Practically everyone has been late to work sometime or another during their careers. Even those who make it a point to leave the house early to start their commute and get to work on time, still experience setbacks.
In a recent Careerbuilder study cited on the Human Resources Online website, 25% of those surveyed reported that they were late at least one time each month while 12% confessed that for them it was an almost weekly occurrence.
A Harris Poll indicates that 60% of employers expect workers to be on the job on time. Two out of five of employers indicated that they have terminated the employment of a worker for being late – which is an increase of 2% over the last two years.
Of the reasons cited for tardiness, 51% of those surveyed cited being stuck in traffic, 31% cited having overslept, 28% cited bad weather, while just 13% cited having forgotten something and having to go back home to retrieve it. Some have cited decidedly more bizarre reasons for their tardiness.
Companies have put in place a number of different measures in order to ensure that employees do get to work on time. These measures can range from having an employee stay late to make up the time for the time that they were late, or docking them for any tardiness by deducting it from their paid time off (PTO). Some workers are given the choice of doing one or the other.