Purpose:

This policy outlines expectations for employee attendance at and to work during assigned hours of work

Policy Overview

Being at work where and when expected is an important component of employee performance. Using time at work as expected to attend to assigned work tasks and activities is vital to workplace safety, performance and our organizations success. This policy will help clarify expectations for employee use of time during work hours.

Definitions

For our purposes “Stealing Time” refers to the misuse of an employers time. “Time Theft” refers to instances where employees intentionally fraudulently represent themselves as working when in fact they were not working.

Use of Time At Work

During working hours and while on the job, at a jobsite or generally while at work we expect our employees to focus their time and attention on work activities, work tasks, projects and other tasks that are components of their job description or otherwise assigned except during approved breaks. This includes expecting employees to show up on time and as expected and avoid using work time for personal activities.

Misuse of Time at Work

Misuse of time at work or ‘Stealing Time’ occurs when an employee is not in the workplace as expected and/or is engaged in activities during working hours that are not part of the employee’s assigned or expected duties or tasks. Examples of stealing time or misuse of time include:

• Failing to show up at work during working hours
• Buddy attendance recording (clocking in or out for a colleague who is not there)
• Tardiness or late starts at the beginning of a shift or upon returning from a break
• Leaving work early without permission or prior arrangements
• Leaving work to attend to personal activities such as errands without authorization
• Taking breaks longer than scheduled or approved
• Unauthorized overtime or recording overtime that was not worked
  • Attending to personal activities while at work or during working hours such as reading personal messages, taking personal calls, surfing the Internet, chatting with colleagues, playing games

We recognize that sometimes employees will inadvertently misuse work time without the intention to steal time for example employees who are running late, receive an unexpected and important communication, forget to record personal time away from work. When errors are made employees can inform a supervisor and make arrangements to make the lost time up.

Response to Misuse of Time By Employees

Inadvertently “Stealing Time’ without intention to misrepresent or defraud the organization is not acceptable. In response steps will be taken to address this misuse of time through information sharing, retraining, education and additional supervision. If misuse of time or stealing time continues after the employee has been made aware that stealing time is not acceptable disciplinary steps may be taken.

Intentionally and fraudulently misusing time and failing to acknowledge this “Time Theft’ is a serious offense that will normally result in progressive disciplinary actions that can include termination.

Please Consult Additional Related Policies For Further Clarification 

• Workplace Time, Hours of Work and Attendance including Sick Time Reporting policies
• Internet, Cell/Smartphone, Computer use policies
• Leave, Vacation and Overtime policies