Can You Terminate an Employee for Excessive Absenteeism?
Learn what counts as excessive absenteeism, how to evaluate attendance patterns, and when to consider disciplinary action and termination.
Written By: Krystin Morgan
Last Updated March 25, 2026
When employees take time off work responsibly, it helps companies maintain a productive, stable, healthy workforce. But if they miss work frequently or without proper coordination, companies can suffer operational inefficiency, financial loss, and a drop in employee morale.
Excessive absenteeism generally refers to repeated absences that exceed company leave limits or disrupt normal business operations. The challenge for employers is determining the line where acceptable absenteeism crosses over to “excessive.”
We talked to multiple experts about how you can identify, prevent, and address excessive absenteeism — including when and how you should consider termination.
What is excessive absenteeism?
The United States Department of Labor doesn’t offer a formal, standard definition of excessive absenteeism. And this can be a good thing for employers: you have the authority to decide what is excessive for your company.
Most employers define it based on two factors:
- How many days or hours an employee misses
- How severely their absence disrupts usual business operations
When defining acceptable levels of absenteeism for your company, consider both perspectives. This can help you spot problems early and prevent major consequences.
Days or hours missed
This kind of absenteeism manifests as frequent incidences of missed work, repeated tardiness, no-shows or last-minute call-outs, and absenteeism significantly above the team or company average.
Defining excessive absenteeism based on days or hours missed keeps the approach simple and straightforward. Your acceptable time off thresholds should still meet applicable laws. If your state doesn’t have any such laws, look at paid time off laws in other jurisdictions as a reference point. Take this example from Nance L. Schick, Esq., Attorney and Mediator at Third Ear Conflict Resolution:
“In New York City, employers are required to front load 32 hours of unpaid safe and sick leave for all employees. They also accrue one hour of paid leave for every 30 hours they work. Many employers also offer paid time off for personal reasons, if not also paid vacation. Thus, employees have quite a bit of time off, both paid and unpaid, to manage illnesses, family health, legal matters, and mental health. When they take time off beyond this, their absenteeism is likely excessive.”
You can also analyze other companies’ policies to get a general idea of how much PTO is normal.
Business disruptions
Stephanie Heathman, Founder and CEO of The HR Innovator Group, advises employers to “move away from rigid numbers and instead evaluate absenteeism through patterns, predictability, and business impact.”
This may mean reduced quality or quantity of work, lower team morale (because some employees often have to make up for others’ absences), increased overtime costs, and financial loss.
Ask yourself these questions to understand if an employee’s absenteeism is impacting operations even if the number of missed days or hours is “acceptable”:
- Poor communication: Is the employee providing ample notice of their time off or frequently missing work without giving anyone a heads-up? Do they explain the reason for their absence when required, or do managers often have to chase them for basic information?
- Absence patterns: Is an employee repeatedly missing work, arriving late, or missing certain shifts especially around critical business moments (like high-demand shifts and urgent deadlines) or before or after weekends and holidays? Are they using approved paid time off, sick leave, or protected leave such as FMLA, versus simply missing time without approval?
- Business performance and impact: How is an employee’s absence impacting day-to-day operations? Do missed shifts leave teams short-staffed at the last minute? Do coworkers regularly have to take on extra work to make up for the employee’s absence?
- Lack of improvement after feedback: Have managers explained attendance expectations to the employee? After receiving feedback, has the employee made any effort to improve their attendance?
- Time theft: Is the employee physically present at work but not actually working? Are they taking longer breaks, leaving early, or stepping away from work without accounting for the missed time?
Considering both these factors when designing your absenteeism policy can look like this: Set limits for how many days or hours employees can miss, but also evaluate how absences affect the team and operations.
A robust attendance policy must have four key components:
- Your expectations for employee attendance
- Clear definitions of how absenteeism will be handled
- Definitions of different types of absences
- Policies on tardiness and early departures
Remember: A policy should only serve as a guide when deciding on disciplinary action in case of absenteeism. For each case, consider the employee’s context and use discretion.
Manage absenteeism before it becomes “excessive”
Take steps on an ongoing basis, before excessive absenteeism becomes an issue, to set your workforce up for success. This can help you avoid accidental violations and apply your policy fairly, consistently, and legally.
