New to HR: How Do You Handle Employees Who Frequently Arrive Late?

Dear members,

I am new to the HR field. Can you please advise on how to effectively handle employees who arrive late to the office?

Thanks in advance,

Challapalli Anil Kumar
Email: anil_challapalli@yahoo.co.in

Dear Anil,

First, could you please provide me with the details:

A) What are the office hours?
B) Is there a grace period?
C) What is the standard procedure for handling such cases?
D) Are late marks applicable to all staff or specifically to junior staff?

Regards,
Snehashish Chowdhury

Hi,

Also, check whether your company has a time office department. Check if there is any policy for habitual latecoming. If so, the number of times an employee can be allowed to be late should be specified. Constantly monitor the late record of employees at least once every three months. In the case of habitual latecoming, orally warn the employee twice. If the same behavior continues, issue a warning letter for his lateness. Also, check the grace period.

If the latecoming is persistent, deduct salary for the late days during the month. Make a policy that if an employee is late for more than three days in a month, half a day's salary or one day's salary will be deducted. Ensure the category of employees to whom this deduction applies.

Regards,
Devarajan

We can add one more point to the above-mentioned points given by other members. This late coming can be considered for the mid-year or year-end appraisal system.

Regards, Mujeeb

Sir,

I am in my final year of my graduation. My department is Electronics and Communication Engineering. Could anyone suggest jobs or further education opportunities in this field? I would also like to know the current market demand for a particular field in electronics. Please make a note of my message, sir.

Mail ID: jousuala@gmail.com.

Dear Anil,

Kindly make it flexi hours. It will not create much headache. You can search for more details of the flexi hours policy in this forum.

Regards,
Soja

Delivery of work is very important. If it is a factory, what all you guys are saying is okay. If it is a consulting or software company, then you need to leave it to the project manager.

Hi,

I would like to add that if they are late many times without any acceptable reason, they should be warned. Even after that, if they continue in the same manner, they should be suspended from work for 3 to 5 days, whatever the reason may be.

Re: How to Handle Late-Coming Employees Effectively

Hi,

What I suggest is that you can send a general letter to all the employees to refresh the regular office time policy. Then, monitor who comes late and take action accordingly.

This is what I had sent to my employees:

Dear All,

It has been observed that some employees are not arriving on time at the office, which is affecting the productivity across departments. You are requested to adhere to the normal start time of 9:30 am from Monday to Friday and 11 am on Saturday and complete a minimum of 9 work hours on regular days and 7 hours on Saturday. If any employee fails to comply, they will be marked as taking half a day's leave. A 30-minute grace period will be considered for emergency situations such as train delays, etc.

If an employee has urgent tasks to complete and must stay beyond the minimum work hours, they will be allowed a 1-hour grace period for the next day's start time. They will be permitted to arrive by 10:30 am from Monday to Friday and 12 noon on Saturday.

Thanks & Regards,

Supriya

I hope this may help you.

Thanks & Regards, Supriya

For the different businesses or tasks, the importance of timely arrival of employees may vary. For example, for a consultant, it is not necessary to be time-bound, while for tasks assigned to a team, it is necessary to be present with all team members.

Rules of punishment, such as those discussed above, are effective, but rewards are more appealing from an employee's perspective.

Basically, it depends on the organization as well. If the organization is big, then flexible hours policy will work well. However, if the organization is small, it matters a lot.

According to me, if any employee is late thrice in a month, deducting half a day's salary really works. But before implementing this, send a circular to the staff just to remind them about the importance of being punctual.

Dear Anil,

Rigidity makes employees arrogant and work shirkers. Would you like your employees to attend and leave the office on time but without any productivity? I think you won't.

That does not mean I am a supporter of absenteeism. But surely, some relaxation at certain times for just one or two employees should not be overruled. My personal experience says that you can make them work even 9 to 10 hours a day with good results and that too without them asking for any remuneration for the extra hours they devote. You first need to verify the cause of their lateness. There may be several reasons, not only personal but also transportation or others. Employees usually come forward with lame excuses for delays if you are not friendly with them and deal just like a boss. If you try to become their friendly manager, they won't hesitate to speak their mind truthfully before you.

During my earlier service, the management knew me as the best administrator and revenue earner, while employees knew me as their real friend and sympathizer, but only if they were truthful with me. Why was I the best administrator? That was because my subordinates behaved like quite tamed fellows. On the other hand, why was I considered the best revenue earner? That was because I enjoyed the complete sincerity of my subordinates, and they used to leave no stone unturned to safeguard the revenue of the organization. Besides, I was considered the least spendthrift. Further, why was I considered employee-friendly and a sympathizer? Because the employees knew that for genuine and truthful reasons, I would not compel them for punctuality and would take care of their needs, facilities, and amenities without asking. They also knew that I would deal with the real culprits with a firm hand.

My subordinates trusted me so much that even about their private and part-time jobs, I was made aware of by them. This mutual trust benefited me with their sincerity and loyalty. If they were late to arrive at the office or had to leave early, I was fully aware of their inability to attend in time or their need to leave early at times due to compelling reasons. Furthermore, their work never suffered as they compensated for office work very sincerely at another time without being asked. Even when I asked them to stay late in the office due to urgency, they never refused or asked for any compensation. Of course, at my own discretion, when I found their extra work should be compensated by extra remuneration, I myself asked them to prefer their claims for overtime.

