In the run up to Christmas there are far more events taking place during the week, which may mean that for a limited period of time, your employees’ social life overtakes their commitment to arriving for work on time.
For those organisations based in towns and cities, they could also be faced with a higher volume of traffic heading inwards in the morning as shoppers join commuting traffic.
Employees may also pop out to grab a few Christmas presents in their lunch time and become side tracked by queues and the latest line in fluffy slippers making their lunch hour a bit longer.
If your employees are generally good time keepers throughout the year and the odd 5 minutes isn’t disruptive, it may be that you can allow them some leeway during Christmas and a gentle reminder will hit the spot. In fact, ACAS Code of Practice recommends such an informal approach.
Consistency is the golden rule though, if you do not deal with lateness in accordance with your policy and consistently, you could be faced with difficulties when dealing with employees who are late the rest of the year.
Come back tomorrow for part two of our twelve day countdown.