Tackling Factory Punctuality Problems: How Can We Encourage Timely Arrivals?

Addressing Punctuality Issues at the Factory

Although we have established rules for punctuality at the factory, some employees are still arriving late to the workplace. What actions should we take to address this issue?

Regards

As you mentioned, you have set rules for late coming. Please check the rules to see what penal provisions are included.

Thank you.

Making rules and implementing them are two different things and require proper management. Ensure all employees are well aware of the rules. Are the new rules sufficient to convince or compel employees to arrive on time? Are the rules strictly implemented and followed by the employer? Have you noticed any improvement in punctuality? Have you given your employees enough time to adapt to the new rules? If employees have been consistently late and not punctual for a long time, it will take them some time to adjust. Please review the above points as it seems you may be overlooking some aspects.

We have communicated all late-coming rules to all employees and have even compiled a list of latecomers. However, it seems that some people are not taking this communication seriously. They are finding ways and reasons to justify their tardiness.

Thank you.

To make employees punctual, first, you need to take stringent action plans by strictly penalizing the latecomers. At initial stages, there may be hue and cries; however, strictly implementing the rules will definitely awaken employees to know the importance of punctuality.

In our company, I have strictly followed the rules by implementing deductions of leave for latecomers (there should be a grace period of 10 minutes, and in excess of 3 late marks in a month, you can deduct half a day's leave from their credit). It took almost one year to make it successful, but I am happy that people are now punctual.

If any employee is habitual of coming late even after taking such actions, you can warn or caution them for disciplinary action. Everything is possible by strictly implementing rules and followed by action plans.

Some employees may defend by saying that they will not sit late hours in case of any additional work; however, make them understand that by coming at the right time, an employee shows punctuality, and by staying late to complete their assigned job shows responsibility.

Start implementing the rules right from today and do not take a step backward. You will succeed. Finally, for all these things, you need top management's support also.

All the best.

Regards,
Vijayan Krishnan

Dear Vijayan,

Namaste. I had also faced a similar situation where not only employees arrived late, but even seniors took the liberty of arriving well beyond the stipulated office timings.

Implementing a Flexible Punctuality Rule

I enforced a similar rule, but in a different manner. Since the employees in our organization were quite senior, deducting leaves would not have been beneficial.

• The office timing was given a grace period up to 9:45 a.m. (actual office timing - 9:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.). If an employee arrived after 9:46 a.m., they would have to stay back until 6:30 p.m., even if they did not have any pending work.

• If an employee was delayed and arrived after 10:00 a.m., up to 2 genuine reasons were allowed in a month at the HOD's discretion. Beyond that, half a day's salary was deducted, not from the wages but collected as an employee fund. In the last 3 months, no deductions have been made, as the collection occurred only in the first month, which is currently held in the office to be used for employee welfare or as employees see fit.

Following the implementation of this rule, no one has been late. Even if someone is late, they must have approval from the HOD, and no HOD can continuously provide reasons for tardiness, even if the late employee is a top performer.

Additionally, if an employee faces a contingency and will be late by more than 2 hours, half a day's casual leave is granted. However, this can only be done after the employee arrives and sends an email for approval from their HOD to all HODs and HR. This system ensures total transparency, and no one takes advantage.

It has been over 4 months since this rule was implemented, and there have been no instances of tardiness. Employees usually apply for half days instead.

Best Regards,

Bharati Joshi

The system we have introduced in our company is that anybody arriving late after the grace period of 15 minutes from the office's opening hour is marked as late. For every four days of late arrival, we deduct one day's pay, even if they have leave available to their credit. As a result, our employees are now 99% punctual.

Regards,
S. Balasubramanian

There are two types of latecomers in any organization: occasional latecomers and habitual latecomers. We may have to take disciplinary action against the latter to establish discipline within the organization.

Regards,
B.L. MADHAVAN

I have also faced this problem in the last 3 months. But now we have control over the late coming of workers and also Management Staff through the following steps:

1. Discussed with Management in a group meeting at our conference Hall.
2. Discussed with workers on the shop floor.
3. Kept a register at the Security gate and deducted their wages from the monthly salary.
4. Displayed a notice on late coming on the notice board.
5. Initiated disciplinary action under the standing order - oral warning, written warning, show cause notice under certified standing order.
6. Personally discussed with workers (their problem) and through this, we have control over the late coming of employees.

Thank you,

Regards

I have reviewed the above issue and the suggestions provided by various professionals. I advise you to make employees aware of the impact of manpower loss resulting from tardiness and its potential consequences in the future.

Thanks,
F. Hasan

I work as an HR and Admin Officer for a manufacturing company. In my company, we have also set penalties for late-coming workers. A 5-minute grace period is allowed for all workers. Employees can be late up to 4 times a month for up to 10 minutes each time. After that, penalties apply: Rs. 50 for being late between 9:05 to 9:30 am, Rs. 100 for being late between 9:30 am to 10:00 am, and being late after 10:00 am will be considered as half-day leave. The penalty amounts are collected in the Employee Welfare fund and are utilized for employee welfare activities. This scheme has worked very effectively in my company.

Regards,
Shamal P

Dear all, as we have set rules for latecoming at the factory, still employees are reporting late to the workplace. What should we do about it?

Effective Rule for Latecoming Employees

One rule that is effective for latecoming employees is to deduct 3 days from their attendance.

Regards

We have also implemented the rule as mentioned earlier. If an employee comes in 3 days late consecutively, the third day is marked as a half-day leave. I hope that would do the trick. People might take it lightly when they have paid leaves, but once those are over, everyone would come in on time every day unless, of course, there is an emergency.

Regards,
BS

First of all, give him notice and after that, deduct his duty time.

Regards,
Nobal

Dear Smitha,

Your suggestion is perfect for addressing employee tardiness. We have also implemented the rule as mentioned earlier. If an employee comes in late for three consecutive days, the third day is marked as a half-day leave. I hope that would do the trick. People might take it lightly when they have paid leaves, but once those are over, everyone would come in on time every day unless, of course, there is an emergency.

Regards,
BS

What you can do here is give a time window, maybe half an hour. For instance, if your office timing is 9:30 am, you can keep a window between 9:30 to 10:00. Employees have to complete their working hours. Whoever arrives even at 10:01 am, you can mark half a day for that employee. It works like a wonder, trust me 

Regards,
Monica

I'm working in an IT company as an HR Manager. I'm also facing the same problem. Now, I'm going to apply the same rules, i.e., if an employee comes late 3 times in a month, then their half-day salary will be deducted. Initially, if an employee arrives late and management asks them to put in extra time, they request overtime pay for that. How can such a problem be resolved?

Regards,
Maninder
HR Manager