Who Should Sign Employee Permission Slips for Early Leave or Late Arrival?

I would like to know who the authorized person is to sign permission slips for employees to leave the company before working hours close or arrive late in the morning. Is it the admin manager or the HR Manager who is responsible for this?

Thank you.

It depends upon the company's policy. In the absence of such a policy, normally it shall be the authority to whom the employee reports for work, if such authority has been delegated to them as per practice. In the absence of such practice, the Head of the Office/Department shall be the Competent Authority.

Regards,
B. Saikumar
HR & Labour Law Advisor
Mumbai

B. Saikumar is right. Though it depends on the company's policies, logically and common sense dictate that the day-to-day official activities of any employee are tracked only by his/her superior officers. How would HR come into the scene unless the reporting official complains to HR of any misbehavior? If you don't have a policy in place, I suggest preparing one so that you won't have any communication gaps or misinterpretation issues later.

Regards, TS

Thank you for the suggestions. However, if an employee wants to leave the company earlier, do they not need to get permission from the HR department?

Can you provide the reasons why you believe that the employee should obtain permission from the HR department? It would be more beneficial if you could share the actual situation you are facing, rather than posing a generic query to which the members have already responded.

Regards,
TS

The situation in our company is that we are an automobile dealership (Sales & Service). We have a structure where the admin department is common for both, while the HR department is separate for sales and service. Recently, the sales HRM resigned from the job, and now I am taking care of it. I am just 25 years old. Yesterday, the admin manager called me and told me that from now on, I shouldn't sign the permission slips as that falls under the admin part. In the service department, the HR manager or HR executive can sign, based on our mutual understanding, but I shouldn't. He also highlighted that according to the law, it is part of the admin responsibilities. That's why I am asking.

One thing I know very well is that everyone in the service HR and admin department has been cooperating with me for the last few months.

Authority for Addressing Late Arrivals and Early Departures

Departmental heads or duty supervisors may be given the authority, within the limits of company rules, to address instances of late coming or early departure (one hour late or early) up to two times in a month. A specific format needs to be developed, but initially, it is crucial to get approval from the competent authority.

Regards

You need to create a process for permitting employees to come late or leave early. This is the role of the time office in charge. Normally, the responsibility of running the floor rests with the floor manager (production manager). The HR department's responsibility is to establish a common process to run the business smoothly and, at the same time, control the whims and fancies of managers with biased decisions that may lead to differences and unrest between employees, managers, or the company.

Therefore, you should prepare a process document in consultation with all managers responsible for day-to-day business operations, understand current practices, consolidate all suggestions and ideas, and then seek approval from the Managing Director, who has the ultimate authority to sign policy documents and is responsible for the business results. You can even suggest the maximum number of permissible times in each case or offer some flexible hours in a month for arriving late or leaving early, with each permission subject to the maximum time allowed in a day. This will help establish a common rule throughout the entire organization.

Please let me know if you need further assistance.

Normally, the permission slip is signed by the Admin Manager or Assistant Manager from the Administration department only. HR is there only to formulate and organize the procedure. They need not come into the picture as long as the procedure and conditions are followed by Administration. There must be a slip containing the name of the employee, department, and their roll number. The slip must be submitted to the administration to obtain approval.

It depends on the company policy. In the event where there is no such policy, the request should be made through the respective Department Head. In their absence, permission should be sought from the reporting manager and HR.

Hi All, as per our company policy, the project lead first signs the permission slip, as he is the right person to know the work pending. Once he signs, the operations manager signs the same, and the employee is allowed to leave. In the absence of the operations manager, the HR manager signs the same.

Best wishes

Generally, in corporates and their factories, a permission slip is signed by the functional superior, who is the direct boss seen immediately. This is because he is ultimately answerable if his subordinate is missing from the workplace. However, if he lacks experience, etc., in order to avoid clashes in such circumstances, they follow something called the grade level authority. For example, only those at the Junior Manager level and above can sign, etc. Additionally, there is a further check at the security gate before allowing the individual to leave.

These permission slips, once filed, are to be forwarded, of course, finally to the HR head. The HR head will then tabulate and forward it to the concerned department if someone frequently goes out using permission slips.

I have one request based on your approach. I feel that there is an ego clash between HR and Admin. Please avoid this, at least for now, as I perceive you as very young. Kindly relax and ignore it. After all, someone will have to shoulder that risk, so why carry it until you are certain it is your duty?

Regards,
Suresh K

[Phone Number Removed For Privacy Reasons].