A ready-to-edit attendance policy aligned with the Fair Labor Standards Act, common state wage-and-hour rules, and modern biometric or app-based time tracking.
Attendance is the single biggest contributor to payroll accuracy and to workplace fairness. Without a written policy, late arrivals are disputed, no-call / no-show events drag on, and overtime claims become a monthly argument. A documented policy — acknowledged at hire and updated annually — turns every attendance exception into a rule-based decision rather than a manager judgment call. It is also the first document an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission investigator or wage-and-hour auditor will ask to see.
Get a properly formatted Microsoft Word (.docx) file with headings, bullets and placeholders already styled. Replace all [SQUARE BRACKETS] with your own details.
ATTENDANCE POLICY 1. PURPOSE This policy establishes the working hours, clock-in and clock-out requirements, late-arrival rules, and disciplinary consequences for attendance violations for all employees of [COMPANY NAME]. 2. APPLICABILITY Applies to all non-exempt and exempt employees — full-time, part-time, and temporary — across all offices and remote locations of [COMPANY NAME] in the United States. 3. WORK HOURS - Standard schedule: 9:00 AM to 5:30 PM, Monday through Friday, with a 30-minute unpaid meal break. - Non-exempt employees must be off-the-clock during meal and rest breaks in accordance with state law (e.g. CA Labor Code §512 for California employees). - The standard work week is 40 hours. Hours worked beyond 40 in a workweek are paid at one and one-half times the regular rate per the FLSA. State daily-overtime rules (CA, AK, NV) apply where relevant. 4. CLOCK-IN / CLOCK-OUT - Non-exempt employees must record actual time worked using the designated timekeeping system (Peoplifi mobile or desktop app, or a biometric device where installed). - Falsifying time records, "buddy-punching", or attempting to bypass the timekeeping system is grounds for termination and may be considered theft of time under state wage-and-hour law. 5. LATE ARRIVAL - Arrival 1 to 7 minutes after the start time is recorded but does not result in disciplinary action. - Arrival 8 to 30 minutes late counts as a tardy. - Three (3) tardies in a rolling 30-day period result in a verbal warning under the progressive-discipline policy. - Five (5) tardies in a rolling 30-day period result in a written warning. 6. NO-CALL / NO-SHOW An employee who fails to report to work and fails to notify their manager within two hours of the scheduled start time is considered no-call / no-show. Two consecutive no-call / no-show days are treated as a voluntary resignation, except where the employee can show good cause (medical emergency, jury duty, FMLA-protected leave, etc.). 7. REMOTE AND HYBRID EMPLOYEES Remote and hybrid employees must clock in through the Peoplifi mobile or desktop app. The desktop time-tracking agent records only working hours, application categories, and (where enabled) configurable-interval screenshots. Personal time, lunch, and breaks are not tracked. 8. CORRECTIONS Missed punches must be reported to the manager and HR by the end of the next working day. A maximum of two (2) correction requests per pay period will be processed at the manager's discretion. Repeated missed punches may indicate a training need. 9. ACCESSIBILITY AND ACCOMMODATIONS This policy is applied uniformly. Employees who require an accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) — for example, modified start times for medical reasons — should contact HR. We engage in the interactive process required by the ADA before declining any reasonable request. 10. PROGRESSIVE DISCIPLINE Repeated violations are addressed through a progressive process: verbal warning → written warning → final written warning → termination. Egregious violations (timecard fraud, walking off the job) may skip steps. Documentation of each step is retained in the employee's personnel file for at least three (3) years per the FLSA recordkeeping rules (29 CFR Part 516). 11. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I have read, understood, and agree to comply with this attendance policy. Employee Name: ____________________ Employee ID: ____________________ Signature: ____________________ Date: ____________________
Federal law does not mandate a specific attendance policy, but the FLSA requires accurate timekeeping for non-exempt employees (29 CFR §516). A written policy is the practical way to satisfy that requirement and to defend disciplinary actions later.
In most states yes, but Illinois (BIPA), Texas (CUBI), Washington (HB 1493), and others require employee consent and limits on biometric data storage before enrollment. Peoplifi's biometric integrations store templates on the device and only ingest hashed punch events — no raw biometrics on our servers.
Use a clock-in mechanism (mobile app or desktop agent) that the employee initiates. Avoid surveillance-style monitoring outside working hours. Document expectations clearly so remote employees are not held to different standards than in-office staff.
They can be — most US states are at-will and consecutive no-call / no-show days are commonly treated as voluntary resignation. Document the absence and notification attempts before processing the termination to protect against unemployment-claim challenges.
Peoplifi generates US-aligned offer letters, warning letters, and policy packs from your employee data in one click — no copy-pasting, no version drift.