UPS Attendance Policy (all you need to know)
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Almost every job you work for has some kind of attendance policy, including sick leave, vacation time, and how the company typically handles any type of absence.
UPS is no exception – so what is UPS’s attendance policy and what do you need to know? If you want to know, keep reading!
What is UPS’s 2022 attendance policy?
UPS has no formal attendance policy for 2022. While there are some rules regarding unannounced absences and sick leave, few are written. Accumulated sick time varies by seniority, but you typically get 5 sick days per year, according to former and current employees. For excessive absences, progressive disciplinary action must be taken before termination.
If you’re a current, former, or potential UPS employee looking for reliable information on how attendance is handled, or just curious about UPS’s attendance policies, keep reading!
How many days can you miss working at UPS?
Since UPS does not have a formal, standardized, written attendance policy, it can be difficult to know what attendance expectations are.
Like all jobs, UPS expects you to show up, but what if you can’t?
According to several forums such as Brown Cafe, the number of days you can be absent from work depends largely on your center and your supervisor, as well as the reason for your absence.
The UPS employee handbook goes into great detail about how sick time accrues, but the parameters for treating vacation time as sick time are also up in the air.
According to the UPS manual, this is the policy for “infectious diseases” (i.e. flu, colds, etc.):
“If you have been exposed to a notifiable communicable disease, you should go to work and notify your manager unless otherwise directed by your medical advisor…
You must do so if your doctor certifies that it is necessary for you to leave work because of the risk of infection, but you must notify your manager and forward the doctor’s statement in support of the absence. “
For other illnesses not qualified or defined in any capacity by the company manual, a company sick pay policy exists.
The policy is as follows:
- Any employee who is absent due to sick leave or sick leave may be required to cooperate with a medical assessment/provide medical documentation supporting any and all absences as appropriate
- All employees whose terms are bound by the collective agreement are required to serve 12 consecutive months to be eligible for company sick pay (CSP)
- UPS may extend CSP to cover employees still on probation only in the event of absence due to work-related injury
- UPS’s discretion to exercise its discretion with respect to eligibility for a discretionary CSP shall not be limited in any way
- Eligible employees who have worked for UPS for one year can receive up to 13 weeks of CSP
- Up to 26 weeks of CSP for eligible employees who have worked for UPS for 1 to 5 years
- Eligible employees who have worked for UPS for 5 years or more can receive up to 52 weeks of CSP
CSP may seem like an extremely elusive program, but not to be confused with a typical sick leave policy.
According to many UPS employees, CSPs generally only apply to employees who are injured or sick through UPS’s fault, or who receive a diagnosis such as cancer.
Also, there is no solid evidence that a standard sick leave policy is in place, but most employee forums seem to suggest that you can use it up to 5 days per year.
For non-health-related absences, UPS appears to operate according to an informal rule of thumb:
During any rolling 200-day period, employee absence rates should remain below 4% of their scheduled work days.
What if you miss a job at UPS?
What happens when you miss work depends a lot on how you handle/communicate the absence and why you missed work.
As a general rule, there are several different types of missing work:
- scheduled break
- call out on the same day
- Do not answer the phone does not show
It seems that most supervisors will only try to find someone to replace your shift if you communicate the expected absence as early as possible.
This is especially true when planning a vacation.
All UPS employees who have passed their probationary period can accrue paid time off at a rate consistent with their tenure with the company.
If you plan an absence in advance, whether it’s for vacation, a doctor’s visit, or any other reason, you will usually need to use a PTO to make up for the absence.
If you don’t have a PTO available and you have a good reason to be absent, the company will usually allow you to take unpaid leave.
To apply for leave early, simply provide your supervisor with the dates you will be unavailable and the type of time you will be on leave (paid/unpaid).
In some cases, the supervisor may deny the request due to scheduling issues or lack of staff.
However, this is rare and usually resolves depending on the supervisor or the situation.
Of course, you don’t always give advance notice when you need to take time off, which is why same-day leave and future telephonic absences.
