Late Arrivals at Work: Can We Set a Rule for Deducting Pay After Multiple Offenses?

Dear Seniors, If a few workers/staff are coming late (15-30 minutes), can we establish a rule in this regard? For instance, granting 2 late arrivals per month and deducting half a day's salary for every third late arrival.

Regulations on Late Arrivals

Is there any regulation in any act concerning this matter? Please advise.

Regards,
GANESH NARAYAN

Dear Ganesh,

You can do that. But do you pay overtime when an employee works late? Think about it. I believe that employees are mature human beings and know their duties and responsibilities. You, rather than playing a late-coming police, probably see if the work is being done or not. If work is suffering or they are late for a meeting, etc., then counseling or a warning letter will help. Deducting salary is not a solution. It's like telling a kid, "You do this and I will give you a chocolate." Even kids say, "Forget the chocolate, nowadays :)"

Dear Sir,

I am concerned about the issue of tardiness, and I believe there should be guidelines for latecomers. Punctuality is a crucial aspect of our work performance that cannot be overlooked. Therefore, I suggest empowering our security personnel to impose a fine of at least Rs. 100 for every late arrival starting from the third day onwards.

Thank you.

Hello,

Deduction of salary or recovery for late coming is not the proper solution. It is important to talk with employees, understand their problems, and then establish rules accordingly.

In most offices, receiving a third late memo often results in a half-day leave deduction. However, this policy can vary depending on the type of company.

Thank you.

It's good. However, it depends on the employee. If one employee consistently arrives late, then it might be acceptable. But if someone is late for a genuine reason, then it is not fair to penalize them. Additionally, if the job requires someone to stay late in the evening, then penalizing them for late arrival is also considered unfair.

Regards,
Sushil Kumar

Hello all,

But this is also relative to output. I do agree that time discipline is important, but this cannot be treated very seriously in a real-time scenario. If the latecomer is a key contributor to the team, the manager may have to find a practical solution for him as well as for the team to ensure discipline and meet the output.

Chacko.

Hi All,

I believe that lateness is an indication of an underlying problem. It is crucial to identify the root cause of why an employee is consistently late and come to an agreement on an appropriate penalty. While this approach may be effective for a small number of employees, it is important to consider that threats or deductions could escalate the situation for larger groups, potentially leading to industrial action such as strikes. Therefore, it is the responsibility of leadership to ensure that all members arrive on time. In cases where this is not achieved, they should discuss and establish a policy regarding third-day lateness.

Regards,
Nicholas

Dear Ganesh,

Thank you for the query and thanks to the contributors too. Instead of giving you a solution, I will raise questions to get the scenario clarified. Is it a hypothetical question asked in an interview? If not, what is the size of your organization? And in what field does it operate? What category of workers come regularly late? Do you have a flex-time system? Have you tried to find out why they come late? For example, if they all come from the same geographical area, could the transport system be unreliable? Or do they share the same vehicle? I can go on raising questions, but I won't. I think I have given enough food for thought.

Have a nice day.

Simhan

Dear Ganesh,

I am extremely delighted with Mr. Simhan's suggestion because I always love to probe into the situation before the query is raised and posted for acquiring an appropriate solution. Even other members had shared their BEST OPINION as well.

There are many areas where professionals are lacking; one is the ANALYTICAL APPROACH where one doesn't apply LOGIC before whatever he/she does. It should not become habitual because it is very difficult to get rid of HABITS.

I suggest one should post the SOLUTION along with his QUERY so that we can evaluate the situation at their end and provide THE BEST PRACTICAL SOLUTION that could be implemented for THE BEST OUTPUT.

You can define the LATE COMING POLICY under the banner of PUNCTUALITY. Make it flexible, and I don't promote LATE COMING & LATE GOING. It's not a good habit nor a good practice as well.

Please provide THE BEST SOLUTION to your EMPLOYEES rather than PUNISHING THEM. Make your employees feel "where they had gone wrong and why they had gone wrong." You should have EXCELLENT CONVINCING SKILLS. If one doesn't understand even after investing so much effort, then he is liable for prosecution (I mean you can take action against him/her).

Have a nice day...

With profound regards.

Hi friend,

I suggest introducing flexible timings in your office (I am not aware if it already exists). Even if they are late, then bring them all for a meeting to emphasize the importance of time management. If they still continue to arrive late, issue a warning letter to them and inform them that a copy of the same will be maintained in their records. Also, make it clear that this may affect their appraisals. Additionally, consider addressing their late-hour working.

Why not recognize employees who always arrive on time? This could serve as motivation for others.

Penalties and collecting money from employees may not be the best approach. Instead, emphasize that they are white-collar professionals and that time management is a fundamental step to follow.

- Babu

Dear Ganesh Ji,

Though it is the prerogative of any company to frame rules for their late-coming employees and they can easily be fined for this. But instead of penalizing the latecomers, it would be better to give special awards for those who attend their duties regularly and on time. I hope it will have a positive effect on the latecomers.

Wishing all members and viewers a Very Happy and Colorful Holi!!!

TR Chamoli

Dear All,

Please provide a satisfactory solution to Ganesh's question. Yes, we can implement a rule to impose a penalty for latecomers. Allow a 15-minute grace period and provide three chances within a month to accommodate late arrivals. After the fourth instance of tardiness, one day's salary should be automatically deducted.

Before implementing the aforementioned rule, please seek approval from the labor office for including this clause in the standing order of your company. If your organization does not require a standing order as per regulations, conduct an employee meeting to obtain consent and document the minutes of the meeting with this clause.

Regarding overtime, ensure compliance with the rules as per the law.

