Sample Employee Attendance Policy

Attendance
Employees report to their work stations in adherence with their written
schedules. Workers should arrive sufficiently early to begin working right
at their scheduled times. Employees leave their work stations as specified
by their assigned shifts. Breaks and meal times must also be taken in
keeping with the previously set up work schedules.
Measuring Employee Compliance
Company considers a worker to be present and available to work after
s/he is clocked in. The time clock functions as the only tool the
organization uses to measure proper adherence to the previously agreed
on shift. An employee who clocks in late is considered tardy.
Absences
Company recognizes excused and unexcused absences. Excused
absences are outlined in the employee handbook under Jury Duty, Leave
of Absence, Sick Time, Bereavement, and Time off. These are
scheduled absences. Unexcused absences are occurrences when the
employee is not at her/his workstation at the appointed time and did not
previously schedule an absence. Ten tardies clocking in after the
scheduled beginning of a shift equal one unexcused absence.
Disciplinary Actions
Excused absences are not subject to disciplinary actions. Unexcused
absences incur disciplinary actions. Companys human resources
department issues a verbal warning at the first occurrence. Thereafter the
worker receives a written warning until s/he misses a cumulative annual
total of XZ hours, when the employee is subject to termination.
Preventing Disciplinary Actions
Employees should contact their supervisors by phone or company email
as soon as they anticipate being absent from their work stations. Being
absent from work for two consecutive days without notice to the
supervisor is considered job abandonment and Company will initiate work
separation procedures. Your personnel record will reflect a voluntary
resignation from your position.
Sample Vacation Policy
The following sample vacation policy for a small business is based on
what's offered at my own businesses, where I have always employed
between 25-35 people--so less than 50:
Vacation time does not accrue. You must utilize your vacation within the
year it is available. For example, if your hire date was May 1st and you
have 5 days, and you do not use the vacation days within the timeframe
of May 1st to April 30th, that accrued vacation time is lost. Vacation time is
accrued from your hire date.
One year of service = One week of vacation pay.
Two years or more = Two weeks of vacation pay.
Six years or more = Three weeks of vacation pay.
If you are eligible for two or three weeks of vacation pay, the company
asks, if possible, for you to divide your vacation days within two different
times, or ensure that you have ample back-up to cover your position at
the workplace. Vacation must be requested thirty (30) days in advance
and approved by your supervisor. The company offers no personal days at
this time, but you may utilize vacation days if an emergency arises.
If you leave the company, for any reason, any accrued vacation pay will
not be paid. You must be an active employee to receive vacation pay.
The U.S. Dept. of Labor has no law stating that accrued vacation pay must
be given to an employee when he quits or is terminated. The U.S. Dept. of
Labor abides by each companys handbook policies to enforce vacation
pay.

When considering the sample vacation policy for small businesses presented here, the business
owner must think about the size of his company. There are no laws that state you have to pay out any
unused or accrued vacation time if someone leaves the company, nor do you have to let vacation time
accrue.

As a small business owner its often challenging to introduce company benefits that you can afford as
far as costs to the company. Choosing a base vacation policy that does offer paid time off such as
this, albeit limited, allows for the small business owner to consider other employee benefits such as
health, dental, and retirement plans.

Any paid vacation benefit will be welcomed, but dont try and compete with large corporations where
vacation, sick, and personal days are allowed to accrue and are paid out upon request or taken in
large chunksyou may not have enough employees to cover your customers needs. If you employ
this policy, make sure to include the verbiage in your employee handbook so employees
understand how it works and when they are eligible to take vacation pay.

Its also a good idea to place the policy in writing in case you ever need to document your policy
during an audit, employee lawsuit, or some sort of appeal by the employee. Having a written policy
the employee signs off on will ensure state and federal agencies will defer to that written policy.

