Yup. At the end of the day, morale is king. Kill morale and you kill everything. This means that whatever across-the-board rules you have MUST APPLY ACROSS THE

Yup. At the end of the day, morale is king. Kill morale and you kill everything. This means that whatever across-the-board rules you have MUST APPLY ACROSS THE BOARD. Make exceptions and you start a morale slide, starting with people being miffed that one "star" employee receives special treatment. They eventually get pissed off enough at his prima donna status that they start ostracizing him in subtle or not-so-subtle ways, and the workplace gradually becomes toxic for everyone (including the boss). Of course, it would be better to simply relax lateness rules across the board if such a thing can be done, but when that's not possible, you must remain disciplined and enforce equally to everyone, regardless of their performance (because this is no longer about performance; it's about morale).