Sorry I’m late: terrible traffic (again!)
by Claire Stewart on 01/09/08 at 7:00 am
7 comments
What do you do when an employee regularly arrives to work late?
Should you give them leeway for bad traffic / late buses / trains / taxis? And if so, how much leeway should you give them?
The answer is none. If the latecoming is a once-off event, fine and well, but more than once and the employee should be disciplined. We’re not talking canes and whips here, but the employee should definitely be counseled. This is actually legal speak for finding out what the problem is and then informing the employee that they’re required to abide by the organisation’s official starting time or their agreed starting time. If the problem keeps occurring you’ll need to move on to written warnings, final written warnings etc.
And this must be applied consistently to all employees. One of the tenants of labour legislation is consistency and fairness.
This may sound harsh, but remember: if you give one employee leeway, you are then required to give other employees leeway, and someone has to be at work when clients phone or visit!
Claire Stewart is the founder of PeopleWise, an HR and Employment consulting service. Like Neo in the Matrix, Claire sees through the convoluted mess of SA employment law and makes sense of it for you, loyal Ideate reader. View more articles by Claire Stewart.
Don
Sep 1st, 2008
How does this work with once-weekly non-contract domestic workers?
Stii
Sep 1st, 2008
Here is a tip for employees, should this happen, work late the day you come in late as it would cancel each other out… if the nature of your work allows for that, of course. If not, well, don’t be late!
Claire
Sep 1st, 2008
Hi Stii,
Thanks for the post- would be great if it worked like that but unfortunately it doesn’t- unless you and your boss have previously agreed to those special conditions.
Cheers,
Claire
Claire
Sep 1st, 2008
Hi Don,
If your domestic worker comes in once a week you should have a signed employment contract with them. There’s no such thing as a non-contract worker- in terms of labour legislation if someone works for you both parties will be bound by the Basic Conditions of Employment Act.
But I digress- yes, this definately would apply to your domestic worker as long as you have stipulated what time you need her to arrive in the morning, preferably in writing.
Don
Sep 1st, 2008
Right! So off I go to draw up a contract to make sure she arrives on time!
naeem
Sep 2nd, 2008
To add:
Employees, if you are running late, simply call or sms your boss/manager to notify you’ll be late.
And like Stii mentioned, put in the extra hours, or take the shorter lunch break, skip the coffee & smoke break etc. Make up for the late comings by going the extra mile.
Either way, if you are worth your salt, the odd latecoming shouldnt matter.
Mandrake
Sep 2nd, 2008
What happens when these b$%^#%^ taxi drivers and bus drivers and train drivers go on strike? i gave our office tea lady a lift yesterday. our freeway in PE goes past the main taxi-rank. There were lines and lines of ppl waiting for taxis due to a bus strike.
Sad thing this SAfriken public transport