Track each employee’s attendance by day: present, late, absent, leave, with monthly totals.
An attendance tracker shows patterns: Mondays off, frequent lateness, or a team that is short every Friday. It also supports fair, consistent conversations.
Record protected leave carefully and do not count it against employees.
10 items. Complete it digitally or on paper, whichever your team prefers.
| Field | What to write |
|---|---|
| Present | 19 days |
| Late | 2 days, 25 minutes total |
| Sick | 1 day |
| Vacation | 1 day |
A clinic manager’s tracker shows one receptionist late four Mondays in a row. In a private conversation, they learn a childcare drop-off changed; the start time moves 15 minutes later on Mondays.
Attendance records support payroll, leave balances and any discipline decision, and they need to show protected leave clearly so it is not held against the employee. Consistent records also make it easier to show every employee was treated by the same standard.
| Employee | Sofia, ID 118, Elmwood Dental, Louisville KY |
|---|---|
| Month | October 2026 |
| Present | 19 days |
| Late | 2 days, 10 and 25 min |
| Sick | 1 day (state paid sick leave) |
| Vacation | 1 day |
| Follow-up | None needed; reviewed by Dr. Patel Nov 2 |
The sick day is marked as state paid sick leave so it does not count in any attendance discipline. Two late arrivals in a month are recorded with minutes, which is enough detail to see a trend later without overreacting now.
A system that pulls from the time clock saves work.
Track it separately and do not penalize it.
As your retention policy and law require.
Managers and HR.
Use a short legend that separates planned and unplanned time, such as P present, L late, A absent, S sick, V vacation, U unpaid and H holiday. Add a separate code for protected leave like FMLA so it is never counted against the employee. Keep the legend at the top of every sheet.
Look at monthly totals and also at which days the codes fall on, such as absences on Mondays, Fridays or days next to holidays. Lateness that clusters at one start time may point to transit or childcare issues. Raise patterns privately and record the conversation.
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EZTime can send each employee a monthly attendance report by SMS or email to sign digitally, which leaves you with a signed record of hours.