POLICY & PROCEDURE DOCUMENT

DIVISION: Department of Facilities Management

TITLE: DFM Attendance Policy

DATE: 02/01/2017

REVISED: 10/11/2019

Policy for: All WKU/Sodexo front-line employees working for WKU Facilities Management in the
Custodial or Grounds departments

Authorized by: Director of Facilities Management

ATTENDANCE POLICY/STANDARDS AND RECORDS

All employees are expected to report to work as scheduled. Absenteeism and lateness/leaving
early are expensive, disruptive, place an unfair burden on those employees who must fill-in for
absent employees, and may negatively impact customer service. To ensure adequate staffing,
positive employee morale, and to meet expected productivity standards throughout Facilities
Management, employees will be held accountable for adhering to their workplace schedule. In
the event an employee is unable to meet this expectation, he/she must obtain approval from
their manager/supervisor in advance of any requested schedule changes. This approval includes
requests to use appropriate accruals, as well as late arrivals to or early departures from work.

I. Definitions:
a. An “Absence” is defined as missing more than 50% of your scheduled work time.
An absence includes all lost work time whether avoidable or unavoidable,
regardless of the reason or the lack of fault of the employee and/or whether the
employee receives pay for the time off
b. A “No call, no show” results from an employee not showing up for work or
reporting an absence within two hours of their normal start time
c. “Tardy/leaving early” is defined as reporting to work 5 or more minutes after
the scheduled starting time or leaving work more than 5 minutes prior to the
scheduled ending time, unless approved in advance by your manager or
supervisor
d. “Job Abandonment” is defined as leaving work without notifying a member of
the management team or an employee leaves work (unscheduled) in a disruptive
manner (e.g. angry/using profanity)
 e. “Punch Error” is not clocking in/out for the beginning/end of the shift; not
clocking in/out for the scheduled lunch break; or clocking out after the
scheduled shift end time without prior permission from a manager
f. “FMLA” (Family Medical Leave Act) is an unpaid, excused leave of absence for medical
conditions relating to pregnancy, a serious health condition of the employee, their child,
spouse or parent, or covered service member. Employee must have 12 months of
service AND have worked 1,250 hours in the prior 12-months to be eligible
g. “Non-FMLA” is an unpaid, excused leave of absence for all of the same reasons for
FMLA; however, the employee has not met the minimum service/work hour
requirements. Subject to HR approval and does not guarantee the same rights as FMLA.
Absences may require additional documentation
h. An absence/tardy/early departure may be “Excused” if:
i. The employee has leave time available and calls in at least one hour
prior to the start of their shift;
ii. The employee is sent home by a member of the management team due
to visible illness;
iii. The employee voluntarily brings in a doctor’s note that specifically
discloses that the time missed was due to their own personal contagious
illness;
iv. The absence is part of an approved Leave of Absence defined in company
policy
i. An absence/tardy/early departure will be considered “Unexcused” if:
i. The employee has no leave time available and the absence does not meet
the criteria specified above as an Excused absence;
ii. The employee calls in less than one hour prior to the start of their shift;
iii. The employee leaves early (unscheduled) for reasons other than those
listed under “excused”;
iv. An employee is scheduled to work an event but calls off without finding
someone to cover their shift

II. Call-off/Notification Procedures

Employees must follow these call-off procedures anytime you have an unscheduled
absence
a. Notification of any unscheduled absence must be made as far in advance as
possible but at a minimum of at least one (1) hour prior to the scheduled start of
your shift
b. Employees are required to call your specific unit (identified below in Section c.)
and leave a detailed message indicating the time, day, reason for the absence or
lateness and a phone number where you can be reached
i. Leaving a message with another staff member is not acceptable
ii. Employees are required to call the number listed in this policy to report
an absence. If you so choose to also send a text, email or the use of any
other technology, you still must call and leave a message on the Unit
phone.
 iii. You are expected to call in your absence yourself. Having another person
call on your behalf is not acceptable, unless there are extenuating
circumstances that prevent you from personally calling
iv. If you will be absent for longer than one day, you will be required to keep
your manager informed of your status on a daily basis, unless directed
otherwise by your manager
c. Unit Specific numbers to report an absence
i. Environmental Services: 270-745-5826
ii. Housing Zone 1: 270-745-5559
iii. Housing Zone 3: 270-745-6898
iv. Campus Services: 270-745-5820 OR Contact Immediate
Supervisor or Manager

