TITLE: Attendance
REVISED: March 23, 2026

Efficient operation and provisions of providing quality care and customer service depend on employees arriving at work on time.

If an employee is going to be late or unable to work the employee is required to CALL their supervisor 4 hours prior to the start of their scheduled shift.

  • How a supervisor allows an employee to communicate to them concerning calling in sick is determined by that department’s supervisor; however, this procedure will be the same for everyone in that department.
  • It is not permitted for the employee to circumvent their supervisor by telling a coworker to relay a message to the supervisor.
  • The employee’s expectation is to call daily to inform their department of his or her status, unless otherwise communicated.

JOB ABANDONMENT 

Evergreen Estates has a “No Tolerance” policy concerning no call/no shows.  This is when an employee fails to call their supervisor and fails to show up for work as scheduled and fails to otherwise provide reasonable notice of the need for protected leave under applicable laws.  Evergreen Estates considers this job abandonment, and the employee will be considered to have resigned their position and will not be rehired.

ABSENCES

An absence is defined as any period during which an employee does not report to work as scheduled.

An unexcused/unplanned absence of 1 day or 2 or more consecutive days will be counted as one occurrence.

An employee that has missed three (3) consecutive days of work or three (3) consecutive shifts of work will be required to provide a Providers note explaining the reason for the absence.  An employee who returns to work for one (1) day or less and who again becomes ill and is off work will have the two events count as one absence occurrence.

APPROVED ABSENCE

Occurs when all the following conditions are met:

  • The absence request is approved in advance by the employee’s supervisor, and
  • The employee has sufficiently accrued paid time off (PTO) or sick leave to cover the entire absence
  • The following reasons are also considered approved absences:
    • Jury Duty (Receipt or proof of attendance is required and can be obtained daily by the court)
    • Bereavement Leave (24 hours max)
    • Military Leave
    • Leave of Absence (approved in advance by Executive Director)
    • Worker’s Comp. (approved by physician and Executive Director)
    • Domestic Violence Leave (as defined by state law)
  • FMLA – upon qualification, receipt of physician’s certification, and approval by Executive Director
  • Leave provided as a reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disability Act (ADA)
  • Absences that qualify under the Washington Family Care (WFC) Law will be excused upon verification of qualified family members, receipt of physician’s certification, and approval by Executive Director.

UNAPPROVED ABSENCE

Occurs when the employee doesn’t have an approved absence from their supervisor.

Failure to report to a scheduled mandatory course is also considered an unscheduled absence unless advance notice of cancellation, per the course instructions, is submitted.

“Excessive Absenteeism” is five (5) or more unscheduled occurrences in a rolling six (6) months.

Neither “occurrences” nor “total days” can be viewed in isolation.  Each circumstance must be considered to determine if coaching, counseling, or corrective action is warranted. 

TARDINESS/LEAVING EARLY/EXTENDED BREAKS OR MEAL PERIODS

Employees are expected to report to work and return from scheduled breaks on time.  If employees cannot report to work as scheduled, they must notify their supervisor no later than their regular starting time.  This notification does not excuse tardiness but simply notifies the supervisor that a scheduled change may be necessary.

Supervisors are expected to discuss reoccurring tardiness with their employees when needed.

Employees who must leave work before the end of the scheduled shift must notify their supervisor immediately.

Unauthorized tardiness extended breaks or meal periods, and early departures are each one-half an occurrence for the purpose of recording absenteeism. 

MANDATORY USE OF SICK LEAVE 

An employee who calls in sick for a scheduled shift is required to use sick leave for the hours associated with the shift they called in for.  This means an employee who called in for an 8-hour shift will be required to use 8 hours of sick time or what they have accrued. 

SICK LEAVE ELIGIBILITY:

Eligible to use earned (accrued) sick leave after 90 days of employment from their date of hire. 

OTHER FACTORS FOR CONSIDERATION IN ASSESSING ABSENCES 

To identify and correct the misuse of time off, supervisors should consider patterns absences such as repeated calling sick on Mondays after weekends, or Fridays before weekends.

DEPARTMENT SUPERVISOR’S RESPONSIBILITIES 

Accountable to inform the front office, via e-mail, when an employee calls-in sick for a shift.

Failure of a supervisor to keep the front office abreast of employees who call in sick for a shift, for the purpose of circumventing an employee’s disciplinary action may result in the supervisor being disciplined for failing to follow this policy and for potential showing favoritism of an employee over another other.

An excused absence occurs when all the following conditions are met:

  • The employee completes a PTO request as required by their supervisor for the purpose of completing the department’s work schedules. This may vary between departments.
  • Short-term requests may be made by completing a PTO request at least 48 hours in advance for their supervisor to review.
  • The PTO request is signed and approved in advance by the supervisor. 

If an employee arrives at work as scheduled and the supervisor determines that the employee is unable to work due to health reasons, the act of the employee being sent home will not count as an absence.

DISCIPLINARY ACTION

The chart below outlines disciplinary action that will be taken for two or more occurrences of unexcused absences during a 6-month period.  Five occurrences of unexcused absences in a 6-month period are considered grounds for termination.

For an unexcused absence to be considered for discipline the employee must not have enough SICK HOURS to cover the entirety of the shift.  If the employee only has 7.45 sick hours accrued for an 8-hour work shift this then will count as an absence for disciplinary reasons.  Even if the employee has enough PTO hours to cover the absence it will be considered an absence.

Evergreen allows employees to use their accrued PTO and Sick hours as they see fit.  The employee will need to take caution not to use their accrued sick hours needlessly when requesting time for their pay checks.

(Based on a 6-month (182 days) floating time frame)
Occurrences of Unexcused/Unplanned Absences Disciplinary Action
   
1 No action needed
2 Level I Written Warning, Supervisor reviews their expectations and this Attendance Policy
3 Level II Written Warning and supervisor again reviews their expectations and this Attendance Policy
4 Suspension of 5 days with no PTO usage
5 Termination