[Red Baron]

As a long time manager of managers, I can tell you that I teach them to not get into reasons why people are late or why they can't travel, work a holiday, etc;

And here is the example I use with them to show them what I expect and how they need to handle their responsibility.

You have two employees, A and B.

A has kids/married or single, doesn't matter.

Employee B is single/young/has freedom.

You have a situation where on the same day that they both show up very late to work and it really causes some problems for the daily operations of the business.

Employee A had an issue with one of her kids getting sick and her babysitter showed up late, cat ran out the door and had to be chased and found yadda-yadda-yadda.

Employee B, went and hit the 3 for 1 Happy Hour at Cat's Meow down on Bourbon St. and showed up way late after sleeping off the hangover. He's no longer intoxicated but you know he's a party animal and even stated he was heading to the Quarter after work.

In almost every case people answer that they would probably be more easy on the parent because they understand things like that can happen but that drinking all night and showing up late is unacceptable.

So then I hit them with another twist. Employee B is your superstar salesperson that tends to tank if you start ragging on him or try to apply punishment. All of his co-workers love him and he has created numerous strong client relationships.

Employee A performs at average at best and has been on Improvment Plans and has also struggled to make their numbers the past two months. Some of the co-workors find her abrasive and you sometimes can tell she is just not focused on work.

So then I ask how they would handle it?

At this point most managers say "Well" I'd probably refer to our HR policy and get you involved.

And my reply is usually to the affect of; Why wouldn't you just follow policy in the first place? And that anytime you start looking at reasons for giving people breaks your not EVER going to be fair. And lack of fairness creates a moral issue for the entire group.

That's just attendance issues however it covers holidays's, weekends, dress codes etc.

It's a tough lesson for managers to learn because of the tension it will create within the work group. Obviously it's and a miserable situation for a group of employees if their manager does this and has a negative effect on productivity as well as moral.

I'd advise you to at the least speak with your manager. If you get no response you may consider the HR route.