Same-day calls are often the result of an illness or emergency.
Again, the best thing you can do is let your manager or supervisor know what’s going on as soon as possible to avoid potential conflict or confusion.
However, no calls and no absences are completely different animals.
If you miss a scheduled shift without notice that you won’t be there, many employers will treat the absence as a forfeiture of your position and continue working as if you quit.
UPS does not normally handle absences that do not occur in the future in this way.
However, since no-call no-shows can be easily avoided by communicating as soon as possible, this is definitely not the case.
If an undocumented absence is justified, communicate with your supervisor as soon as possible.
UPS’s current policy states that if an employee misses a shift without notice and does not provide a valid reason within three days, UPS will move forward as if the employee resigned.
Will UPS fire you for being late or sick?
Everyone gets sick or is late for work from time to time, and UPS employees are no exception.
But given the level of focus UPS has on efficiency, will you be fired for one of these violations?
The answer is a bit complicated and depends a lot on the situation in question.
You’re less likely to be fired if you’re sick or late for a shift once or twice (or even more if you have a good reason and a good supervisor).
Being late or absent all the time is sure to have a more serious impact.
However, due to its policy on progressive disciplinary action, UPS cannot directly fire you for a single instance.
The steps to the UPS Progressive Disciplinary Policy are as follows:
- verbal warning
- written warning
- Final written warning and salary reduction, demotion or transfer
- dismissal with or without notice
There are some exceptions to UPS’s policy on progressive disciplinary action, and participation in any one or more of these conduct will result in your dismissal on the spot:
- Fraudulently recording the start and/or end time of another employee.
- Leaving work without authorization.
- Work under the influence of alcohol or illegal drugs/substances.
- Consuming alcohol or illegal drugs/substances on or off company premises during the workday.
- Theft, fraudulent activity or dishonesty, both on and off the job, whether the victim is a company, client or co-worker.
- Willful or wilful abuse, damage or violence against any employee or property of the Company or any customer (whether or not committed during business hours).
- Abusive, threatening, violent, bullying, disrespectful or objectionable conduct towards workers, employees, customers or suppliers.
- Acts that incite, harass, harm or discriminate on the basis of an individual’s gender, sexual orientation, marital/civil partnership status, gender, color, race, national origin, national/ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability or age.
- Doing other paid work while receiving wages or other benefits from the company during sickness or absence.
- Disclose confidential information to competitors (directly or indirectly).
- Unauthorized disclosure or use of confidential information.
- Reckless disregard of health and safety precautions, procedures and regulations.
- Significant and severe failures, repeated failures, or willful failure to comply with company policies, documented procedures, or regulations.
- A criminal conviction or reasonable suspicion that an employee has committed a criminal offense renders an individual unfit for employment or unacceptable to other employees, or may bring the company into disrepute.
- Allow unauthorized persons to enter company vehicles.
- “Off course” without company approval.
- Serious disobedience or refusal to cooperate due to failure to follow reasonable instructions.
- Unauthorized use of company equipment or property.
- Failure to keep company vehicles or their loads safe.
- Use Company email or Internet facilities to access, view, download or transmit illegal or inappropriate material.
- Post confidential, offensive, defamatory, discriminatory or inappropriate comments about the Company or any of its clients, clients, suppliers, employees, directors, consultants or other employees on social networking sites.
- Confidentially record other employees, customers, customers or suppliers without their consent or the Company’s consent.
- Act in a manner that the Company reasonably believes to be detrimental or otherwise detrimental to the Company’s reputation, or is believed to be likely to be detrimental to the Company’s reputation.
To learn more, you can also read our posts on UPS background checks, whether UPS is a federal job, and how easy it is to find a job at UPS.
in conclusion
UPS doesn’t have a standardized attendance policy, which is unusual for a business its size, but there are some general rules of thumb you can follow to keep your job safe.
Generally, UPS allows employees about 5 days of sick leave per year, but you may accrue more or less sick leave based on your seniority with the company.
