The context that nobody is realizing here is that we are talking about blue collar workers in Mexico. The employer-employee dynamics in Latin American countries is, to an extent, very different from what most people know in the USA. Pride in workmanship, emotional ties to the organization they work for, career advancement aspirations, etc.... are very different. For many blue collar workers in Mexico and most of Latin America, a job is a job is a job...Any 10 cents more per hour is more than enough to quit a job for "greener pastures" elsewhere. Anyone trying to analyze this scenario based on US-based paradigms will not understand it.
1- Having people not coming to work 3 or 4 times a month is not a really imortant problem = continue buisness as usual
2- There is a problem, and workforce is easy to change. Then say goodbye to the troublemakers and recruit new workers
3- There is a problem, and workforce is hard to change. Then you have to work on why they wont come, and either reward those who come regularly, or the ones that make progress. (see messages above)
Maybe you should have an HR indicator for absenteeism. -EDIT: you should also see that as something to point out when you work on the context of the organization and also on the intersted parties and their exectations.-
@qualprod the «missing the bus» excuse might seem a really «childish» excuse for us, but do these workers come from a village where ther is only 1 bus ride per day ? if so, missing the bus seem an ok excuse, if its not 1 time per week.