Another advantage I gained from the mutual trust was that when I was absent on a visit to another office or due to my leave, my subordinates, with all their sincerity, never tried to be absent from the office. During office hours, I was their boss, but whenever even a peon visited my house, I treated him like my guest.

So, better try these formulas and later share your practical experience with others as well.

PS Dhingra
Vigilance & Transformation Management Consultant
Dhingra Group of Management & Educational Consultants
New Delhi

Dear All,

Instead of following a very hard FIXED TIME procedure, it is better if some freedom in the form of flexi hours is given to the employee. An employee must be judged in terms of productivity and not just the hours spent. [We are dealing with human beings and not machines].

Such a holistic approach would add more to the attitude of the employees and thus, the growth of the company.

Thanks,
Kapil

Dear,

Here are some effective tips to enhance employee punctuality within the office:

- The employee register should be placed in front of the CEO/GM/Office Manager after the grace period in the morning.
- Appreciation letters with pictures should be issued on a regular basis and displayed on the notice board for on-time employees.
- A monetary cash reward should be given to the most punctual employee.
- Salary deductions should be made for latecomers (after two late arrivals, one day's salary should be deducted strictly for all employees).

Regards,
Syed Shahzad Ali

No strict action should be taken against them. Maybe they have some other problems like transportation, etc.

My simple suggestive formula for this is to MOTIVATE THEM TO COME ON TIME. This can be done by adopting a number of measures, such as declaring "Employee of the Month" and displaying his/her name on the main Notice Board. Additionally, issuing some remuneration or in lieu or even a certificate in a befitting manner will definitely boost the morale of the employees and infuse them to be punctual.

Regards,
Jagdish S. Nadar
Asst. Manager HR
Nuberg Engg. Ltd.
+91 9313490613

Dear Mr. Anil,

I would advise as follows:

1. Firstly, with consultation with your superior, take out an office order reinstating that late coming is a misconduct and shall be taken up seriously.

2. Secondly, provide verbal intimation to the concerned late-coming staff after due observance only.

3. Send a written letter to the late-coming staff.

Further stringent measures can be adopted if the staff does not improve their timing. This needs to be handled carefully to avoid any labor law issues.

If you require any further clarifications, please feel free to contact me at vandanakandari@yahoo.com. I shall be glad to assist you.

Best regards,
Vandana

[Legal and Management Consulting Services](http://www.vandanakandari.blogspot.com)

Dear All,

Please check if there is an imbalance in WORK/LIFE/REST = 8+8+8 = 24 HRS of the individual.

Thanks and regards,
M B Suresh
Administrative Officer
Eduscan Group
Abu Dhabi
+971 50 3233479
mb.suresh@yahoo.com

ESIC Confusion, Please Help

Dear Member,

Have you received any circular regarding the increase in the limit of ESIC? I have learned from some sources that the limit is going to be raised from 10000/- to 15000/- with effect from 01.04.2010.

You are kindly requested to email me the circular or any information regarding the same if you have it, to my E-Mail ID - [Login to view].

Thanks & Regards,
Ajay Grover

Dear Anil,

To address your concern, you should first examine the work schedule of your staff. If the schedule is not clearly defined, this should be your initial step. Once you have established the schedule, you can address any lateness issues with your policies. It is always more effective to manage situations within a defined framework rather than relying on assumptions. You can find many useful policies on Citehr that may assist you. Good luck.

Regards,
Jain

Hello.

I think Ms. Ramambika's views on the same are very genuine and give us direction towards punctuality.

Regards

Hello all,

I think Ms. Ramambika's views on the same are very genuine and give us direction towards punctuality. However, emergency late coming can only be considered.

Regards

Dear Vijay Rana,

I have seen RamaAmbika's suggestion, which suggests suspension from work for 3 to 5 days "whatever may be the reason." Suspension has never been the remedy to mend an employee. To make suspension is not a child's play that could be expected to be resorted to at any time and on everyone without having some solid reason of misconduct where the employee's absence is felt quite necessary from the workplace to avoid him from manipulating the records of the office. You may like to know what the proposed suspension can do to the employee and the management as well:

1) The employee will get compulsory leave for 3-5 days without asking, just by losing a few pennies out of his salary, and the management will have to take the risk of keeping the work of his portion pending till his/her return or overburden some other fellow, earning the wrath of the other employee as well.

2) The employee would necessarily become arrogant and if he/she is an efficient worker, the management itself will make him/her an inefficient and irresponsible worker.

3) When the employee would have the need for leave, he/she would start coming late, as he would get freedom from work on getting suspended and would have his/her regular leave. Other employees would also follow his/her example, bringing in total inefficiency in the organization. The manager would not only earn a bitter experience but also would get treated as quite an inefficient manager on account of his/her own folly.

4) Suspension of an employee cannot be resorted to for this reason unless the organization amends employees' conduct rules suitably. Moreover, suspension is an act of the spur-of-the-moment when the incident is noticed, while suspension can be made only by the competent authority and not by anyone. The Manager, supervisor will have to undergo the written formality to convince the competent authority and will have to wait until the competent authority agrees on the proposal. In that case, would you be suspending the employee after 3-4 days or a week of the incidence of late coming only on receipt of the approval of the competent authority?

I hope every manager would like to think several times on these aspects before bringing into effect the proposed practice of suspension of an employee for his/her late coming.

PS Dhingra
Vigilance & Transformation Management Consultant
Dhingra Group of Management & Educational Consultants
New Delhi