Attendance Policy and Procedure

Objective

The purpose of this policy is to set forth Vista Trans Holding's (Company)  policy and procedures for handling employee absences and tardiness to promote the efficient operation of the company and minimize unscheduled absences.

Punctual and regular attendance is an essential responsibility of each employee at the Company. Employees are expected to report to work as scheduled, on time, and prepared to start working. Employees also are expected to remain at work for their entire work schedule. Late arrival, early departure, or other absences from scheduled hours are disruptive and must be avoided.

Work Schedules

Standard Work Schedules 

Standard Work Schedule includes a 8 paid working hours workday with the work being performed between 08:00 and 17:00, five days a week, Monday to Friday.

Non-Standard Work Schedules

To enable employees to accommodate their personal circumstances, family obligations, and responsibilities, the Company may agree to alter the standard work schedule if operational requirements permit and there is no cost to the Company.

Non-Standard Work Schedules may include:

• Employee Scheduled Work:  Work performed during hours other than those set out in a standard work schedule.  The daily hours may vary.

• Flex Time:  Allows employees to work a 8 hours day with assigned core hours and flexible daily start and finish times within limits established by management.

• Compressed Work Week:  Permits employees to work longer than 8 hours a day and bank the extra time worked to allow future "time off".

A request for a non-standard work schedule must be initiated by the employee and approved by the Line Manager, the HR Director, and the respective functional VP.

Shift Work

The Company sets up a regular schedule of hours of work for employees in occupational groups that require shift work. 

If you are scheduled to work between midnight and 06:00 or are required to travel during these hours to perform overtime work, the Company will provide transportation or the cost of commercial transportation between your home and the workplace.

Employees may exchange shifts with management approval. A master monthly shift schedule, any changes, and modifications should be initiated by a Manager and approved by HR Director and functional VP. A request for a non-standard work schedule must be initiated by the employee and approved by the HR Director and VP Operations.

Shift Premium

Any Shift Premium should be the subject of revision and approval by the Manager, HR Director, and respective functional VP. 

Weekend Premium

Any Weekend Premium should be the subject of revision and approval by the Manager, HR Director, and respective functional VP.

Absence

Absence is defined as the failure of an employee to report for work when he or she is scheduled to work. The two types of absences are defined below:

Excused absence

Occurs when all the following conditions are met:

• The employee provides to his or her supervisor sufficient notice at least 48 hours in advance of the absence.

• The absence request is approved in advance by the employee's supervisor.
  
  

Unexcused absence 

Occurs when any of the above conditions are not met. If it is necessary for an employee to be absent or late for work because of an illness or an emergency, the employee must notify his or her supervisor no later than the employee's scheduled starting time on that same day. If the employee is unable to call, he or she must have someone make the call.

An unexcused absence counts as one occurrence for the purposes of discipline under this policy. Employees with three or more consecutive days of excused absences because of illness or injury must give to the Company proof of physician's care and fitness for duty release prior to returning to work.

Lunch and Breaks 

Staff must take a break of 30 minutes within 5 hours from the start. In addition, Employees have the right to use two 15 min breaks not consecutive with a lunch break or a second 15 min break. The Manager may authorize departure from this period in special circumstances. 

Paid Time Off

In accordance with the Illinois Paid Leave for All Workers Act, all employees with 1-3 years of service will earn up to ten (10) days per year of paid leave from work. Employees earn one (1) hour of paid leave for every 40 hours worked to a maximum of two weeks.

• Employees with 4 years or more of service will earn up to fifteen (15) days per year of paid leave from work. Eligible employees earn one (1) hour of paid leave for every 40 hours worked to a maximum of three weeks.

  Earned paid leave can be used upon accrual for any reason and employees are not required to disclose their reasons for use, but must be used in minimum increments of ½ days (4 hours). Use of paid leave should be requested in writing in advance to your supervisor and submitted in Helix.

  Up to 40 hours of any earned and unused paid leave can be rolled over into the following calendar year. Any earned and unused paid leave will be paid out upon termination.
  

Unpaid Time Off

Unpaid time off may be granted upon request to employees at the discretion of management based on business need. Unpaid time off must be requested in writing to your supervisor and submitted in Helix. Failure to report for work within the prescribed time after completion of requested unpaid time off will be considered a voluntary termination.

Holidays

Vista Trans Holding will grant holiday time off to all employees on the holidays listed below:

• New Year (Wednesday, January 1st, 2025)

• Memorial Day (Monday, May 26th, 2025)

• Independence Day (Friday, July 4th, 2025)

• Labor Day (Monday, September 1st, 2025)

• Thanksgiving Day (Thursday, November 27th, 2025)

• Christmas Day (Thursday, December 25th, 2025)

Employees working for the Company for a minimum of 90 days are eligible for holiday pay. Holiday pay is calculated based on your straight-time pay rate (as of the date of the holiday) and the number of hours you would otherwise have worked on that day. 

