How to handle chronically late employees

You glance at the clock. It's 8:30 a.m. and your first cashier is half an hour late for their shift – again. Your cashier is wonderful with the customers, knowledgeable about natural foods, but you can never count on them to be on time. They always have an excuse: the car broke down, the dog ran away, there was traffic, there was a long line at the post office...

It's apparent to you that they cut it too close and doesn't leave enough time to get ready and transport themself to work. You've spoken to them about this problem several times. For a while it gets better, but then they slide back. What can you do?

Breaking the pattern

First off, realize that this isn't about you as their manager, or about the job. This person had this pattern long before they came to work for you. Chronically late employees are deeply egocentric. They are saying in effect, "My problems are more important than other people's." They create chaos wherever they go and drag other people into it.

Confront the problem promptly. As soon as you observe tardiness of more than a few minutes, or as soon as you realize there is a pattern, speak to the employee about it. If no one remarks about their lateness, it would be reasonable for them to conclude that being on time is not important to you. If they know that every time they are late, they are going to have to explain themselves, they will at least know that their behaviour is unacceptable.

Explaining the impact

In counselling the punctuality-challenged, describe the impacts of their lateness not only on store operations in general but on their co-workers. For example, explain how another worker was unable to get coverage for a break, or how fellow staff had to work extra hard unloading a truck because the employee wasn't there when expected.

Making a choice

Point out that this problem will be with them for the rest of their lives if they don't come to terms with it now. Make it clear that they have to decide whether they will choose to be on time or not. Do active listening, but don't try to solve their problems for them. Instead, try the "broken record" approach: when the late employee starts giving excuses, keep coming back to the point that they have a choice about whether to be on time or not.

Also, understand that the chronically tardy employee will be late no matter what schedule you give them. If you change the start of the shift to 8:30, they'll drift in at 9:00.

Document lateness—the dates and times of expected and actual arrival. Of course a time clock is the best tool for the job. If you don't have one, you will need to track the employee's start times in writing by personal observation.

Progressive discipline

If coaching the tardy employee doesn't result in sustained improvement, use progressive discipline with a series of explicit written warnings. If they have any special responsibilities earned from past good performance, such as placing orders, consider taking them away temporarily. When an employee loses something of value to them and realizes that they have to prove themselves to get it back, it might have more impact on their behaviour than a written warning.

Above all, make it clear that this employee will be held to the same standard as others in the store. No matter how good they are at their job, if you let them play by different rules, you will undermine morale for the entire staff.

Finally, as the manager, you have to set a good example yourself. If you can't be counted on to be at the store at any given time and drift in at unpredictable hours, you can't expect chronically late employees to take you seriously. Model the behaviour you ask for—a characteristic of all good leaders. •