Tardiness and Absenteeism

We all need to be here doing our jobs when we are scheduled for our Company to be successful. If we allow our employees to arrive late for work, it causes resentment and loss of morale for those who arrive on time. The late employee is not available to perform their job, and the work that others are trying to get done can be delayed by their absence. If employees are late, it’s difficult to get the showroom set up in time to open for our customers at 11:00 am. Late employees might also miss or cause meetings to be delayed, wasting time for coworkers and supervisors.

We cannot afford to allow people to be late for work over and over again without consequence. It isn’t fair to the Company or your coworkers. It’s not impossible or even difficult to be at work on time; allow enough time to get here and then allow a little extra time in case the traffic is terrible, the lights are all red, or especially if it’s raining.

You can use the internet to find out how traffic is flowing each morning; if the route you usually take is backed up, either find an alternative route or allow enough time to compensate for the difficult traffic conditions.

Absenteeism and Tardiness

Regular attendance and punctuality are essential for the smooth operation of Leo Hamel Fine Jewelers. We want to establish uniform guidelines that will ensure a consistent and fair approach to solving attendance problems. Therefore, we have developed the following attendance policy.

A. Definitions:

1. Incident: An incident is a term used to tabulate deviations from a perfect attendance record.

2. Perfect Attendance: No absences, tardiness, or missed time clock punches in any twelve (12) month period.

3. Absence: An absence from work is defined as the failure of any employee to report to work when scheduled. This applies to any assignment, be it a regular shift, overtime, work-related meetings, lunch, etc.

   • One day of absence will be considered one (1) incident.

   • A second consecutive calendar day of absence is not counted as an incident.

   • However, beginning with the third consecutive calendar day of absence and each day thereafter, each day of absence is considered a separate incident if the employee has not been released from work IN WRITING by a physician for the entire period.

   • If the employee missed work to care for a sick child and has a written note from a physician verifying the child’s illness during that time, it will not be considered an incident.

   • If the employee has a written note from a physician verifying the need for them to be at the hospital to make decisions for an immediate family member, it will not be considered an incident.

4. Partial Absence:

   • If an employee misses part of a shift due to illness, coming in late, going home early, or leaving and returning mid-day and does not have sufficient PTO to cover the absence, each absence of fewer than 2 hours will be considered one half (.5) incident and each absence of 2 hours or more will be considered one (1) incident unless the employee is released from work IN WRITING by a physician for the absence. This incident will be in addition to any incident for coming in late.

   • If the employee comes in late, leaves early, or leaves and returns during the day for a medical appointment and does not have sufficient PTO to cover the absence, each absence of fewer than 2 hours will be considered one half (.5) incident, and each absence of 2 hours or more will be considered one (1) incident, unless the employee brings proof of the appointment such as a receipt for copayment, copy of receipt for visit, copy of a prescription written by a physician, or a note from a physician. The document may have all information of a personal nature blacked out but must show the employee’s name and the date of the visit.

   • If the employee has to come in late or go home early to care for a sick child and has a written note from a physician verifying the child’s illness during that time, it will not be considered an incident.

   • If the employee has a written note from a physician verifying the need for them to be at the hospital to make decisions for an immediate family member, it will not be considered an incident.

   • If an employee has scheduled time off and does not have sufficient PTO accrued to cover the entire absence for any reason, it will be considered one half (.5) incident.

5. Clarification: Paid Time Off (PTO), paid holidays, jury duty, paid or unpaid bereavement leave, job-related injuries, lack of work, military leave, and lay-offs will not count as incidents. Pre-approved unpaid leaves of absence will not count as incidents. Time off due to illness that is not covered by PTO will count as incidents unless the employee has a doctor’s note for the time missed. Time off due to illness that is covered by PTO will not count as incidents, except in the case of coming in late due to illness, which is an incident. However, if you call in sick and your supervisor asks you to come in and work later in the day if you are able, then the incident for coming in late is removed.

   If you call in sick, but you are capable and able to efficiently get work done from home, you must get your supervisor’s written approval before doing so. Do not assume that you can call in sick and work remotely instead of coming in to work. The Company may limit the number of hours that one employee may work remotely instead of coming in to work.

   Flexible schedule employees that do not accrue PTO are allowed up to 40 hours of paid sick leave per year. For absences of 3 or fewer consecutive workdays, they don’t have to obtain a doctor’s note for time off due to illness and will not receive any incidents. However, for absences of more than 3 consecutive workdays, flexible schedule employees must always have a doctor’s note for time off due to illness, or it will be considered one or more incidents as detailed above in Absence and Partial Absence sections. See further details in your Employee Handbook.

6. Tardy: Tardiness occurs when an employee is not present at their workstation or location at their scheduled time. Tardiness also occurs when an employee leaves work before the end of their scheduled shift without prior approval. Calling in late due to illness still counts as being tardy, even if the employee has sufficient PTO to cover the absence or is exempt.

