Alternative Punishments for Latecomers: What Are Your Thoughts Beyond Salary Deductions?

Alternative Punishments for Latecomers

Can there be any other punishment for latecomers apart from a salary deduction? Waiting for your invaluable responses.

Thank you!

Regards.

Are You from Schools/Colleges Administration?

In industries, what punishments are you envisaging other than marking absent or continuous late coming that cast an aspersion on performance appraisal?

Pon

The industry is an SME, basically a photography company with a staff strength of 32. Salary deduction can't always be used as a measure. I need to know what other means to use to punish latecomers. Thanks!

Dear dapsy4u2, I am from an Advertising Agency, and when I joined, 'Late Coming' was a foremost problem there. I have implemented three major changes:

1. Replaced the 'Physical Attendance Register' with a 'Biometric Attendance Machine'.
2. Published the 'Late Comers' list every week.
3. Introduced a 'Salary Deduction' clause in the HR policy: Anybody coming late for 3 days in a month will have half a day's salary deducted without prior information.

This has worked for me; hopefully, it will help you as well.

There are different ways to control the late coming of your employees:

1. Send a daily latecomers report to the respective head of the department and request them to control the late-coming habits of their subordinates. The head of the department will be answerable for the late coming of their subordinates.

2. Give instructions to the Admin department not to allow latecomer employees to enter their department. They should sit in the admin department and, after requesting permission from their HOD, they can go to their respective department.

3. The HR head can call latecomer employees to their room for an explanation of why they arrived late at the office.

4. Display a list of latecomers on the notice board with bold names.

5. Deduct one leave for more than four instances of late coming in a month.

6. Late coming should be a heavily weighted factor in an employee's performance appraisal.

7. Habitual latecomers will not be promoted to the next level.

Habitual latecomers really deserve some punishment, but in the workplace, such issues should not be treated as with school children. Every employee has their own self-respect. Moreover, one doesn't want to be late every day at work, but at times one fails to plan for the next day's schedule or, due to various situations experienced at home or individually, they are often late because we are all living in a busy and hi-tech world.

Another point is that if an employee likes their job and responsibilities, their commitment and dedication to work will be high, such as coming in very early and staying late. Therefore, imposing punishment for lateness should be done during salary revision time or by cutting incentives, which is what our management does.

Please let me know if you need any further assistance.

Regards

Dear dapsy4u2, I agree with miniemmanuel. When employees persistently arrive late, take extra breaks or extra-long lunch hours, or simply leave early, sometimes we want to yell, “Shut up and stay at work.” Clearly, that is not the most emotionally intelligent response.

Addressing Company Work Hours

Instead, we need to talk about our company work hours. Then ask, “What is happening that you are arriving late (or leaving early, or taking extra breaks, or extending lunch hours)?” Give the team member a chance to explain. Then take our turn and explain to him/her the effect on his/her productivity and also on fairness to the team. Come up with an agreement and a way of measuring these efforts and enforcing the agreement.

If the problem persists, tell him/her clearly what the consequences will be.

Understanding Employee Behavior

In fact, we must be careful if the employee's story keeps changing. This can be either a sign of serious instability in the person's home life or a sign of a personal problem, such as having a boyfriend/girlfriend and falling in love recently. If we don't think the employee is being honest and making a serious effort to meet work responsibilities, we need to address it.

Management's Role in Mistakes

In management, we have to give someone who makes a mistake another chance. Let the Department Head talk to him/her again about what's happening. By giving people a chance to learn from their mistakes, we foster growth and responsibility.

Best regards to all CiteHr Members,

John

In my previous and current company, if any of our employees arrive late, for every three late markings, we deduct one leave from their Casual Leave (CL) or Earned Leave (EL). For the next three late markings (i.e., six late markings), two leaves are deducted, and so on...

Thank you.

Maintain a register in which columns are included such as Name, Time In, Leave/Absent Signature, and let everyone make their entries. This will help all employees realize the office's designated time and track their own time by writing it daily.

Ensure that the reporting time is prominently displayed at the top in block letters and signed by the respective Head of Department (HOD) daily. This will make everyone aware of latecomers.

Post this information on the notice board so that everyone is informed about the register. These actions have proven successful in our organization.

Best regards,
Harshita Raj

Including Latecomers' Details in Appraisals

Latecomers' details may be mentioned in the respective appraisal form (yearly), which could be one of the parameters to evaluate the performance of the candidate. This may help restrict or reduce the candidate's habit of arriving late.

Regards,
ASK

Penalty Clauses for Late Attendance

Penalty clauses should be set after a permissible limit for late attendance. This could entail deductions from the leave balance or salary. Please let me know if you need any further assistance.

Regards