Struggling with Employee Attendance: How Can I Tackle Late Arrivals and Unplanned Leaves?

Addressing Employee Attendance Issues

I have recently joined a Visa & FRRO service provider company as an HR. It's a 10-year-old company with a staff of around 30 employees. Previously, there was no HR, so I am the one who has to streamline everything and implement the policies. The major problem I am facing here is employee latecoming and taking unplanned offs on either Fridays, Saturdays, or Mondays. Our company provides 12 paid leaves per year (1 PL every month), and no sick leave or casual leaves are provided (Management is not ready to increase the number of leaves as it's not a CORPORATE). Though employees' salary is deducted when there are more than 2 latecomers or more than one leave in a month, employees are still continuing this trend.

Kindly suggest how to deal with this problem.

Regards,
Pooja

Firstly, you need to improve your HR policies. According to your post description, you need to work hard on your management system. You can follow some steps to improve your policies:

1. Act on the information.
2. Consider terms of employment and bonus schemes.
3. Proactive management.
4. Have a clearly written paid time off policy.
5. Absence reporting procedure.

Dear Pooja,

My comments are given in italics:

Introduction to the Company

I have recently joined a Visa & FRRO service provider company as an HR. It's a 10-year-old company with a staff of around 30 employees. Previously, there was no HR, so I am the one who has to streamline everything and implement the policies.

*Comments:* Your company was without HR for ten years. This shows the psychology of the owner. It indicates a lack of belief in working in an organized manner. For him, HR systems and processes meant nothing. Probably, he could save money by not employing HR but failed to calculate the losses caused by not having HR.

Challenges with Employee Attendance

The major problem I am facing here is employee late coming and taking unplanned offs on either Fridays, Saturdays, or Mondays.

*Comments:* This is a reflection of the organizational culture of your company. Problems of this kind arise when owners fail to create a culture of discipline.

Leave Policy Concerns

Our company provides 12 paid leaves per year (1 PL every month), and no sick leave or casual leaves are provided (Management is not ready to increase the number of leaves as it's not a CORPORATE).

*Comments:* This is against the Shops and Establishment Act of most of the states. As per the Shops and Establishment Act, for every 20 working days, an employee is eligible for 1 day of paid leave. This is on top of the ten closed holidays in the year. Therefore, deduct these ten days from 365 and divide by 20. You get 15. Therefore, it is not 12, but your company should give 15 days of leave per annum. If you do not provide leave as per the law, then do not blame employees for not showing commitment to the company. Commitment is not a one-way street.

Salary Deductions and Employee Behavior

Though employees' salary is deducted when there are more than 2 lates or more than one leave in a month, employees are still continuing this trend.

*Comments:* This is happening because employees have reconciled to the salary deduction. Their priorities are different. To meet their priorities, they are ready to forego 1-2 days' salary. As a remedy, start an attendance bonus.

Suggestions for Improvement

Kindly suggest how to deal with this problem?

*Comments:* Your company's culture has already solidified. It would be too difficult for you to change it as a newcomer. Bringing change in your company would be challenging. You have a person-oriented culture and not a performance-oriented one. Nevertheless, talk to the boss about bringing a culture of discipline. Sack 1-2 employees. Try shooting but keep the gun on their shoulder. The problem is that you may not have career-conscious employees. Employees who wish to grow do not behave like this. However, your employees could be too institutionalized, and they think that the "boss" will not remove them.

Thanks,

Regards, Dinesh Divekar

Thank you, Dinesh, for your suggestions. I am also in the same mindset. When I interacted with the employees and inquired about the salary deduction, they mentioned that they are not left with any choice. On the other hand, no one has discussed this issue with the owner of the company.

You rightly pointed out that the employees are not very career-conscious. They are either from a strong family background and are working just for the sake of it, or they are the relatives or personal references of the owner of the company who are not aware of the corporate culture. The boss has never regulated the latecomers, and now he wants the HR to keep an eye on each employee and maintain discipline, which is becoming very difficult for me.

Thank you,

Pooja

Addressing Absenteeism and Productivity Loss

One needs to talk to the owner. Put up the absentee figures and productivity loss (to the extent it can be quantified). Unless the owner comes forward with a conviction, things will not improve. The owner should be explained the provisions of the Shops and Establishment Act of your state and be encouraged to give leave as per the regulatory act.

Explain also the consequences of non-adherence in an appropriate manner using discreet words. Introduce some sort of biometric attendance system to get a record of arrivals and departures.

