Balancing Flexibility and Accountability: How Should IT Firms Handle Attendance Policies?

Dear all,

We are a software solutions firm based in Chennai. Our firm has grown from 10 staff to 250 in the past 8 years. Attendance has always been an issue, more so with seniors. We have been following the general shift from 9 am to 6 pm with a one-hour break for lunch. Timing in our office is not project-based, so everybody follows the regular timings.

My Questions

- What is the general trend in IT firms regarding attendance and working hours? Is it regular (9 to 6 pm) or non-structured?

- For staff given flexible working hours, what benefits and constraints may be applied?

- Regarding coming late or leaving early, do seniors need to follow the rules or do they get to bypass them?

I would like to form a policy that doesn't restrict too much. However, following this direction in the last two years, I have found that we miss too many working hours and have also had staff who took advantage of the system. I realize that keeping the staff in the office doesn't necessarily equal productivity. As HR, I need to come up with a system that provides freedom to work without the system getting abused.

Regards,
T. Anthony

Working hours, leave policies, and holidays are generally regulated by the nature of the business, project deadlines, HR policy, and the location where the company provides services. Most IT companies have flexible timings/shifts to accommodate their clients' requirements. Some companies also offer the option to "work from home".

Benefits to Your Organization

Introducing flexible working could bring the following benefits to your business:

1. Greater staff morale and job satisfaction. Most employers offering flexitime working report improvements in recruitment, absenteeism, and productivity.

2. Reduces stress, fatigue, and unfocused employees.

3. Increases employee satisfaction and production.

4. Greater staff retention and increased ability to attract new staff. Recruitment costs are thus reduced.

5. Ability to attract a higher level of skills because the business can attract and retain a skilled and more diverse workforce.

6. Increased customer satisfaction and loyalty as a result of the above.

Disadvantages of Flexitime

If the scheme is not monitored properly, there is potential for employees to abuse the system. For example, if time is recorded on paper or spreadsheets by staff, they can easily fabricate their time. Administration of the system may place demands on an HR department and create additional workload.

Thank you for your response; I appreciate it. Do you understand the pros and cons of flexible hours and the work-from-home option since we have both privileges available to our senior staff?

Trends and Guidelines for Flexible Hours

If you don't mind sharing, what is the trend in your office? If you do offer flexible hours, what are the guidelines communicated to the staff?

We do extend flexi-timing to our employees; nevertheless, an employee is expected to clock in a minimum of 9 hours on average per day on a weekly basis. This is captured by an attendance software, which records the log-in and log-out times for any particular employee. The software also generates a report on productivity for a particular employee based on the number of hours they have been working on their system. Since attendance is also one of the parameters in our bi-annual appraisal system, it works pretty well.

Managers are allowed to log in late, provided they clock in a minimum of 9 hours per day on average. I hope this helps. Do revert in case you have any other questions.

Your reply has helped a lot, many thanks! As it happens, we are planning to look into a software called Workmeter.

Hierarchy of Seniors in Our Firm

Seniors in our firm are those by designation: Project Managers and Project Leaders. In the hierarchy, they are second and third, respectively.

Regards,
T. Sivasankaran

Office Attendance Time for Executive Staff under the Shop & Establishment Act, Kolkata

I always perform responsibly in the organization and provide good support in terms of time. I don't worry about time after official office hours. Due to managing various tasks and ensuring their completion or backing up, I consistently arrive at the office by 10:30 am instead of 9:30 am. Similarly, I leave the office after 7 pm instead of 6 pm. However, the management does not accept this, and my salary gets deducted.

I am facing issues as the management expects all executives to be available for a 24-hour job, not contributing after official office hours. For the last three months, I have not received my full salary, leading to significant problems. Despite my request for the full salary, they have not accepted it.

I am unsure how to resolve this matter. Could you provide any helpful suggestions?

Thank you.