Attendance Standards Policy II-34 - The MetroHealth System

Subject: Attendance Standards
The MetroHealth System
Policy: II-34
I. POLICY: The MetroHealth System (MHS) has established attendance standards
to ensure consistent staffing levels and will monitor the absenteeism and
tardiness of its employees.
II. PURPOSE: To establish a uniform policy applicable to all hourly employees
regarding absenteeism and tardiness. MHS’s accumulated sick leave program is
designed to provide financial security during short-term absence and to bridge
the gap towards long-term disability. The annual sick leave credit earned is not
necessarily an indicator of acceptable annual absence.
III. SCOPE: All hourly employees of MHS.
IV. PROCEDURE
A. The attendance policy is based on the premise of “no fault” absenteeism;
this means all incidents of absenteeism are considered under this policy
with the exception of the following:
1. Scheduled vacation (use of vacation to cover illness/injury outside
of an approved leave of absence is not excludable);
2. Approved holidays including birthday holiday;
3. Approved leaves of absence (e.g. medical, maternity, FMLA, etc.);
4. Jury duty;
5. Approved funeral leave (including any approved extension);
6. Workers’ compensation;
7. Other work-related injuries or illness will be dealt with on a case by
case basis. (See Attachment E).
B. Attendance will be monitored by the immediate supervisor on the basis of
total work hours missed during the prior twelve (12) months. Each time
attendance is reviewed or at each step of corrective action, the twelve (12)
month period for review is the twelve (12) months immediately proceeding
the date of review. This is commonly referred to as a “rolling twelve (12)
months”.
V. DEFINITIONS
A. Tardiness: Employees are tardy when they are not at their assigned work
station at the start of their shift as defined by the employee’s supervisor.
1. Incidents of more than two (2) hours will be considered an absence.

Attendance Standards Policy: II-34 (2)
2. The six (6) minutes that are not docked on payroll are due to a
payroll process. It is not a grace period for being tardy.
B. Absence: Employees are absent when they fail to report on the job for a
work shift regardless of whether a timely call in was made to report their
absence.
C. No Call/No Show: Failure to notify your immediate supervisor (or
departmental designated alternate) of an absence (unless failure to give
notice was reasonably beyond the control of the employee).
D. Late Call: Failure to notify your immediate supervisor (or department
designated alternate) at least two hours prior to the designated starting
time.
1. Calls received more than one (1) hour after the designated starting
time notifying the supervisor that an employee will be absent (i.e.
will not be reporting to work or will be reporting more than two (2)
hours after the start time) will be treated in the same manner as “no
call” and the employee shall receive five (5) points for each hour of
absence.
2. Calls received less than 2 hours prior to the designated start time
will result in NO payment of sick time.
E. Full Time/ Part Time: For the purpose of this policy, full-time employees
are those individuals who are regularly scheduled to work sixty (60) hours
bi-weekly or more. Part-time employees are those individuals who are
regularly scheduled to work less than sixty (60) hours bi-weekly.
F. Pandemic: A widespread disease outbreak for which people have little or
no immunity.
VI. ASSIGNMENT OF ATTENDANCE POINTS
A. Attendance points will be assigned as listed below:
1. Absence - One (1) point for every hour or portion of an hour of the
shift (i.e. eight (8) hours scheduled equals eight (8) points) that an
employee is absent. Incidents of more then two (2) hours tardiness
will be considered an absence.
2. Holiday: Absence before or after paid time off or absences on
holidays on which an employee is scheduled to work. Two (2)
points for every hour or portion of an hour of the shift (i.e. eight (8)
hours scheduled equals sixteen (16) points).
3. No Call/No Show - Five (5) points for every hour or portion of an
hour of the shift (i.e. eight (8) hours scheduled equals forty (40)
points).

Attendance Standards Policy: II-34 (3)
a) Include late calls received more than one (1) hour after
designated start time.
b) Such absences for three or more consecutive work days
(unless failure to give notice was beyond the reasonable
control of the employee) will result in termination of
employment.
4. Overtime: Employees scheduled to work overtime or who
voluntarily accepts overtime assignment will be subject to the
provisions of these standards.
B. Absence combined with Tardy: After receiving a final written warning for
either attendance or tardiness violations, an employee may be terminated
for five (5) incidents of tardiness or the accrual of twenty-four (24) points
for attendance violations (fourteen (14) points if on part-time status).
C. Patterned Absences: Patterned absences, i.e. those in conjunction with
planned time off and/or weekends, will be dealt with under the Corrective
Action Policy II-36.
D. Medical Appointments
1. For up to three (3) medical appointments per calendar year,
employees will not receive attendance points for a maximum of
three (3) hours per medical appointment
2. Employees must request approval in writing from their immediate
supervisor at least seventy-two (72) hours in advance of the
appointment.
3. Employees are required to use their best efforts to schedule
appointments so as not to disrupt System operations.
4. Supervisors will notify employees whether the appointment time is
approved as soon as possible.
5. To be exempt from attendance points, employees must present
documentation to their immediate supervisors that they attended
the appointment on their next scheduled workday.
6. Points will be assigned for work time off in excess of three (3) hours
or for appointments beyond the three (3) in a calendar year.
E. Illness: Points will be assessed for every hour or portion of an hour that
an employee leaves work early because of an illness (i.e., an employee
who leaves work because of illness three (3) hours before the end of the
shift will be assessed three (3) points. Partial hours are to be rounded UP
to the nearest full hour.