The most frequent absentee needs to be addressed to set an example, but after ensuring that legally your establishment is not violating local labor laws. The owner needs to be pushed and prodded to play the game according to some laid-down rules.

Non-compliance with statutory requirements is a no-brainer and can lead to consequences. Employees must know that labor rules are being flouted and they are also taking liberties. This culture can change only with top-level intervention and making changes in the way of working.

What happens when people get sick and are unable to attend work for several days? Do Indian employers refuse to allow people to be sick? How does that work? I have to admit that some of the labor practices I read about daily here on CiteHR absolutely horrify me.

Addressing Employee Leave and Attendance Issues

Falling sick is neither misconduct nor an abuse of sick leave. However, the issue arises when employees use sick leave as a pretext to fulfill personal requirements. In such cases, employers find themselves in a difficult position. While action cannot be taken against such employees, the work does suffer. This is the problem Pooja's company is facing.

As far as India's labor practices are concerned, the country has very sound laws and advanced HR practices. CiteHR does not reflect the corporate practices of all of India. The top-notch companies, and even those a few levels below, do not appear on CiteHR. What you often find on this forum are companies whose owners do not value professionalism. Reading posts from HR professionals in these companies can be disheartening. Consider Pooja's company, which has operated without HR for 10 years. What does this demonstrate? But then, is this Pooja's fault? Obviously not!

Look at the quality of the posts as well. One is often appalled by the structure, choice of words, and grammatical mistakes in some posts. This reflects their grooming. But again, it is not their fault per se, as these members did not have exposure to a higher level.

The essence of CiteHR is to help HR professionals from this sector. There are thousands of HR professionals who do not have anyone to guide them. They turn to CiteHR for a helping hand. The advice from seniors is the nourishment for their careers.

Thanks,

Dinesh Divekar

Understanding Leave Policies in India

Assuming it's a language and culture problem, I am explaining the matter:

The basic labor law in India provides for only one type or grade of leave. There is no distinction based on the requirement or reason for the leave. The Factory Act provides for one day of leave for every 20 days in the company, and most shop and establishment acts (governing offices, shops, hotels, and entertainment businesses) provide for 21 days in a year. In addition, for low-wage employees, there is a provision for government-run health insurance that pays the salary for sick days.

Larger factories and offices are subject to standing orders, which provide rules that apply to many things in the normal course of employee-employer relations. The standing orders provide for the splitting of the annual leaves into three categories: vacation leave (PL), sick leave, and casual leave. If you do not have sick leave left (you utilized them all), then you can use casual or vacation leave. If you do not have that either, then you go without pay.

The same rule applies to smaller companies. If your leave (1 for 20 days worked) is over, you are without pay. Yes, so the employer does not say, "Don't be sick." They say, as per the law, I am not liable to pay you for absent days beyond a certain number of days, even if you are sick.

Being a small company, below the radar for corporate employee-friendly rules, they will keep it simple by not providing a separate set of leave days for sickness.

Incidentally, from what I know of American and Australian practices, they dismiss sick employees without compensation. So it would do you good not to be condescending. We are mostly (even at the lower end) better off.

Dear Pooja, As you mentioned, it is a 10-year-old organization, and you are the first newly appointed HR personnel. Please refrain from adopting an aggressive approach and resorting to stringent actions against any employees.

Creating the HR Manual

Begin by creating the HR Manual and streamlining HR activities gradually. Please acquire a copy of the S&E Act and Rules applicable in your state and attempt to adhere to them diligently. As part of this implementation, start maintaining a leave register along with a salary register. Seek guidance from your employer on how to manage leaves effectively, especially considering the limited leave days provided. This may help your employer understand the importance of proper leave management and prompt them to support you in this endeavor. Subsequently, introduce your proposed leave structure, including ___ days of casual leave, ___ days of PL/EL, and ____ days of sick leave (at the discretion of management).

Including Policies in the HR Manual

Within the HR manual, include policies regarding leaves, holidays, weekly offs, and late attendance to establish clear guidelines for future reference and to encourage better attendance practices among employees.

Implementing Employee Benefits

Consider implementing EPF and ESI facilities for the benefit of your employees.

Following Mr. Dinesh's suggestion, consider introducing a punctuality/attendance bonus to incentivize employees to adhere to office timings more diligently.

