My attitudes to this depend completely on whether it is a one way street.I guess that this could be an accumulation of the employee’s behaviour but seriously, getting bent out of shape over being 5mins late sounds like you might be a bit OTT here.
Yes people shouldn’t be late but honestly, unless my guys are routinely 15+ mins late, if they are doing their work properly then I don’t care. Of course some sectors this can’t apply to like customer service where you need to be on the desk/phone etc so ignore me if that’s the case.
Nickle and diming your staff over little things like 5mins is always going to get backs up tbh, and will encourage people to become petty. Though clearly being late for things such as a train to a client visit is clearly unacceptable, so I don’t think you are wrong in respect to this employee. Just maybe something to think on more broadly.
I've a lady currently who'd regularly arrive 5 or 10 minutes late, but stressed about it. She asked to see me one morning, and seemed a bit upset. She explained that she gets two buses to work. The bus she gets SHOULD get her here on time, but if its held up - she'd be a few minutes late. To guarantee arriving on time, to get the previous connecting buses, she'd have to leave the house an hour earlier. She was prepared to do so - if the few minutes were a problem.
We just agreed that she should continue to catch the normal bus, and make up any time by shortening her lunch (she only sits at her desk anyway) - and only if the delays got any worse, would we need to review it. In short - she's a decent sort, so you want to be decent / accommodating in return.
Conversely, we had a woman previously, who would arrive EVERY DAY 5 minutes late (in her car) - and it did used to grind at me. Because I knew she didn't NEED to be late, and I knew that SHE knew that it was 'only' 5 minutes, so I'd look a prick for making anything of it. But I did anyway - simply because there was no give and take with her - she'd arrive every day late, but would always be sat (literally) with her coat on and her car keys in her hand, ready to bolt for the door at 5.30pm. I can't be doing with that.