III. Paid/Unpaid Time Off

a. Each employee with at least one year of service may be excused up to 10 days of
vacation in a calendar year (all paid time off will be used prior to unpaid days).
b. Vested vacation time counts towards the 10 days
c. Sick days can only be used for medical-related absences—up to five (5) days regardless if
paid time is available or not, will not count towards the ten days if they are excused
absences (a doctor’s statement is required to excuse these absences)
d. Vacation days will automatically be pulled for medical-related absences if no sick time is
available to cover
e. All days off must be pre-approved based on the attendance policy and may result in the
accumulation of attendance points
f. Unpaid absences over the above-mentioned excused days that are not part of an
approved medical leave of absence will be considered unexcused and accrue points
g. New employees receive pro-rated days based on when they start work
h. Examples:
i. Sally has 80 hours of Vested Vacation time for the year. Her 10 days she is
allowed off will be paid days; however, points can still be assigned to paid
absences if they are Unexcused.
ii. Joan has 40 hours of Vested Vacation time for the year. Five (5) of her days will
be paid days; however, she is allowed up to an additional five (5) unpaid
absences during the year that will not be assessed points as long as they are
Excused.
iii. John begins employment in June. He will be allowed up to Five unpaid days off
without points as long as they are Excused.
iv. Jane has 15 vested hours of vacation and has accrued 15 hours of sick leave. She
misses three days for the flu, brings in a doctor’s statement, and followed call-in
procedures to make it a scheduled absence. Jane will be paid for all three days
(Sick 15 hours; Vac 7.5 hours). She will continue to accrue sick leave up to her
annual accrual amount. She has 7.5 hours of Paid Vacation left and can still be
excused for 10 days of vacation and 2 days of sick time for the remainder of the
year.
IV. Requests for Time Off
All requests for time off must be made in writing using the correct form and should be
made as far in advance as possible unless extenuating circumstances exist.
a. For a single day off, appointments, or other missed time, the request should be
made at least one hour prior to the proposed start of the time off (excluding
events)
b. For vacation or extended time off of more than three days, the request should
be made a minimum of seven days prior to the proposed start of the time off
c. Written requests by different employees for time off for the same dates/times
will be considered in the date order in which they are received.
d. All requests for time off will be considered in light of operational and business
needs.
e. A request for time off does not guarantee that it will be granted.

V. Attendance Standards
Absences, no-call/no-shows, tardy/leaving early are accumulated and counted in a
rolling twelve (12) month period, and will expire twelve months from the date of the
initial incident.
a. One day of an unexcused absence is considered ONE (1) point
b. Up to three (3) consecutive days of absence for the same illness or injury for the
employee, their child or spouse are considered ONE (1) point if accompanied by
a doctor’s statement. If a doctor’s statement is not provided, each day of
absence will accrue ONE (1) point
c. Absences greater than three (3) consecutive days for the same illness or injury
will require a medical certification from a health care provider (see human
resources)
d. Any one day of No Call, No Show is considered THREE (3) points
e. Each Tardy/leaving early is considered ONE HALF (1/2) a point
f. Any one occurrence of Job Abandonment will result in Investigatory Suspension
pending corporate approval of termination
g. Punch Errors will be processed under the Performance disciplinary action
process rather than the attendance policy; however, punch errors can lead to
disciplinary action up to and including termination
h. Absences due to qualifying reasons protected by FMLA and/or state leave law
will not be counted and will not result in the accumulation of points, provided
you comply with your responsibilities under these laws, the Call-Off Notification
Procedures included herein, and the Company’s policies and procedures
regarding leaves of absence.
 VI. Incentive—Ability to earn back points
Employees will be given the opportunity to earn back points for good attendance. Each
month an employee works at least 135 hours AND has zero (0) Unexcused absences,
he/she will earn back ½ point. These “earnings” do not accumulate and can only be used
to reduce points accrued within the past 12 months.

VII. Constructive Counseling for absenteeism will be as follows:

a. After accumulating 2 points in a rolling 12 month period: Courtesy Notification
b. After accumulating 3 points in a rolling 12 month period: Written Coaching
c. After accumulating 5 points in a rolling 12 month period: Courtesy Notification
d. After accumulating 6 points in a rolling 12 month period: Written Warning
e. After accumulating 7 points in a rolling 12 month period: Termination of
Employment. Upon accumulation of the 7th point, the employee will be placed
on an Investigatory Leave of Absence until the termination is approved by
Corporate HR.

VIII. Inclement Weather

To ensure the safety of our employees, there may be times when the General Manager
makes the decision to excuse absences due to weather emergencies. In these rare cases,
an employee will be given the option to either take the day off unpaid or use a vacation
day (if leave time is available). However, if the Unit is open then typically an absence
related to weather will count as one point.

IX. Flexing Shifts/Making up Missed Time

a. No employee is guaranteed the ability to flex their shift or make up missed time
b. Prior approval from the Supervisor and/or Manager must be obtained
c. There must be a supervisor/manager on campus that can supervise/direct the
employee’s work
d. The additional work may or may not be in the employee’s normal assigned area
depending on business needs
e. Missed hours that will result in overtime is not allowed
f. Making up missed time or flexing your shift does not guarantee the
absence/missed time to be excused under the attendance policy

X. Special Events
Employees are required to work special events when drafted. If he/she cannot work on the day
they are drafted, it is their responsibility to find someone to cover for them (using the
appropriate form) otherwise attendance points will be assigned for the absence, regardless of
the amount of notification provided.

XI. Important Notes

a. Vacation/Sick can be used in 15 minute increments and will automatically be applied for
time missed (including tardies of 15 minutes or more) unless the employee is on an
approved medical leave of absence and request to not use PTO in advance
b. Doctor’s excuses are not required for single absences nor do they automatically excuse
an absence. A doctor’s note will be required if: 1) You want the absence to count as one
of your five excused sick days; 2) you miss more than one day of work and want the
absence to be counted as consecutive days; or 3) you have a personal contagious illness
and are willing to have a doctor disclose the nature of the illness on your doctor’s
statement
c. FMLA absences do not accumulate points and as long as the number of absences per
month is in line with the doctor’s certification, no doctor’s notes are required. Employee
must specify FMLA when requesting leave
d. Employees are not eligible for holiday pay if there is an unscheduled absence the day
prior to, the day of, and/or the day after a holiday
e. Employees are encouraged to schedule appointments outside of working hours when
possible