Attendance systems can make a complicated legal problem look like a simple number.
A worker sees “8 points.” The real questions are which absences created the points, why each absence occurred, what the employer knew, whether leave or accommodation law applied, whether an exception existed, and whether the ledger is accurate.
Audit the attendance ledger
Create one row per absence or occurrence:
- date;
- scheduled shift;
- reason for absence or tardiness;
- notice given;
- medical/leave/accommodation connection;
- documentation supplied;
- point assessed;
- exception or correction requested;
- final status.
Return-to-work restrictions can create a second dispute
When a doctor releases a worker with restrictions, preserve the note actually given to the employer, job duties, communications about modified work, leave, accommodation, fitness-for-duty, and the employer's response.
A restriction does not automatically mean the employer must create a new job. But an employer also should not reduce a complex accommodation or leave question to an unexplained attendance point without applying the governing rules.
Preserve the policy version
Attendance policies change. Save the version that applied at the relevant time, including exception, call-in, medical-documentation, and progressive-discipline provisions.