To be eligible for holiday pay, you must work the day immediately before and after the holiday. If a holiday falls during an eligible paid absence (i.e. vacation or sick leave), holiday pay will be provided in lieu of the paid time off benefit that otherwise would have applied for that day.

Eligible non-exempt employees working on a designated holiday will receive holiday pay at 1 ½ times their straight-time rate for the hours worked on the holiday.

Paid time off for holidays will not be counted as hours worked for the purposes of determining overtime.

Religious observances. Employees who need time off to observe religious practices or holidays should speak with their supervisor. The Company will seek to reasonably accommodate individuals’ religious observances. .

Bereavement Leave

Employees who require taking time off due to the death of an immediate family member should notify their supervisor immediately. 

Paid bereavement leave as follows will be provided to employees having worked 180 calendar days for Vista Trans Holding:

• Five (5) working days in the case of the death of an employee's spouse, child, or the employee's spouse's child.

• Three (3) working days in the case of the death of an employee's father, mother, sister, or brother.

• One (1) working day in the case of the death of an employee’s grandfather, grandmother, uncle, aunt, nephew, niece, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, father-in-law, mother-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, grandson, grand-daughter (except the uncle, the aunt, the brother-in-law, the sister-in-law, the grandfather, the grandmother, the nephew and the niece of the spouse). 

Bereavement pay is calculated based on the base pay rate at the time of absence and will not include any special forms of compensation, such as incentives, commissions, bonuses, or shift differentials. The employees on leave without balance, maternity, disease, preventive withdrawal, parental leave, will not be able to avail themselves of this benefit.

Bereavement leave will normally be granted unless there are unusual business needs or staffing requirements. Employees may, with their supervisors' approval, use any available paid leave for additional time off as necessary. 

Attendance on training activities

Attendance on training activities will not qualify under this provision and time spent on such activities will be recorded as either one half or one whole standard day (4 hours or 8 hours). 

Tardiness and Early Departures

Employees are expected to report to work and return from scheduled breaks on time. If employees cannot report to work as scheduled, they must notify their supervisor no later than their regular starting time. This notification does not excuse the tardiness but simply notifies the supervisor that a schedule change may be necessary.

Employees who must leave work before the end of their scheduled shift must notify a supervisor immediately.

Tardiness and early departures are each one-half an occurrence for the purpose of discipline under this policy.

Job Abandonment

Any employee who fails to report to work for a period of three days or more without notifying his or her supervisor will be considered to have abandoned the job and voluntarily terminated the employment relationship. 

At times, emergencies such as severe weather, fires, or power failures, can disrupt company operations. In extreme cases, these circumstances may require the closing of a work facility. 

Emergency Closing

When operations are officially closed due to emergency conditions, the time off from scheduled work will be unpaid. However, with supervisory approval, employees may use available paid leave time, such as unused vacation benefits. 

In cases where an emergency closing is not authorized, employees who fail to report for work will not be paid for the time off. Employees in essential operations may be asked to work on a day when operations are officially closed. In these circumstances, employees who work will receive regular pay.

Disciplinary Action

Excessive absenteeism is defined as two or more occurrences of unexcused absence in a 30-day period and will result in disciplinary action. 4 occurrences of unexcused absence in a 12-month period are considered grounds for termination.

Audit of Records

Each Manager will arrange to check the records for each accounting period minimum of twice per month. Any instance where it appears that the Policy is being incorrectly applied or abused will be investigated by the Manager, advised by Human Resources. Abuse of the Policy is a disciplinary matter and could be considered as gross misconduct. 

IT/IS department should collect the data from Punch-in-out machines, consolidate and send it to HR Director on a weekly basis. HR should follow up and update the Executive Management Team on a bi-weekly basis. 

Exceptions for Managers and Supervisors

Persons in positions of management or supervision and persons handling confidential administrative work who are closely involved in management are not subject to the regulations on working hours, breaks, and days off (with the exception of regulations on night work). Whether he or she is regarded as a manager/supervisor is comprehensively judged by facts such as those below:
Whether the decision-making process of his or her labor conditions and labor management are closely involved in management
Whether he or she is given the practical authority and business status of a manager/supervisor, regardless of his/her business title
Whether he or she is given the appropriate financial treatment of a manager/supervisor, such as salary, allowance and bonus procedure

Time Clocks and Failure to Check-in/out

Employees must check-in and check-out (either manual or electronic).

Employees without Helix access

You are required to use locally installed Time Management Systems using fingerprints reporting time in and out. 

How to operate check-in-out device

To check-in push the “In” button and put your finger over the scanner till you hear a confirming beep signal. To check-out, you must use the same device you have used for check-in, then press the “Out” button and put your finger over the scanner.