Kind regards

Addressing Employee Leave and Attendance Issues

Dinesh & Bhaskar have already contributed significantly to this topic, addressing many of your concerns. What I would like to add here is a suggestion to view the issue from a different angle. Employees taking excessive holidays is not the problem but a symptom. When you address the root cause, the symptoms will disappear.

The root cause you need to work on is setting up 'acceptable' HR policies in this regard. It seems current practices are not very acceptable to employees, and they are resisting through "Asahakar" (Non-compliance). Therefore, there will need to be 'visible' changes in the policies (some perceived as good and some as bad).

Proposed Policy Changes

- Offer perks such as sick leaves, optional casual leaves, and increase annual leaves to 15. (Since I left primary school, the 'attendance bonus' has never attracted me, so it is not included in the list!)
- Implement restrictions such as reducing the late arrival time allowance by half, introducing individual performance monitoring processes, and indicating indirectly that unplanned/excess leaves would affect the performance index. (Introduce performance awards. They hold more value for employees than just monetary benefits. Employees will surely strive to earn these awards!)

In short, don't offer them milk if they don't value it; offer them cream, even in small quantities. 

Aligning Employee and Company Priorities

Employees will set their preferences according to their way of thinking, taking leaves when they prioritize them. You will need to 'train' them to align their priorities with the company's. This is similar to what organizations providing essential services, like public transport and hospitals, do. Nobody likes to work on holidays, but these organizations offer 'alternatives' that employees knowingly accept.

Giving performance awards can be an alternative motivator, even if not directly linked to the attendance policy. You can surely think of more such alternatives.

Implementing Changes

This will require amendments to current practices. You will need to:

1. Convince the owner that, although the policies may look different, they are for the long-term betterment of productivity.
2. Convince employees that the new policies include some restrictions as well as benefits, and going forward, they will have better professional choices with these policies.

Whichever way you choose, you will face some resistance initially, but in the long term, people will learn to accept and adapt.

Best of luck!

Regards,
Amod Bobade.

Hi Pooja,

I do understand the situation. It's very easy to overcome this situation as your employee strength is low. You can have a clear one-on-one session with employees and make sure what is the reason. Unless and otherwise, if there is no good rapport with the employees, you can never control this. Also, make sure how far is the distance for them to reach the office.

Any further help, just contact me at +91 9894426841.

Hi Pooja,

Probably you may think of pasting some appreciation circulars for punctual employees and counsel regular latecomers to analyze the reasons for their tardiness.

Thank you.

Punctuality and Attendance Management

Coming on time for work is a duty that should be faithfully observed. I do not think one should be congratulated or specially appreciated for coming on time. However, latecomers should be counseled, and if no improvement is seen, they should be warned. A cultural change should be initiated by top management arriving on time or slightly early and setting examples.

Implementing a Leave Policy

Having a proper leave policy in accordance with standard industry practice and local laws is mandatory. Communicate and update all policies to staff, and try to enforce them when counseling fails. There will be a minority of employees who fail to adhere to timings, and they can be corrected.

Dear Mr. Nathrao, you have written, "Coming on time for work is a duty to be faithfully observed. I do not think one should be congratulated or specially appreciated for coming on time." You are correct 100%, Sir. Alas, this golden rule is not observed by the employees. Nowadays, many employees behave as if they are doing a favor for their employers. If questioned, they simply start quitting.

Once, I had been to Nagpur for my training. The Admin Head was an ex-Colonel. He lamented that the discipline he had in the army was not even ten percent present in his organization. Whenever he tried to instill a sense of discipline, people started quitting. Eventually, he had to soften his approach and reconcile.

Nevertheless, the entire blame cannot be laid solely on the employees. Employers do not consciously make efforts to develop a culture of discipline from day one. They often mistake discipline as punctuality only. However, organizational discipline encompasses more than just punctuality. Two essential ingredients of discipline are orderliness and timeliness, which should be ingrained into the organization's DNA. This responsibility lies with the leadership at the top, not just HR.

Thanks,

Dinesh Divekar

Coming on Time for Work

Coming on time for work is a duty to be faithfully observed. I do not think one should be congratulated or specially appreciated for coming on time. However, latecomers should be counseled, and if no improvement is seen, they should be warned. A cultural change can be brought about by top management coming on time or slightly early and setting examples. Having a proper leave policy in accordance with standard industry practices and local laws is mandatory. Communicate and update all policies to staff, and try to enforce them when counseling fails. There will be a minority of employees who fail to comply with timings, and they can be corrected.

