Hello Everyone,
(this is totally Doug) I wanted to remind you all of the importance of communication, reliability and how they are connected.
With regard to reliability, the first thing we want to recognize is that things happen sometimes and people get sick sometimes. Even our most reliable caregivers need to call out once or twice a year. Even our most timely employees are probably late that often too.
When you will be late or are out due to illness or emergency W, you do not have to find your own coverage (although it is great if you can) and you do not have to tell the whole team, although it is kindly if you do. But we do ask all of our employees at every level to let us know as early as possible and at least 20 minutes before a shift starts if they will be late.
This is important to the people we serve and the caregivers who serve with you. Many of Imagine’s clients are very closely tied to patterns. If they expect something to happen, like a shift change, they can suffer extra anxiety when it doesn’t happen on time. Knowing someone will be late or missing gives the rest of the team time to prepare the individual.
Almost all of Imagine’s clients are sensitive to how their caregivers are feeling and sometimes the people most impacted by a caregiver’s tardiness or absence are the people who have to stay after their shift. With two hours notice, Imagine can almost always have someone the client knows in place to relieve the on-duty staff on time. With 20 minutes notice, we often can. Without knowing someone will miss their shift or be late, we cannot.
Finally, I want to address and be transparent about frequent call-outs. Even if each time late to or absent from a shift is completely legitimate, documented and well communicated, people who call out weekly or more (or just a little less) do have trouble getting promoted or preferred shifts or keeping their positions. Because of the impact on the people we serve and the team, we consider that both legal and moral.
Patty Lopez
Assistant Director of Human Resources
Imagine Supported Living Services