Review employment laws
Regularly review vital federal laws like the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and ensure your policy continuously meets all legal requirements. Keep managers updated (through periodic sessions, for example) with any changes in laws and policy.
If you think an employee’s absence is becoming excessive, assess whether their time off could be protected under any relevant law before you consider disciplinary action. Then consult with internal counsel or partner with an external law firm for legal advice.
Keep track of employee absences
Track attendance regularly and maintain accurate documentation. For time off requests, keep records of:
- When the request was submitted
- The type and duration of the requested absence
- Whether the leave request was approved or denied
- Whether the request contains necessary information (reason for the leave, supporting documentation, etc.)
Review these records regularly to identify patterns like frequent last-minute call-outs and repeated tardiness.
“In practice, when a high-performing employee has a legitimate crisis — a divorce, a death in the family, or a mental health episode — the instinct is to be ‘nice’ and just let them slide without paperwork. You tell them, ‘Just take the time you need, don’t worry about logging it.’ This is a liability nightmare.”
– Joel Blackstock, Clinical Director, Taproot Therapy Collective
While many companies still use manual tracking methods such as spreadsheets and physical records, they can be unreliable and time consuming. Attendance tracking software like Buddy Punch can help you monitor employee clock-ins, missed shifts, and time-off records. This will let you quickly spot repeated call-outs absenteeism patterns.
Improve your workplace culture
Burnout, harassment, and disengagement are common reasons for excessive absenteeism. Here are some things you can do to prevent these issues:
- Create an open, transparent culture: Encouraging employees to share their concerns will empower them to ask for help before stress becomes unmanageable.
- Help employees find work–life balance: Introduce hybrid or remote work models to provide flexibility. This can also reduce absences related to childcare and eldercare.
- Foster wellness: Invest in mental, professional, and personal development opportunities for employees.
Address excessive absenteeism through disciplinary action — or termination
Many employers immediately consider termination when an employee shows signs of excessive absenteeism. But while it may seem like the most obvious solution, termination brings legal challenges.
Should you terminate someone without due diligence, you run the risk of the employee filing a lawsuit, which could lead to hefty fines or other consequences. Termination should always be the last resort when dealing with excessive absences.
The priority is for managers to support the employee in improving their performance.
Determine if the reasons for absence are legally protected
Some reasons for absenteeism are typically legally permissible, including:
- Health issues
- Family challenges related to caregiving, bereavement, or childcare
- Morale or company culture problems, such as workplace harassment, heavy workloads and burnout, and job hunting (like attending interviews) triggered by such situations
Before taking any step, assess whether the employee’s reason for excessive absenteeism is permissible. If you can’t determine this based on available information, you may need to have a conversation with the employee.
Hold a private meeting
Have a one-on-one conversation with the employee to understand the reasons for their absence:
- Are their scheduled work hours overlapping with their caregiving responsibilities?
- Is the commute difficult, or are they struggling to find reliable transportation?
- Are health issues interfering with their ability to perform their work?
If absenteeism is being caused by a particularly personal problem, you may not be in a position to offer a solution, but you can still guide them toward seeking outside help.
Note that once you open a line of communication with the employee, you must keep them updated until final resolution. Have regular touchpoints to inform them of their current performance status, company expectations, and potential next steps if they can’t maintain acceptable attendance.
Offer accommodations where possible
Once you know the reason for absences, you can offer reasonable accommodations. Nance Schick advises approaching it this way:
“Ask open-ended questions and have a discussion about solutions. For example, “When we hired you, you agreed to work Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., but you’ve missed [#] of days in the past [#] weeks. What do you need to meet your agreement?”
If an employee has a health issue, for example, you may offer flexible shifts or additional break time. If someone is struggling with commuting to work on time, you may offer late start times. Or if an employee is feeling unsafe or disrespected at work, you may offer weekly check-ins to support them in addressing concerns.
Provide a verbal warning
If absenteeism continues, issue a verbal warning to the employee. It should convey that you still see an ongoing pattern and that if it continues, you may consider further action.
Give a written warning
A written warning is a more formal step and provides detailed documentation of the issue, the expectations for improvement, and consequences of continued absenteeism. Often, this step begins the paper trail that you may need if stronger disciplinary action becomes necessary down the line.
