How to Deal With Employees Who Are Late to Work

Tardy employees can be frustrating even if you don’t work in a deadline-driven or customer-facing business. You provide them with set working hours and expect them to arrive on time to work those hours.
However, not all employees are known for punctuality and can repeatedly turn up late to work. This can affect not only management but also other employees who must pick up their slack. Fortunately, any business leader can take action before the problem gets too severe. Consider taking these actions: 

Find Out Why They’re Late

Some employees simply lack time management skills. However, others can have genuine reasons. For example, aside from being tired, one of the many dangers of daylight savings is adjusting to having to reset the clocks twice per year. This can wreak havoc on anyone’s body clock. You may even be shocked to learn that a 6% increase in fatal car accidents is associated with daylight savings. 
Late employees may also be struggling with their mental health or have family issues. You won’t know the real reasons unless you ask them. 

Don’t Wait Too Long to Address It

Even if you have a busy schedule and don’t always have time for one-on-one meetings with employees, you should address a lack of punctuality as soon as you notice a pattern. By waiting, you’re sending a message that you allow your employees to start work later than they’re supposed to. 
When you address late workers promptly, you’re also showing other employees that you value good time management skills.

Share Your Lateness Policy

Most established businesses have lateness policies. These outline the expectations for employees to start work on time. They typically also mention the steps you’ll take if an employee continues to be late. 
When you’ve identified a consistently late employee, share this policy with them to ensure they’re familiar with it. You may also see the value in discussing disciplinary steps with them that may come into play if they continue to be late.

Set Goals 

When you’ve discussed continued lateness with an employee, set goals with them to work toward improvements in their time management. Setting self-improvement goals and following up on them can show your employees that you care about seeing them make valuable changes.
These goals might include being on time to work for most of the week but giving them grace initially if they can’t manage all working days. Eventually, the expectation will be to see them arrive on time every day. You may also like to come up with other ways to make up for tardiness, like staying later in the day to ensure they’re working all the hours they’re being paid for. 

Praise Them for Changes

As challenging as it can be to praise an employee for something that’s already expected of them, it can be worthwhile when you see a previously tardy employee making an effort. You don’t have to praise them publicly, but you can bring them aside and let them know you’ve noticed they’ve been on time and thank them for improving. 
As frustrating as tardy employees can be, you have options for how you manage them. Finding out why, sharing your lateness policy, and setting goals are just a few of the many actions you may take to help your consistently late employee get back on track.