There are four considerations to take into account when establishing and implementing viable attendance-at-work controls. The first consideration requires clear understanding of the rights and obligations devolving on either side of the bargaining table. The second consideration is realization that any unilaterally promulgated code of absence controls must be able to meet arbitral tests of reasonableness. The third consideration is awareness of practical concepts from which a code of absence control may be selected. And lastly, the fourth consideration is determination of the most appropriate type of program for adoption in your work environment. The absence control program which becomes established will apply in no better and no worse fashion than is the soundness or the fallibility of the judgments made in accepting or rejecting proffered excuses for occurrences, since these decisions shape the extent of the record of the employee.
