• Tardy employees have negative effects in the workplace.office block image by hazel proudlove from Fotolia.com
  
  One bad apple just might spoil the bunch. Employee lateness not only costs the company money--more than $3 billion nationally, according to HR Magazine--but it also reduces the morale of other workers. Those three or four minutes after clock-in time have negative effects on your entire organization, and you should make a plan to address the issue with employees on a whole.
  
  

Productivity

• You may find that your staff slides in later and later as the days go by and you accept it unwilling to create a big fuss over a few minutes. Make it clear to your employees that when they arrive late, their job that they are being paid to do is delayed which may also affect overall production. For example, you hire a graphic designer whom the entire marketing department is waiting on to upload files to the printer for a press kit or ad campaign. That project must then wait until the designer arrives, loads the software and then begins work. Just a few simple minutes can mean the difference between a complete job or a missed deadline. Employees are likely to feel frustrated when their jobs cannot be completed because they are waiting on someone else.
  
  

Monkey See, Monkey Do

• Letting your tardy top performer consistently arrive late with as much as a warning reducing employee morale and sends a message to other team members that the tardiness is OK. Employees mimic behavior, so allowing one or two come in late will soon show others either showing up late or feeling less enthused about performing their tasks in the unprofessional environment. Get to the root of the problem by holding an officewide meeting to address tardiness as well as establish what reasons may be causing employees to reduce their dedication to sticking to the rules. You may find there are actually good reasons for their lateness and need to adjust other procedures internally to address it.
  
  

Overall Lack of Respect

• When left to spin out of control, tardiness causes an overall decline in office morale as employees feel their time is devalued when they are doing the right thing. General feelings like, "if she does it, I'll do it," spiral into other areas where employees simply don't respect each other or the time. One employee's tardiness may cause tension among colleagues or entire departments.