A tardy adult is aware of her behavior, but might not realize that others notice. Younger students are aware of their tardiness and recognize that others notice, but might not realize the potential consequences. An individual notification describes a verbal warning from someone in a position of authority, such as a supervisor or teacher. The meeting must take place privately, when the authoritative party warns the tardy person verbally using a statement such as, "I've noticed you arrive about 15 minutes late several times and I want to be sure you understand that we expect you to arrive at the beginning of the workday (or school-day) which starts at 8 am. Additional incidents will result in a written warning which will go in your personnel (or counselor) file. Do you have any questions?"
Withdrawing privileges follows or comes with a written warning and is more serious than a verbal warning, but less severe than a punitive consequence. For an adult employee, privileges an employer could withdraw include removal from certain job functions or withholding advanced certification if the individual is tardy in attending job-related training. For school students, privileges removed could include suspension from extracurricular participation or other enjoyable activities, like recess. The supervising person must communicate the privileges being tardy will suspend, and the progression of warnings or notifications leading to such measures.
Punitive consequences are the most severe response to tardiness from school or one's job. Such measures typically occur after at least two or more warnings from the appropriate authoritative party and, in most incidents, are recorded in a counseling or employment file. For a student, punitive consequences of tardiness in the school could include a reduced final grade in the class, detention or community service outside normal school hours. For an adult employee, punitive measures include docked wages, suspension without pay or job termination.
Cooperative support reaches out to other influential persons in someone's life and notifies them when tardiness occurs. For an adult employee, this can mean sitting down with the individual and discussing what needs to change in her life to ensure a prompt arrival. Suggesting carpools or personalized phone calls from a coworker in the morning can help remedy the problem. For a student, cooperative support means informing her parents or guardian along with the student's guidance counselor whenever tardiness occurs and discussing the most-effective remedies. Unlike other solutions, cooperative support solves the problem by including additional authoritative forces beyond one's teacher or supervisor.