Set up a performance improvement plan
At this stage, you may consider putting the employee on a performance improvement plan (PIP). A PIP that aims to address absenteeism may include specific goals related to attending work regularly and on time or achieving a defined work output within a certain period (such as 30, 60, or 90 days).
Continue with progressive discipline
Your employee handbook should outline the protocol to follow if none of the steps above leads to improvements. Consider the options below.
| Disciplinary step | Use it when… |
| Reduced hours | The employee struggles to meet their expected work hours. This option may be appropriate in case of frequent tardiness, early punch-outs, or missed shifts. |
| Schedule change or work reassignment | Attendance issues stem from scheduling conflicts, challenges in commuting, caregiving responsibilities, or difficulty in meeting role expectations. |
| Demotion | The employee holds a senior, supervisory, or leadership role, and their absenteeism undermines their ability to lead a team or forces others to take up critical responsibilities. |
| Suspension | An employee’s absenteeism continues after several documented warnings and attempts at improvement. |
Consider termination as a last resort
In many cases, termination is legally permissible, especially in at-will employment states (which is nearly all U.S. states). But before considering termination, you must tick off some essential criteria.
According to Jared Pope, CEO and Founder of Work Shield, you must be able to show that:
- The employee understood the attendance expectations and was given due opportunity to correct the issue.
- Absence patterns were documented objectively.
- Standards were applied consistently across employees facing similar challenges.
Robert Bird, Professor of Business Law at the University of Connecticut, adds that “employers should also be careful to ensure that a discharge does not violate state or federal employment law.” For example, the FMLA includes job-protected leaves of absence due to the birth of a child, placement of a child for adoption or in foster care, and care for a spouse or child who has a serious medical condition.
Camille B., Marketing and Operations Manager at Search Party Recruiting, turns the focus from people to processes: “Checking to see if the role itself is part of the problem of re-occurring issues is a new perspective. Replacing people never solves the problem of instability when systems break them every month.”
And “a final assessment of whether the employee can meet essential job functions with or without accommodation” is key, adds Stephanie Heathman.
Developing a strong absence management strategy
High rates of absenteeism are a telltale sign that your employees are unable to keep up with the workload, feel unsafe at work, or suffer from chronic conditions. To effectively manage absenteeism — from prevention to tracking to correction — you should clearly define standards and communicate them to the team. Be sure you’re applying the policy fairly and equitably, and document as much as possible. Always look at the hidden root causes of absenteeism before taking action.
Introducing the right absence management strategies, as well as the right tools to help you keep track of time off, can help you reduce unplanned absence rates while creating a better workplace for all.
FAQs
Can you terminate an employee for excessive absenteeism?
Yes, in most cases an employer can terminate an employee for excessive absenteeism, but the specifics depend on several factors. At-will employment generally allows termination for attendance issues, provided the absences aren’t protected by law. Key exceptions include absences covered under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) — which may require reasonable accommodations like modified schedules — state or local sick leave laws, and workers’ compensation leave.
To stay on solid legal ground, employers should maintain a clear, consistently enforced attendance policy, document absences and any warnings given, and engage in an interactive process when a disability or medical condition may be involved. Consulting with an employment attorney before terminating for absenteeism is always advisable, as the line between lawful termination and unlawful retaliation or discrimination can be case-specific.
How can I prevent excessive absenteeism?
Create a well-defined attendance policy that’s compliant with applicable laws, track attendance regularly, and regularly review records to spot patterns early. Focus on supporting the employee in improving attendance instead of on taking disciplinary action. If action is warranted, take progressive steps and consistently communicate expectations and progress status.
How can I talk to an employee about excessive absenteeism?
Talk to the employee privately and focus on facts. Share the attendance records, explain the company’s expectations, and ask open-ended questions to understand what’s causing the absence. If possible, discuss accommodations or solutions. End by outlining the next steps if attendance doesn’t improve.
Contributors
- Camille B., Search Party Recruiting, Marketing and Operations Manager
- Jared Pope, Work Shield, CEO and Founder
- Joel Blackstock, Taproot Therapy Collective, Clinical Director
- Nance L. Schick, Esq., Third Ear Conflict Resolution, Attorney and Mediator
- Robert C. Bird, University of Connecticut, Professor of Business Law
- Stephanie Heathman, PHR SHRM-CP CAAP, The HR Innovator Group, Founder & CEO
