Employee lateness reduces productivity

Two-thirds of employers do not record staff lateness, costing them hundreds of hours in lost productivity, according to research.

The poll by law firm Peninsula also found that 71% of employers had no plans to introduce disciplinary and monitoring measures to tackle the issue, even though out of the 913 employers polled 87% found employee lateness to be a matter of great irritation.

Of the of the 1,751 employees surveyed, 17% said they were late seven times a month.

Peter Done, managing director of Peninsula, said employers needed to be aware that they could be losing hundreds of hours of potential work from their employees by disregarding their lateness.

"Monitoring may cost a business slightly more time and resources but in the long run it would pay dividends to have a closer track on your business and employees," he said. "An employer needs to promote a work culture where the effect of lateness has consequences throughout the business and this needs to be put forward to each employee."

Done said employers simply needed to sit down with their workforce and discuss the implications of lateness in the workplace.

"If this is communicated correctly, it is only a matter of time before employees see tardiness as a serious issue," he said.