Thank you.

Hi,

Habitual lateness is an issue.

Please follow this process: allow a 15-minute grace period for late arrival and early departure. For instance, if the duty hours begin at 9:30 AM, the employee should be permitted to arrive late until 9:45 AM. If they arrive after 9:46, their lateness should be recorded as 16 minutes. The same rule applies to early departures, allowing for a total daily lateness of 32 minutes. Calculate the total minutes of lateness and consider deducting from casual leave based on the accumulated hours of lateness. If a total of 60 minutes of lateness is reached, a half-day casual leave deduction will apply.

Inform the employee of their late arrival and early departure timings, issue a warning, and if necessary, make adjustments using their remaining casual leave balance. If the casual leave balance is exhausted, deductions can be made from Earned Leave (EL) or Privilege Leave (PL), or salary deductions can be made proportionally. For every hour of lateness, deduct half a day of casual leave.

Handle the situation appropriately, use your discretion, and consult the respective Head of Department (HOD) before taking action. This process can only be effectively implemented if your attendance tracking system is computerized or if you have a swiping system in place.

Best regards,
Bishu

I believe that charging a penalty or deducting salaries of employees is not a sustainable solution. Try to understand the problems of the employees first, and only then consider implementing such rules if necessary.

Kind Regards,
Swati

Dear Ganesh,

I agree with Viraj. Even in our office, the timings are 9:30 am to 6:30 pm, but people are coming in very late, sometimes until 12:00 noon. However, the important thing is that they are working late into the night and still managing to complete all the projects on time. Therefore, coming in late is not the main concern; the priority is completing their work on time.

Thank you.

Subject - Re: Penalty on Late Coming to Office

Hello Readers,

Deducting salary like 1/2 day or a full day is obsolete in today's scenario; there needs to be a different approach to handling these kinds of issues. Here in this country, most of our employees are dependent on public transport, while some have their own vehicles. Traffic hazards are heavy, and no one can really be expected to be on time due to this situation. An employee is a great asset, and their morale should not suffer if we deduct from their salary. However, discipline is of utmost importance no matter what. Therefore, it can be done like this: IN THE EVENT AN EMPLOYEE IS LATE FOR EVERY MINUTE, A RUPEE WOULD BE FINED. This will somehow show improvement in adhering to office timings.

Cheers,
Venkat.

Addressing Latecomers in the Workplace

Please tell us the act or rule by which we can address these latecomers and how.

Questions on Disciplinary Actions

Q1. Can we dismiss them?
Q2. Can we deduct some wages in part or full day or even more?

Regards,
Manish Gupta

First, confirm with senior management if they have approved the Company Standing Order under the Act of 1946 from the certifying officer in the related department. Otherwise, obtain a book of Model Standing Orders Act 1946 and take the necessary action as per the rules stated in the Act of 1946.

Regards,
D. N. Sharma
Gurgaon

Dear Mr. Viraj & Mr. Sharma,

Thank you for your input. These are my findings:

1. We can dismiss an employee for habitual late attendance (major misconduct) after a chargesheet and domestic inquiry.
2. We can impose a fine or refuse to give work (mark as absent) for one-time late arrival as it falls under minor misconduct.

Please provide your comments on whether I am correct or if there are other actions we can take.

Regards,
Manish Gupta

Dear Manish,

Yes, that's right. But ideally, don't implement it as tomorrow employees can refuse to work overtime in case you are not paying. It's nice to overlook things sometimes. Also, if overlooked, you can use it as leverage in the future. Think about it.

There are various factors for employees being late, and not all are under employees' control.

Dear Viraj,

I am happy to work in a company which has 500 employees, and we do pay overtime as double, even for half an hour.

My problem is that the earlier manager had given permission to the employees to come late by 2 hours (only two times in a month), which over time has become a serious problem. Some employees have made this their birthright, and we do not have any way to address this issue.

Regards

Dear Manish,

If the top boss in your company wants this to change, then no one can stop this from happening. You must be having an HOD meeting or something; raise this issue (consult this with your boss first), brief the HOD's that this is being changed, and ask them to inform their subordinates. Send the minutes as follow-up and point out every time someone comes late by sending an email or putting the times of latecomings on the noticeboard and mention that these individuals need to improve. There is nothing like public humiliation in certain cases. Though you need to handle it carefully.

Dear Friends,

Thank you for your precious suggestions, but here I am concerned about those employees who come late every time without any reason; they feel it is their fundamental right. For some of the senior employees, we can consider, but for our ground people, we cannot without their valid reasons. Most often, we talk about time management, and many seminars are organized on this topic. It's really important because time is our primary asset, and we should use it in the right way. I do agree that we cannot impose any penalty on them, but we must agree that to bring them on the right track, we can take some action against them. So I request you all, please take it into your kind consideration.

Let's take some inspiration from army personnel who are very particular about their time management. We cannot be so liberal about time management.

Thank you.

Aryabhatt Anand

+91-7503242303

We can impose fines on latecomers and/or refuse them work. We can even dismiss them for repeated offenses.

Regards

It is not only about late coming but leaving the office early due to some personal work as well. If there is a policy of paying for overtime, then management is authorized to cut salary for leaving the office early. Usually, no company cuts salary for leaving the office early for staff once in a while. We have to address all aspects of this issue. Discipline in the workplace is necessary. If someone is late once or twice a month, it should be ignored. But if someone is making it a practice, then it should not be overlooked. I think cutting salary is not a solution, but cutting a half-day leave after being late three times in a month is a good idea. No one wants to lose their leave for unnecessary reasons.