   • Tardiness of fewer than two (2) hours will be considered one-half (1/2) incident.

   • Tardiness of two (2) or more hours will be considered one (1) incident.

7. Missed Punches: Missed punch occurs when an employee fails to swipe in or out on the time clock at the beginning or end of their shift. A missed punch will be considered a one-half (1/2) incident. If it were physically impossible for the employee to swipe in or out due to being absent from the premises on an authorized work assignment, no incident would be assigned to that missed punch.

8. No-Call/No-Show: Employees must report their absence each day unless the time off has been pre-approved. Failure to do so is considered a no-call/no-show. In addition, failure to report one’s absence and receive confirmation from your supervisor or HR before your scheduled start time (10:00 am for Estate Buyers) will be regarded as a no-call/no-show, which will be considered one and one-half (1-1/2) incidents.

9. Late Return from Breaks: Employees late to return from a lunch break or any 15-minute break will earn one-half (1/2) incident.

Any employee who fails to call in and/or report to work for two consecutive workdays is voluntarily terminating their employment.

B. Reporting Requirements

• Employees must notify their supervisor and get a response before their scheduled start time (before 10:00 am for Estate Buyers) if they are going to be absent or more than 30 minutes tardy (except during pre-approved time off). Failure to do so will result in a no-call/no-show 1-1/2 incidents. See policy entitled “Calling in Sick or Tardy” for specific requirements of calling in and getting a response.

C. Guidelines for Attendance Control

Based on the number of incidents in at twelve (12) month rolling period, an employee will be subject to disciplinary action under either Section 1 or 2 below:

1. Short-Term Progressive Discipline: Short-term progressive discipline is appropriate for employees who meet the following guidelines but have less than six (6) incidents in a twelve (12) month rolling period.

   • Two incidents in any 30 day calendar period – Friendly Reminder

   • Three incidents in any 60 day calendar period – Verbal Warning

   • Two additional incidents within the next 90 day calendar period following a Friendly Reminder or Verbal Warning – the next step in discipline (Friendly Reminder to Verbal Warning or Verbal Warning to Written Warning)

   • Any additional (full) incidents within the next 6 months after the written warning will result in termination of employment, pending investigation and review by the CEO and the Director of Human Resources.

2. Long-Term Progressive Discipline: Long-term progressive discipline is appropriate for employees who have accumulated six (6) incidents in a twelve (12) month rolling period.

   • The sixth (6th) incident in a twelve (12) month rolling period will result in the next step of discipline (i.e., if there was no previous contact under 1 above, then a Friendly Reminder would be in order; if the previous contact under 1 above was Verbal Warning, then a Written Warning would be in order, etc.).

   • Each succeeding incident (repeat of 6th, 7th, etc.) in a twelve-month rolling period will result in the next step of discipline (i.e., Verbal Warning, Written Warning, and Termination).

Suspension is no longer included as a disciplinary step under this policy. Discipline will be given in the following order: Friendly Reminder, Verbal Warning, Written Warning, and then Termination (as shown in 1 & 2 above).

D. Removal of Incidents

1. If an employee has not accrued any incidents within 4 months from the last incident received, one-half incident will be removed on the 4-month anniversary of the last incident. This is meant to benefit employees who have made a solid effort not to receive any disciplinary action.

2. If the employee has no incidents accrued, none can be removed, and the accrual stays at zero.

3. Once a half-incident has been removed, another 4 months from the removal date must elapse before another half-incident can be removed.

E. Terminated Employees:

1. Employees that have been terminated as a disciplinary step resulting from attendance issues as described in this policy may submit a CSW request to be rehired.

   1. The CSW request for rehire can be submitted the same day as termination occurs. If rehired, the employee could begin working as early as the next day after termination.

   2. Wages will be renegotiated in the rehiring process.

   3. A CSW request for rehire does not guarantee the terminated employee future employment with the Company. The request may be denied with or without cause.

   4. Employees that are approved for rehire for the same position that they held previously (and within the 12 months following termination) will not be subjected to a 90 day Introductory Period and will start with no accumulated incidents.

   5. Employees are only allowed to CSW to be rehired once every 2 years. If an employee has CSW’d to be rehired within the last 2 years and is terminated again for attendance issues, the employee is not eligible for rehire for 12 months.

NOTE: Any established pattern of absence or attempts to circumvent the intent of this policy will be considered an abuse of this policy and be subject to disciplinary procedures. Nothing in this policy precludes the at-will employment status of any employee being subjected to this policy, and either party can terminate the relationship at any time without prior notice, with or without cause, and with or without any previous disciplinary actions.

Although there is no incident associated with leaving early due to illness unless the employee does not have sufficient PTO to cover the absence, should an employee’s unscheduled absences occur with such frequency to adversely affect department operations and prevent the employee from meeting their employment obligation of regular and reasonable attendance, the Company may take corrective action up to and including termination of employment.

There will be no exceptions to this policy unless specifically allowed in writing by the CEO or an Officer of the Company.