Example of a Standard Business Dress Code Policy

Now that you have had a glimpse of some of the pitfalls that lurk just
beneath a seemingly innocent attire protocol, consider this dress code
policy example:
1. Men and women may wear full-length slacks, pants or suit pants
made from cotton, wool, flannel or synthetic fibers. Please avoid
stretch pants, sweat pants and shorts.
2. Women may wear dresses, skirts or split skirts that reach knee-level
and are made from cotton, wool, flannel or synthetic fibers. Please
avoid skorts, mini skirts, sun dresses, denim or spandex.
3. Men may wear dress shirts, women may wear blouses. Both genders
may wear polo shirts, turtlenecks, sweaters, sports or suit jackets.
Please avoid wearing t-shirts, clothing with commercial, political or
religious slogans, sweatshirts, halter-tops and anything that leaves
the shoulders bare.
4. Please wear closed-toe shoes. Avoid flip-flops, thongs, sandals and
worn-out sneakers
5. Please refrain from wearing head coverings of any kind, unless they
are part of a religious or ethnic attire requirement
6. Your supervisor will answer any questions with respect to this
business dress code policy. S/He is also charged with enforcing it
 7. A first violation of the dress policy results in a verbal warning; a
second and third violation lead to a first and second written warning.
A fourth violation may result in the employees dismissal

Please remember that a business dress code policy is only as good as the
amount of consistent enforcement it receives. Spotty enforcement,
selective heavy-handedness and also dress code requirements that do not
seem to make sense for the type of business they regulate all open the
doors to lawsuits. By word of a disclaimer, a human resources
representative must understand that even the aforementioned example of
a dress code should be vetted by an attorney to ensure that it meets a
specific business needs and its workforce's requirements.

Examples of Written Performance Appraisals

The following examples are brief excerpts of written feedback provided to
support performance appraisals. Notice that these are excerpts from a
collective review; therefore, not all of the required or optional components
mentioned on the previous page are displayed. Additionally, these
samples are meant to serve as a basis for feedback, and they are not
meant to be copied exactly for employees rated as exceeds expectations,
meets expectations, or needs improvement.
Exceeds Expectations
John continuously exceeds manager expectations in the role of trainer. He
effectively adapts to change, works well under pressure while maintaining
a positive attitude, and has an exceptional ability to provide detail, which
are especially critical to our departments need to meet strict client
deadlines and ever-changing demands. John goes beyond the call of duty
by continually seeking out and following through with additional
responsibilities and contributing frequently to department meetings. John
is an active listener, managers his time well, and demonstrates
exceptional professionalism and conscientiousness about quality of work.
Although John works exceptionally well independently, he could benefit
from additional team-building skills and experiences.
Meets Expectations
John meets manager expectations in the role of trainer. He adapts to ever-
changing client demands and works effectively under pressure. John
maintains a positive attitude and acute sense of detail, but often at the
expense of effective time management. John demonstrates adequate
communication skills and completes all requested tasks and required
responsibilities. He is very considerate of other team members and works
well independently or collaboratively. John shows great aptitude for
leadership, but he doesnt seek out additional professional development
opportunities.
Needs Improvements
John does not meet the management expectations for a person in a
trainer role. He does not adapt well to the changing nature of client-facing
positions and cannot work well under pressure. This often results in the
inability to remain positive and channel frustrations into a positive
outcome. John is capable of effectively communicating with peers and
clients, but he needs to improve the team-building and collaboration skills
necessary to succeed in this position. I am encouraged by Johns drive for
personal excellence, and I believe this energy can be transferred to a
professional role with more training and experience in time management,
active listening, and industry-specific knowledge.