Mr. Dinesh,

I am fully with you on this. The top brass have to inculcate organization culture and nourish towards making a productive and ethical setup. If the top brass come on time, employees will follow suit to a great extent. No one expects or wants Army discipline in a civil organization, but at the same time, it cannot run when people come and go as they feel like. Punctuality alone is not discipline. Discipline is a total way of life.

Dear Seniors,

Thank you all for guiding me through this situation. As a disciplinary measure, I have already implemented the biometric system to regulate attendance and have also counseled latecomers. As a result, some of them have started coming on time. However, as Mr. Dinesh rightly pointed out, discipline should not only be about punctuality; it should be ingrained in the DNA of an organization. Currently, the director has already counseled employees regarding performance and discipline. He lacks the time to address these issues personally, which is why he has appointed me (HR) to counsel employees, change their attitudes towards work in terms of commitment, and issue PIPs (or dismissals) for poor performance.

Proposed Leave Policy

As a prerequisite, I proposed a leave policy in accordance with the S & E Act (as we currently only provide 12 paid leaves per annum). However, the management is hesitant to approve it until employees change their attitudes or improve performance. The challenge I face is that I am not the reporting manager of anyone. Therefore, I am unsure whether I can address their performance or dismiss them. Alternatively, the management could consider hiring a senior individual to monitor employee performance and provide motivation. While I can streamline processes, introduce new policies, and maintain office decorum, I may not be able to effectively monitor individual performance.

Please advise.

Regards,
Pooja

Addressing Employee Performance Issues

First, the statement that you are not the reporting manager and therefore cannot sack or take people to task for improvement in their work is incorrect. The way I see it, the owner himself has given you that right.

The solution then lies along the same lines as you have been following. The next step is to identify people who are the chronic problems. Ask your owner for his help. Set up a one-on-one meeting for the concerned employee with your owner and yourself. During the meeting, you can give a very clear warning to the concerned person that they will be removed from service if performance, punctuality, or attendance is not improved. Be ready to back up the allegations with data and impact assessment, for example, cases where their performance affected work or delivery.

Dear Pooja,

It is great to hear from you about such positive results. If you bring the system to work in line, obviously the discipline, performance, and profitability of the organization will improve. If you need to dismiss anyone based on performance, please ensure it is documented through the line manager. After three or more memos, issue a show-cause notice to the employee, conduct a proper inquiry, and then proceed with the separation process to terminate the employee properly.

Thank you.

HR's Role in Performance Monitoring

"As an HR professional, I can streamline processes, introduce new policies, and maintain office decorum, but I would not be able to monitor an individual's performance."

HR does not monitor the individual performances of employees in other departments. Heads of Departments (HODs) are responsible for that. You can suggest policies, but it is ultimately up to higher management to accept, modify, or even reject them.

Building Organizational Culture

The culture of an organization takes time to settle, so one will have to be patient and continue to motivate people by encouraging positive signs. Everything takes time, so stay positive and press ahead with good initiatives, involving top management and HODs in all changes.

"Management is not ready to approve it until and unless the employees don't change their attitude or perform well."

It's a classic example of the chicken and egg dilemma... Who comes first?

Measuring Employee Performance

How do you measure if the employees "perform well"? Do you have an appraisal process set up? If yes, then based on the reports of this appraisal, you can question their 'value' to the organization. If not, then you should set up one.

Organizational Communication

Secondly, this is not an entirely true statement: "The Director doesn't have time to get into all this, and that is the reason he has appointed an HR (me)." There is some organizational communication that has to be delivered by the top management to become effective. A 'policy' can be questioned by employees, but it is difficult to question a 'directive'.

Proposal for Hiring a Senior Person

About the proposal to "hire a senior person who would keep an eye on their performance and motivate them"... I think it is a whole different point on how to 'motivate' people, and just a senior person may not be a complete solution. It will help you pass on the bug though... :-)

Best Regards,
Amod.

To those who commented on my posting, let me offer a few further words. I am well aware there are labor (and other) laws in India. I would assume that most of the bigger organizations in India would comply with those laws. Whether some of those laws are in step with labor laws in Western countries is a matter I have no direct knowledge.

My comments about HR practices that I find appalling relate to things that I have read here, i.e., people being sacked without due cause, indenturing people for several years and not allowing them to leave, withholding original certificates, etc., to force people to stay (aka slavery), sacking pregnant women, and the list goes on.

