Employee Rights Review- The "7 Minute Rule"
Sometimes we find ourselfs being late to our work areas. Wether it's due to traffic or personal matters, nobody is impervious to being late. Although this may be your case, it;s important to understand the rules of tardiness.
Contrary to popular belief, the "7 minute rule" does not exist. There has been an increment of questions regarding to this "7 minute rule", so let's explore what the rules are regarding tardiness. Article 35 Section 3 of the Master Agreement states that "Supervisors should excuse, without charge to leave, tardiness/absences which are brief, infrequent, and for a good cause". Let's dissect what this means:
Supervisors have the ability to excuse tardiness as long as employees meet the criteria.
Supervisors are not obligated to excuse tardiness, this article gives them the ability to excuse tardiness when they deem appropriate.
Time is allotted in 15 minute increments, a 7 minute tardiness may incurr in 15 minutes of AWOL.
There is a provision in the FLRA that talks about "rounding down" (or the ability to excuse) tardiness from 1-7 minutes, however, the language states that they "may" round down the time, meaning that it is not an obligation.
Should my supervisor excuse me if I am 7 minutes late for the first time? You may have an argument to be made there, it is important to understand that they should, however, should does not mean "must", meaning that it may be denied depending on the circumstances. Our advice, if you are running late, call ahead of time and let your supervisor know you are running late, most times AWOL is allotted because supervisors were not made aware the employees were running late, making it more difficult to plead the case that tardiness was for a good cause. When possible, send a confirmation email with
Let us know what you think about this article of if you have any other questions regarding it.
Have any other articles you would like for us to review? Let us know so we can cover it on our next post!