ASK HR: It would be inhumane to fire this employee, do what you must to stop it

Q. I am a department manager, a position that I have held for two years. The HR manager and I are in disagreement over one of my juniors. The company policy states that any employee that reports late for an accumulated 60 minutes within one month risks being fired.

At the beginning of the month, this employee confided in me that she and her husband had separated, and she had moved in with her parents, quite a distance from the workplace. She requested that I give her two months to look for a house close to work. She has been late several times, and now HR wants to fire her. I have tried to explain her situation but HR is unwavering. She is a team player and clients like her. What do I do?

For some time now, there have been discussions on attendance, the question being whether employees arriving on time necessarily translates into increased productivity.

You may have employees who arrive at work in time but engage in activities that do not add value to the company. What is important is for the employer to create an enabling environment that allows employees to feel valued, hence be innovative enough to contribute to positive results.

Most companies have done away with the clocking system and instead have an access system which is used more for security than checking attendance. However, for disciplinary cases, HR can be given access to the system to enable them make informed decisions. That said, there are companies that pay their casual employees based on hours worked - in this case the data is used to compile payroll.

Back to your case, you are in a very awkward situation especially because you are getting instructions from your HR manager, who should be at the forefront in advocating for productivity vis-a-vis attendance. This employee needs all the support she can get since she is going through challenges, and if she is not assisted, she might even suffer a nervous breakdown.

You must put sense to your HR manager, even if it means escalating the issue to the executive the HR manager reports to. If the executive in their wisdom insists she has to arrive on time, then they should advance the employee some money to move house closer to the company sooner than the two months she had asked for or ask her to have shorter meal breaks to compensate for the late arrivals.

The contemporary HR has to be concerned about the wellbeing of the employees and should have been the one addressing this issue instead of frustrating your efforts to assist.