Staff Retention Begins With a New Employee Welcome Letter

Dear [insert name],
Welcome to [insert company name]! We are looking forward to having you
onboard as you assist [insert company name] in fulfilling its mission.
Please sign in with your supervisor, [insert name], on [insert date] at
[insert time]. S/He will walk you through the initial paperwork and
employee orientation. Please remember to bring along [insert document
names] to expedite the process.
[Insert supervisor name] will support you every step of the way and
ensure a smooth introduction to the workplace, the team and of course
the company as a whole. All members of the management team are
always available to you for assistance.
Sincerely,
[Insert supervisor name and signature]
[Insert executive name and signature]

Basics of Motivation
The understanding of the word "Motivation" helps a manager understand
the desires of an employee and influence his or her behavior to work
efficiently. Many motivation theorists like Frederick Herzberg (1966), David
McClelland (1987), and Abraham Maslow (1968) have explained the
concept of motivation through various models and theories. This article
aims to guide managers to understand human behavior and to focus their
energies to achieve the desired goals.
The two approaches to motivation (psychological and managerial) throw
some light on the fact that one can utilize the managerial approach in
context to different behavioral theories to extract the best from workers.
Two Factor Theory
As classical theory states, the managers work is to assign jobs to
employees and keep a check that the instructions are followed and work
assigned is completed in time. However, human resource theory claims, to
complete a task the manager should mutually set objectives and solve
problems with the workforce. Therefore, a manager decides which
strategy will be well matched to the current situation in order to obtain
required results.
A theory of motivation-hygiene that was popularly known as the two-
factor theory was given by a psychologist named Frederick Herzberg. In
his theory, he examined and listed the attitude of people toward their job.
The conclusion from his findings gave rise to the two factors: intrinsic and
extrinsic.
Talking about the peoples view, intrinsic factors like advancement,
recognition, responsibility, and achievement were promoted by those who
were satisfied with their job. However, the disappointed workers cited
factors like supervision, salary, organizational policy, and working
environment Herzberg referred to these as extrinsic factors.
The theory also states that the factors leading to job satisfaction are very
different from factors leading to job dissatisfaction. Therefore, a manager
may get rid of unsatisfied employees by omitting the extrinsic factors and
by giving importance to hygiene factors, but this will not help in
motivating people. Therefore, to motivate workers, one needs to
emphasize factors linked with work itself like promotional opportunities,
recognition, etc.
In addition, from the point of view of Equity theory, people analyze
their job outcomes in relation to what they devote or give to the job
(inputs) and then they compare their effort and rewards with other
co-workers in the same organization working under one roof. In
addition, if ones inputs and outputs do not match, the person will
be highly demoralized.
Moreover, the practicing managers should understand the rigidness
of Maslows hierarchy of needs theory. Instead, managers should
impose Alderfers ERG model that was introduced by Clayton Paul Alderfer
as a modified version of Maslows needs. In his theory, he presented three
groups of core needs:
existence
relatedness,
growth.
It elaborates the concept that instead of starting with basic needs of
satisfaction, one can work to achieve growth needs or relatedness needs
directly. Or else, an individual can work on all three needs simultaneously
without following or considering the traditional way to start with basic
needs. From this theory, it can be derived that a culture is a drawback of
Maslows theory that is taken into consideration by ERG theory.
Control Emotions
It has been argued by Joe Takash (2008) that practicing emotional control
is one of the major factors that justify the importance of motivation to an
organization, as emotion is the issue that affects a managers thoughts
and decision. Anyone can be nice and soft spoken in good times but when
a person, especially a manager, during his bad days, controls his emotions
and reveals great understanding with the workers while maintaining
objectives, it matters a lot. This indirectly motivates the employees to be
loyal to the organization.
One can effectively use motivation as an influential management tool by
applying relevant theories to the situations they are best suited for and
getting optimal solutions to achieve the targeted organizational goal.
Basic Guidelines
The main point for managers to remember when trying to motivate
employees is to ensure that the employees retain a feeling of freedom
while still having a clear understanding of expectations. Follow these basic
guidelines to ensure a motivating work environment:
State only the most necessary rules and policies.
Publish the rules and policies so all employees have a copy.
Identify organizational values and write a professional code of
conduct.
Address individual needs by counseling and performance
evaluation programs.
Communicate all expectations and guidelines clearly.