Leave Policies: A Global Perspective

Leave is a touchy subject - anywhere in the world. I will say upfront that Australians are not much better when it comes to leave. We have extremely high absentee rates here as everywhere else. Studies have shown that Australian employers lose billions of dollars over a year due to absenteeism.

Australians, like other nationalities, are fond of using sick leave for other purposes, aka "a doona day," where they just can't be bothered getting out of bed! Sick leave skyrockets on Fridays and Mondays, Fridays because they want a "long weekend" and Mondays because they partied too much on the weekend.

Workweek and Leave in Australia

Australia is maybe a little different from India in that we only work a 5-day week in the main. Saturdays and Sundays are off days, so people have an opportunity to do personal things on weekends. We also have 4 weeks of annual vacation leave, which many people tend to break up into small holidays during the year rather than take it all in one go. In many companies, you can also carry leave over to the following year, so if planning a long holiday overseas, you could take 8 weeks of fully paid leave - subject of course to operational requirements.

Personal Leave and Its Management

Sick leave, etc., is now mostly called personal leave and encompasses being sick, medical appointments, leave for funerals, looking after sick children, aged relatives, etc. I am not sure what the current awards give, but in my last position (government job), I got 21 days a year of personal leave. If I didn't use it, then it accumulated. I worked with people who had more than 24 months of accumulated sick leave. Quite handy if you get a serious illness. I was once off sick for 8 weeks and had more than enough leave to cover it.

I would also point out that sick leave in particular is controlled to the extent that most employers will allow a person to take up to 4 single days in a year (in most cases) without a medical certificate and no questions asked. Most employers will not allow an employee to take more than 2 consecutive days without a certificate. It has created a lot of debate here. If you get a cold, which could lead you to require, say, 3 days bed rest, you must go to the doctor and get a certificate, even though the doctor can basically do nothing for you other than order bed rest! The cost of seeing the doctor makes people reassess the need to stay home. That, of course, also leads to the problem of sick people presenting for work and infecting everyone else in the office!

But Australians do abuse the system, and once they have used up their vacation leave, start using up their sick leave for reasons other than being sick.

Leave without pay is another option, and some people will forego a day's pay if they have no other options.

This is a very simplistic view of the situation here, but I reiterate that we are by no means perfect here, and I never said we were. I hope that clarifies my comments.

Hi friend,

We also faced the same issue and started sending messages via SMS to the cell phones of those who were late, passing the information down the line. We recorded their late arrivals, which helped us control the situation and achieve good results. Now, the occurrences of late arrivals have drastically decreased, and there are no longer any issues.

Thank you.

Addressing Late Coming in the Workplace

Late coming is a problem in many offices. Some people are habitual latecomers, while others get delayed due to genuine reasons, such as rains, late trains, or buses. If possible, there should be flexibility in the attendance system where a time range of 30 minutes can be specified to accommodate such delays.

Identifying and Counseling Intentional Latecomers

Intentional latecomers need to be identified and counseled first to inculcate the habit of coming on time. Sending SMS and making phone calls are some methods, but it is essential to identify why people are coming late by discussing with employees. Try to accommodate without diluting output and working culture.

Change Management in Your Organization

You have a strength in your organization of 30. If it's a manufacturing place, it should be referred to as a "factory," and the Indian Factories Act is applicable. If it's a commercial setup, the Shops and Establishment Act should be followed. Many colleagues have suggested you consider a modest change. Before change management is practiced, it's essential to start with the organization itself. You need to implement at least the legal obligations, like leave rules, as standard practice and then act in concert with all HODs. Change management is not solely the responsibility of HR; it's the job of everybody.

Please make your best effort to embrace this process of modeling by owners, then it can happen, and there are tangible and intangible gains. Otherwise, it is a tough road, and your efforts may fail.

Thanks and regards,

RDS Yadav
Management Adviser and Trainer
Director - Future Institute of Management and Technology

Dear Seniors, I need your valuable suggestions again. Recently, we have started a new policy that if someone takes an unplanned leave on Monday, their Sat & Sun will also be counted as leave (due to many cases of unplanned leave on Mondays). A few days back, an employee took leave on Monday as he was unwell (informed 3 hours before the shift time) and requested me not to count Sat & Sun in his leave account. As an HR professional, I refused to accept it to prevent potential abuse in the future and advised him to discuss with the Director (as we do not have any reporting manager). If the Director permits, only then can I consider his request. The Director expressed dissatisfaction, stating that I should have made the decision and no employee should approach him for such matters. I am hesitant to make such decisions as I am not the reporting manager for any employee. If I do so, people may resent me, leading to an awkward situation for me in the company. The Director mentioned that I have full authority to make decisions, but this information has not been communicated to the employees. Thus, I believe the situation requires me to function as both an HR professional and their reporting manager. Please advise.