Attendance Standards Policy: II-34 (4)
F. Pandemic Influenza
1. Guidelines for pandemic influenza pertain only to employees. Time
off for family members is addressed under Policy II-20 Leaves of
Absence and Policy II-42 Family and Medical Leave.
2. Leave duration for pandemic flu must not exceed 5 days, including
the 24 hours after the employee is free of a fever. Leaves in excess
of 3 or more days, may qualify for FMLA.
3. Employees who have symptoms of influenza-like illness must call-in
and notify their supervisor of their symptoms and absence in
accordance with the call-off procedures for their department. Those
that do call-off for influenza-like illness must come into the
Employee Health Clinic for further evaluation within 24 hours of
calling off. If the absence occurs during a weekend/after-hours shift,
the employee must contact the Employee Health Clinic on the next
business day. The Employee Health Clinic is open from 7:30 am -
4:00 pm Monday - Friday.
4. Employees experiencing influenza-like illness during work hours
must notify their supervisor immediately for referral to the Employee
Health Clinic for clearance to leave. If the Employee Health Clinic is
not open, employees can page the AMO on duty at #1181.
5. Upon returning to work, employees must report to the Employee
Health Clinic for clearance to return to work and to receive a
Clearance to Work Letter to give to their supervisor/timekeeper,
unless a doctor’s note can be provided.
6. All pandemic influenza leaves of absence will also be monitored
based on data from MHS Infectious Disease and the Cuyahoga
County Board of Health prevalence reports.
7. Failure to adhere to these guidelines will result in applicable
consequences as outlined in this policy. Points will not be assessed
provided that these guidelines have been followed.
G. Payment: Employee who fails to notify their immediate supervisor (or
departmental designated alternate) in violation of the call-in procedure will
not be able to use any paid leave for the absence. To be eligible for paid
leave, employees must call at least two hours prior to the designated
starting time.
H. Calculation: The standards of absenteeism are determined by the
employee’s status (i.e., full-time or part-time) and are based upon a rolling
twelve (12) month period or less. (See Attachment A).

Attendance Standards Policy: II-34 (5)
I. Tardiness: The standards for tardiness are based upon a rolling twelve
(12) month period or less, regardless of the employee’s status. (See
Attachment A).
J. Six-Month Roll-off: When employees receive no attendance points for six
(6) months (starting from the date of absence for which the last
attendance points were received), points will be deleted as follows:
1. Full-time employees who receive no attendance points for six (6)
consecutive months will have sixteen (16) attendance points
deleted from their attendance record.
2. Part-time employees who receive no attendance points for six (6)
consecutive months shall have ten (10) attendance points deleted
from their attendance records.
3. Employee’s attendance point totals shall not be reduced below
zero.
4. Attendance points will be deleted in the order that they were
received, i.e., the points that are deleted shall correspond to the
earliest dates for which attendance points were received.
K. Worker’s Compensation: Initial day of injury does not accrue points. For
additional information refer to Attachment E.
VII. CHANGE IN STATUS
A. When employees change status from Full-time to Part-time their point total
will be converted to the part-time standards by multiplying their points by
three-fifths (.6). Example: An employee is a full-time employee who
currently has reached eighty (80) points and has already received a
written warning. That employee then transfers to a part-time position (less
than sixty (60) hours biweekly). The attendance points will be converted
to “slotted” into the part-time standards. The employee’s new point total
will be forty-eight (48). (80 points x .6 = 48 points).
B. The same procedure would be used when an employee moves from parttime
to full-time, except the multiplier used would be five-thirds (1.67).
C. All future roll-off time should also have the points converted so that the
proper deductions are applied.
VIII. NEW HIRE PROBATIONARY EMPLOYEES
A. Employees who are serving their initial probationary period shall receive
attendance points in the same manner as all other employees. However,
the attendance of these employees shall be evaluated based on a
standard that takes into account their probationary status. (See

Attendance Standards Policy: II-34 (6)
Attachment B). This does not apply to probations connected to the “bid”
process.
B. If a probationary employee accumulates more than thirty-two (32) points at
any one time, during the first ninety (90) days of employment, discharge
will result. For example, one full day of no call/no show would result in
forty (40) points and termination of employment. All recommendations for
discharge must be reviewed and approved by the Division of Employee
and Labor Relations.
C. Consecutive days of absence due to hospitalization or communicable
disease will be reviewed on a case by case basis by the employee’s
department and the Division of Employee and Labor Relations.
D. After successful completion of the probationary period, the employee’s
point total will be assessed and the employee will be informed of the point
status under the standard for regular full-time or part-time employees.
IX. CROSS REFERENCE
A. Policy II-19 Holidays
B. Policy II-20 Leaves of Absence
C. Policy II-23 Vacation
D. Policy II-30 Employee Work-Related Illness/Injury Investigation
E. Policy II-36 Corrective Action
F. Policy II-42 Family and Medical Leave
X. ATTACHMENTS
A. Attendance Standards for Full-Time & Part-Time Employees
B. Attendance Standards for New Hire Probationary Employees
C. Record of Absenteeism
D. Record of Tardiness
E. Worker’s Compensation Explanation
F. Record of Discussion Notice
G. Corrective Action Report
H. Instructions For Completing Corrective Action Report
I. Probationary Warning Notice
XI. DATES
A. Initiated: January 1, 1996
B. Reviewed/Revised:
1. January 1997
2. February 2000

Attendance Standards Policy: II-34 (7)
XII. APPROVED
3. April 2003
4. October 2007
5. October 2009
6. November 2009
7. December 2009
8. December 2011
Mark J. Moran
President and Chief Executive Officer