Attendance Register Dilemma: How Should We Handle the Biometric Breakdown?

Dear All, Due to some technical reasons, the biometric machine has not been working for the last 3 months, and no employees have signed the attendance register. Therefore, I would like to issue a circular regarding the signing of the attendance register on a daily basis. Please provide me with your suggestions.

Regards,
Gayatri Naik

Yes, it is mandatory that every employee sign in the register in the absence of the biometric machine. You should also instruct the department personnel to maintain the attendance of their team members regularly so that you can cross-verify as well.

Instructions for Attendance Management

Instructions to all employees should be posted on the general notice board, and Heads of Departments (HODs) should be personally informed. I am unable to understand how salaries have been paid without supporting attendance for the last three months.

Importance of Attendance for Calculations

For the calculation of PL/EL, submission of annual returns (if it is a factory), OT, Compensatory off, etc., attendance is mandatory; otherwise, it will be difficult to finalize.

Thanks and regards,
Kamesh

Hi Kamesh,

No, actually, we cross-verify with the register, but the issue is that no employee personally signed that register. One of our office boys marked present in the attendance register. I joined this company just 7 days ago, so I need to issue a circular regarding this matter only. I also want to track latecomers, so please provide me with a circular template that specifies that every employee needs to mark their presence in the attendance register with the IN timing.

Regards,
Gayatri.

Sub-Attendance Register

I agree with Mr. Kamesh regarding the compulsory maintenance of an attendance register in physical form in the absence of a biometric system, considering other statutory compliances such as overtime and leave management associated with it.

You can issue a circular along the following lines:

To: [Recipient Name]
Dear Sir,

Subject: Signing Attendance Register

You are aware that the biometric system of the company is temporarily out of use due to a technical problem. Therefore, all employees are advised to mark their attendance without fail in the register designated for this purpose in their respective department/office. This practice is essential for ensuring punctuality, managing attendance, payroll, and leave records.

Department heads are requested to ensure that their staff complies with this directive.

Yours sincerely,

Manager - HR

Inter-Office Memo/Circular Format

Date:

Sub: Inter-Office Memo/Circular

Dear All,

Attendance register entry on a daily basis is mandatory as per the attendance policy of our organization. Kindly sign in the attendance register daily for the smooth flow of the payroll process and for various statutory requirements.

Failure to do so will be considered as absent for the day, and no further intimation will be given on the same.

For <Company Name>,

Signature

Name

Designation

Regards

You are right! When there is a circular, it cannot be in a particular person's name. You can have the following lines as well:

"You all are aware that due to some technical error, our biometric punching machine is out of order, and hence punching attendance through the biometric machine is not possible. To overcome this situation, we have kept Attendance Registers for all employees to sign as a marking of their attendance to duty.

All employees are hereby informed that to mark your attendance to duty, please sign daily in the attendance register without fail. Your salary will be processed based on your signatures. Failure to sign the register may result in a loss of pay, for which the concerned employee will be solely responsible.

Your cooperation with this compliance will be highly appreciated.

By Order,
HR & Admin Dept."

You may add or delete the narration as needed.

Cheers!

Regards,
Atul S. Malve
Manager - HR & Admin

Whereas Kamlesh has given you advice on how to revert to the caveman era of the attendance register, one really wonders what the administration was doing to get their act together for reinstalling the biometric attendance system. The register will only make everyone's life miserable, and you will wind up investing in the recruitment of fresh clerical and peon staff. My suggestion would be to get things moving to get the system up within a week. If you can't, I strongly suggest that you look for alternate opportunities elsewhere as either you or the company is not worth it.

Regards,
Aav

Hi Atul,

As I mentioned in my second post, we have an attendance register system, but my main concern is for all these posts. I want to issue a circular regarding employees marking their attendance on self-responsibility. It is not that the company or administration personnel are careless regarding attendance matters. Thanks for your suggestion.

Regards,
Gayatri Naik

First, make clear instructions to security that after the in-time hours, no one will enter the main gate. If they come late (due to some problem), keep a register with the security person to note down the latecomers' names, employee codes, in-time, employee signature, remarks (to note down why they are late), and the signature of the security personnel.

Steps to Ensure Attendance Compliance

Take a class for employees to sign the attendance register in front of security. Based on this attendance register, salaries will be processed; otherwise, no exceptions will be made.

These two steps will be applicable from the top down the hierarchy. This will also help build a good culture in your organization.

Regards,
Prasad & Mallikarjun (HR Officers)

Electronic Attendance System - Biometric System

The Information Technology Act permits the maintenance of statutory registers in electronic form, and in such an event, it is not necessary to maintain attendance registers in physical form. However, the concerned Labour Authorities may be kept informed of this, and if necessary, permission should be obtained from them.

Regards,
B. Saikumar
HR & Labour Law Consultant
Chipinbiz Consultancy Pvt. Ltd
Mumbai.

Dear All,
Thanks for your valuable suggestions. Now, my problem has been sorted. I have put a circular on the notice board as well as given instructions to the security guard, and now everyone is signing the attendance register on their own responsibility. Once again, thanks to everyone.

Thanks & Regards,
Gayatri Naik

Dear All,

Thank you for your valuable suggestions. I have sorted out my problem. I have posted a circular on the notice board and given instructions to the security guard. Now, everyone is signing the attendance register on their own responsibility. Once again, thank you to everyone.

Thanks & Regards,
Gayatri Naik.

We agreed with Mr. Prasad P.K.'s suggestion and will take attendance department-wise from all departments and verify it with the gate attendance register.

Regards,
Shailesh

It has come to our notice that some team members are not regularly punching their attendance. As a result, we have to mark leave against their names due to a lack of information. We appreciate your efforts in making it a habit to regularly punch your attendance. This will help create a better system for organizational growth and development.

We hope your efforts will help us create an effective system. Looking forward to your support.

As you have mentioned that you joined this company less than 10 days ago, I would suggest you have patience and understand the process that was carried out when the TRT was not working in the past. You mentioned that the TRT has not been working for the last three months, which is a significant amount of time; it should have been repaired much earlier. If no employee had marked their attendance in the register, then I don't think pasting a circular on the notice board is going to help.

You can inform the employees that strict monitoring of attendance will be implemented, and firm action will be taken against any employee who does not follow the code of conduct. For instance, it will be considered the employee's day off if attendance is not marked for any business day. Before sending the email, call all the supervisors/managers/heads of departments and ensure they understand the importance of adhering to such processes from both the company's standpoint and a statutory standpoint.