Consistently Late Employee: Can Salary Deductions Be Justified? Seeking Guidance

If an employee is consistently arriving late (nearly 45 minutes daily), is it possible to deduct the salary from that particular employee? Please guide me.

Regards,
Rekha M.

With regards to your query, you can go for the electronic attendance machine to track employee timing. You can implement a strict policy and send a circular stating that all employees must be punctual in their morning arrival. A grace period of 15 minutes may be allowed a maximum of 3 times in a month. For any further occurrences of late arrival beyond 3 times, half-day or full-day salary deductions will apply. You can send a notice after obtaining approval from the top management and display it on the notice board.

Additionally, you can establish specific policies for habitual latecomers.

Regards

Do you use counseling for correcting errant employees? If not, then please start counseling those who don't adhere to defined policies and procedures, rules, and regulations which are uniformly applicable to all. There are instances when counseling has helped many to correct their ways; apply a human approach to such situations first.

Written Notices and Warnings

It's better to have written notices (with prior approval of management) distributed to all concerned either by way of intranet email or hard copy circular posted on the staff notice board before taking action against anyone. Taking any stringent action must be preceded by warnings, both verbal and documented.

Adopt the most appropriate solution or advice that suits you most out of the numerous replies that you may receive for your query.

Regards,
Debashis

As per the law, please refer to the standing orders and see what the provision is for those who come late. Some state rules allow deducting half-day's pay beyond a certain limit. Most standing orders provide for penalties for late arrival. Continuous late arrival can also be grounds for domestic inquiry and disciplinary action, including termination.

Clause in the Factory Act

There is a clause in the Factory Act allowing the deduction of salary for absences from work. This also applies to those who are late.

When an employee is consistently arriving 45 minutes late every day, it raises significant concerns for management. Deducting salary is not the solution for every misstep. In my opinion, if an employee is late by 45 minutes every day, consider marking them absent and sending them home. If this behavior is not consistent, issue a MEMO or warning letter. Deducting salary for late arrivals may lead to it becoming a habit for those who are indifferent to the deductions.

Much depends on the size of the organization. Does your company have a practice of requiring employees to work extra hours beyond eight? In such a case, in the absence of compensation for this extra work, some employees may tend to report late for duty. If that is not the case, you can establish a rule for incoming and outgoing times applicable at all levels. Also, display a notice on the notice board stating the kind of disciplinary action the management will take in the event of non-compliance with the established disciplinary norms.

As a first step, start counseling all such employees in the presence of their seniors. Please check, as there might also be something wrong with the management that needs correction in such a case.

Regards,
Satish Akut

When you raise any query, please ensure that it contains all the relevant facts, such as the type of establishment/industries, individual's position or category, etc. It all depends on the company's policy and clauses stipulated in the certified standing orders of the company. Besides, the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, under Section 15 provides for proportional deductions of wages of a worker who works for less than the normal working day. Please check the list of scheduled employments of the state to which your query relates and ascertain whether the individual falls under the list and take action accordingly.

Regards,
BS Kalsi

You simply need to have a late-coming policy for your organization. Draft it meticulously, keeping all the points in mind, with options, and then present it to the management for approval. After that, you have to get it implemented. Change is something that employees do not easily accept; hence, support from top management is a must. Employees tend to become complacent, and anything that disrupts their leisure is often opposed. Therefore, to maintain discipline, it should be implemented strictly.

Thank you.