Sample Written Warning Letter for Attendance

The most important aspect of issuing a written warning letter for any violation of policy is to make sure you are being fair and consistent!

Unless you want to have firsthand knowledge of how to answer an EEOC claim I would strongly recommend that you get your ducks in a row prior to taking discipline on any employee. For those of you who are not sure what EEOC stands for it is the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. They are a federal organization that investigates an employee claiming they have been treated unfairly based on the protections afforded them under the law. An example would be discrimination!

The next thing you will want to be sure of prior to going forward with a written warning letter for attendance is asking yourself do you have a policy on attendance. If you do have a policy on attendance are your employees aware of it? This is the key to issuing any written warning. It would be like writing a speeding ticket to someone on a road that didn't have a speed limit posted. It may still be acceptable but it could also be unfair.

Best case scenario would be if your company had an employee handbook with all your rules and policies included where they sign for it at the time of their hire.

For this sample written warning letter for attendance let's assume they have signed for an employee handbook and you are treating everyone the same.

Here is a sample written warning letter for attendance:

Dear Mr. John Doe:

You are being issued a written warning letter for violating our company policy on attendance.

Specifically, you had unscheduled absences on June 5, 2011, June 28, 2011, July 23, 2011, and on August 17, 2011. Although you contacted your supervisor and informed them that you would not be able to make your scheduled shift our company has a policy that only allows for three unscheduled absent periods in a twelve month rolling calendar time frame.

Going forward you will be required to present medical verification that you are under a doctor's care if you require any future unscheduled absent periods. The medical verification will also need to indicate that you are able to return to full duty prior to being allowed to return. Any unscheduled absent periods that you are not able to provide medical verification on will be considered unauthorized and will be subject to further disciplinary action, up to and including possible termination.

Signed and dated by the Supervisor and the Employee.

If the employee refuses to sign the document call in another supervisor and have them witness that you issued the written warning letter for attendance.