Is Penalizing Late Arrivals with Leave Deductions Fair? Seeking Advice on Attendance Policy

Dear Seniors,

My management wants to create an attendance policy where if an employee fails to register their attendance within the stipulated time frame and does not inform the admin/office in-charge about their late arrival, a "late mark" will be recorded against their name for that day. Three "late marks" will be treated as one-day leave, and the corresponding deduction will be made from the monthly pay.

Is this approach correct?

Dear Vikash,

All the policies are made so that employees adhere to the office times and do not take it for granted. For all genuine reasons, the employee is always granted the benefit of doubt. However, if a person is consistently late, then yes, they have to be penalized, and the above rule is correct.

Thank you.

The above rule is right on disciplinary grounds. If there are no rules to bring in discipline, then employees will not adhere to the timing, and this is a proven case.

Yes, rewarding for being on time and for having no absenteeism should also be encouraged by your HR. This will help to motivate the morale of the employees.

As per the Standing Orders Act (for organizations with 100+ employees), if an employee reports later than 15 minutes past their duty time, they can be turned away.