation leave policy (See the Vacation Leave Policy for additional information). All-time off requests are subject to supervisory approval on a case-by-case basis.
Unexcused Absences – We hope with good planning and communication unexcused absences can be avoided. Understand notification of an absence to an employee’s supervisor does not automatically mean the absence is authorized. Any time off from work that is without supervisory approval is considered an unexcused absence. An unexcused absence is without pay for non-exempt employees and is subject to disciplinary action up to and including termination.
Excessive Absenteeism –Excessive absenteeism puts a burden on your coworkers, and our customers, therefore excessive absenteeism will be addressed with disciplinary action. Excessive absenteeism is considered anything greater than three absences in any 30-day period, more than four times in any 90-day period and more than eight occurrences in any twelve-month period that are not excused. Excessive absenteeism will be handled as follows. The first verbal warning, delivered by the employee’s direct supervisor, will serve to notify the employee that he or she is in violation of this company policy and that additional occurrences will or may result in further disciplinary action as outlined below.
- First Violation-Verbal Warning
- Second Violation-Written Warning
- Third Violation- Suspension Without Pay
- Fourth Violation-Discharge
Absences due to illnesses or injuries that qualify under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), or are protected by the ADA, will not be counted against an employee’s attendance record. Medical documentation within the guidelines of the FMLA may be required in these instances.
Daily Notification – If an employee is unable to report to work as scheduled for more than one workday, the employee must personally notify the supervisor each day of the absence, unless the absence was pre-authorized or the employee is on an approved leave of absence (e.g., FMLA, jury duty, military leave).
Failure to Call in or Report to Work – An employee who does not report for work or notify the supervisor of the employee’s absence for three (3) consecutive workdays will absent extenuating circumstances, be considered to have abandoned his/her job, and voluntarily resigned his/her position with the Company.
A non-exempt employee may be allowed to make up lost work time during the current workweek with prior supervisory approval. Authorization is granted only if work is available and only at a time that is mutually convenient for the employee and the employee’s supervisor. A non-exempt employee is generally not allowed to make up lost work time due to tardiness, unauthorized absence, or early departure without prior authorization from their supervisor.
In accordance with state and federal wage and hour regulations, if an exempt employee has no paid leave benefits available, the employee’s pay will be docked only if a full workday off is taken due to sickness or personal reasons or if the employee takes unpaid leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act.