Regards, Pooja

By the help of a biometric attendance system, pull out reports of late coming and absence. Share it with your senior management. I believe people are taking this thing carelessly due to the absence of HR systems and personnel. You can even make a policy for deducting salaries for such occurrences. For everything, take the supervisors and senior management into full confidence. This is kind of like an organizational change and expect a few inhibitions and discouragement at the onset. All the best!

Dear Deepa,

Please do not get confused between the roles of HR and the reporting manager.

The issue you have described indicates that the main concern is the leave deduction for the weekend. If the issue was about leave sanction or Monday, then it would be the reporting manager's duty. However, since the issue arises due to the HR policy on weekend leave, it is the HR manager's responsibility.

The decision you took to deny the employee's request was correct here as per the company policy, and you should not directly refer the employee to the director in such cases. You can simply state that this is the company policy, and that's it.

Now, if you want to help the employee from a humanitarian perspective, you can ask him to refer this request to his line manager, as this case requires "management discretion." The line manager can decide whether to escalate the case to the director level if required, and then you will receive intimation from management to cancel this weekend leave. Alternatively, the line manager may also deny the request by pointing out the company policy.

This process is generally followed for all other discretionary cases (like extra monetary advances, additional purchases, additional expenses, salary and position negotiations, etc.) where business and money are involved. Why not for leaves?

In case the employee directly goes to the director to complain, bypassing his line manager, at least he is not suggested to do so by HR.

The term "management discretion" is quite tricky, and the level at which this discretion is authorized is not defined. As an HR manager, you may have the authority for decision-making, but do you have the authority for discretion?

I don't think an HR manager has this authority to go against the written HR policies unless there is an emergency. This is the difference between a reporting manager and an HR manager.

Hope this helps... !!

Best Regards,

Amod Bobade.

Clarification on Policy Implementation

The first point I would like to clarify is that the policy you are all implementing is wrong and illegal. Deduction of Saturday and Sunday can only be taken if the person has also taken Friday and Monday as leave. You need to find another method to penalize people for unplanned leave.

Role of HR and Policy Enforcement

The other point in the post is about your suggestion to the employee to take the matter to the Managing Director. What your MD says is correct. As HR, you have the right to implement the policies that the company follows. The question of deviation should not arise. Line managers cannot approve deviations from company policy. The fact that you are not the reporting manager is irrelevant.

Responsibilities of HR

You must also realize that your role as HR is not to win a popularity contest. Your duty is to the company and the job. If the job requires you to implement certain policies, that is what you must do; whether people like it or not should be immaterial. Since your management fully supports you, I don't see how your presence in the company would be a problem. Just do your work.

Formulating Legally Compliant Procedures

HR should help formulate proper, legally compliant procedures on various issues relating to their domain.

Suggesting a Leave Policy

Suggest to your higher management a leave policy that matches industry standards or even surpasses them if possible. Ambiguities like unplanned leaves on a Monday are common. This kind of sudden leave needs to be tackled in a different fashion. If someone takes unplanned leave on Monday, you cannot mark Saturday and Sunday as leave. Unplanned leave has to be handled by the concerned department directly by counseling the person and dealing with it through verbal warnings, written warnings, etc. HR also plays a role in controlling such unscheduled leave.

Playing Your Role with Fairness

Play your roles with fairness and professional competence, meaning having the fullest knowledge of leave rules in this case. Remember, two wrongs do not make a right. As learned member Saswata correctly mentioned, HR is not a popularity contest. Just implement rules fairly, and if you feel any rule is wrong, discuss it privately with management, in writing if necessary. The company can delegate certain powers to you in writing if they deem it fit.

Dear Mr. Bobade,
Thanks for helping me out. I really appreciate your suggestions.
In my company the line manager is himself the Director so the leave sanctioning authority also comes to me. The best I can do is to internally ask the director whether to sanction the leave of a particular employee or not.
Anyway, its a start of my learning phase, so will have many instances where I'll need the guidance of seniors like you.
Regards,
Pooja