Struggling with Late Arrivals in Construction: How Can HR Address This Challenge?

Managing Employee Punctuality in the Construction Industry

I work as an HR professional in a construction company. My major concern involves employees' office timings. Our office hours are from 9:30 am to 6:30 pm, but there are hardly any employees who arrive on time. When asked, they bluntly respond by saying, "We stay late at night; you cannot expect us to be on time," or they say, "We live far from the office."

My query here is: what should we do to control such employees? Please help!

Thanks & Regards,
Shobhit

Attribution: https://www.citehr.com/345104-office...#ixzz2n3HdspFK

This is a common issue in most corporate offices where senior management expects employees to stay late while they themselves are sitting in the office, and they also expect employees to arrive on time even though they may come late. Another issue is the lack of overtime payment for employees who work beyond the legally stipulated working hours.

Solution for Office Timing Issues

A solution that can be implemented in consultation with senior management is flexible timing and increased discipline regarding office hours, including the arrival and departure of senior management. Discipline is a matter of practice and should be demonstrated by senior management in the first place.

Regards,
Preetam Deshpande

Dear Preetam, thank you for your valuable suggestion. However, my major concern is that even after deducting salary from the employees who were late last month, they are still arriving late. Please advise me on this matter.

Thank you.

Flexi-Timing as a Solution

Flexi-timing is the best option. That is to say, the number of hours needs to be compensated on the same day by the employee who comes late. The maximum limit for arrival should be fixed, beyond which half a day is counted.

Problem: Controlling People Coming Late

First, there should be a rule on office timing. Preetam was right—the Senior Management must be role models, with exceptions for Directors.

The rule should certainly include OT and other benefits. People should not be allowed to stay back unnecessarily without work.

On work, be strict—provide necessary resources and an environment conducive to efficient working to get the best out of the workers. For manager level and below, it is the responsibility of the organization/management—the system should be outcome-focused. Always ask about the results.

If what you pay is much above the industry benchmark, and they cannot get that elsewhere, they will follow your rules. However, if what you pay is just ordinary, and they can get it at any time and from anywhere, they will not care for the rules. The principle should be: Recruit the right person, pay them double what they can get elsewhere, and get three times the work out of them. The right person includes an aptitude for work—most of the time, this is not checked—and if the person does not enjoy their job, they will be indifferent to the job/rules.

I would advise you to review your system/rules and find out what your staff requires to enable them to enjoy their work.

Regards,
Iyer R N

If they are coming regularly, please inform your Senior Management. With the consent of Senior Management, create a circular regarding punctuality.

If employees are arriving late, they should discuss this with their Head of Department. As HR, notify them initially by sending a circular; if the issue persists, consider implementing deductions from their pay. If the tardiness continues, proceed with issuing a notice, a charge sheet, a show cause notice, and further disciplinary action.

Failure to address this may lead to a lack of discipline in the office, with employees arriving and leaving at their convenience.

Thanks & Regards,
Shashidhara.Gk

As an HR professional, you can initially start with the 1-hour flexi-time policy. For example, if your company's timings are 9:30 a.m. - 6:30 p.m., you can allow flexibility up to 1 hour. This means if you arrive at 10:15 a.m., you are supposed to leave by 7:15 p.m., and so on. If any employee arrives at 10:31 a.m., directly mark them as half-day. If there is no leave balance, consider it as a loss of pay. I believe this approach might work.

Additionally, you can have a discussion with your Senior HR, who can, in turn, support you in making the communication of this message to senior-level management smoother.

Regards,
Asmita