Truancy and tardiness in the workplace or so what?

The clock sounded 7:30 a.m. One or two of the staff are at their desks. A few are slowly trickling in. By 8:30 everybody finally arrives. Today about three desks will remain empty as there occupants will be absent. One employee is on sick leave but the other two just didn’t come and never bothered to call in. Does this scenario sound familiar in your office?

Yesterday I discussed truancy in schoolchildren. As I noted, it can be the first step to a lifetime of problems. It appears that habits that we acquire when young are hard to break as we become adults. Almost every office has employees that are chronically tardy and truant. Yet little is done to correct the habit.

Most government office supervisors are late almost daily themselves so little can be expected from them to correct this problem. Consequently the entire agency takes on the same attitude. “Our director or supervisor does it so why should we worry about it.” It appears to be the accepted normal procedure.

If the same employee worked in the private sector and was tardy and absent repeatedly, he would be warned. If he persisted, he would be replaced. Forgive me for singling out mainly the government sector but unfortunately that is where the problem mainly lies. What problem?

It puzzles me that so few employees realize that reporting to work late or being absent often reflects their poor attitude towards the office or company where they are employed. It affects the morale of their fellow workers because it affects the smooth flow of work by having a vacant position. Someone else has to do their work. It also gives the department a bad image when so and so is repeatedly absent and no one else can answer questions asked by visitors.

The worst of all is that the employee doesn’t realize that he is cheating and stealing from his employer. If one were to steal a $100 from the company, he would be labeled a thief and fired. But when an employee repeatedly is late or absent and then expects to be paid for full time, what is the difference? He is shortchanging the employer by not fulfilling his promise to work as agreed upon. He is a salary thief!

Come on, you say, aren’t you stretching this too far? My reply is: think about your action. If you promise me forty hours per week, and I promise to pay you for the same amount of time, and instead you give me 36 hours or less, aren’t you cheating and stealing? What if I paid you for shorter hours than you actually worked?

When I hear office employees complain about how hard they have to work because they are shorthanded, I ask them: Is everyone reporting to work on time and is everyone punching out at the proper time? If they are and you are still short of help, I can sympathize, but if the time cards show tardiness and truancy, correct it and all the work will be done with little trouble on time.

The reason I am belaboring this subject of truancy and tardiness is that if we are to educate our youth to attend school and to develop their character properly, we must do likewise. There can be no double standards.

Next time you wonder why you are passed over for a salary increase or a promotion, study your truancy and tardiness record. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said: “What you are thunders so loudly that I cannot hear what you say to the contrary.” Have a pleasant day.