Is It Fair to Deduct a Leave for Three Late Arrivals in Retail Head Offices?

Hello HR Professionals! Please suggest on the following and oblige:

Office Hours and Late Coming Policy

1. In the Retail Sector (Head Office), if the office hours are 10:00 am to 7:00 pm and a grace period until 10:30 am is allowed, is it okay to deduct 1 leave for 3 instances of late coming, even if the lateness is just for 1 minute? Should there be any grace time limit (e.g., an additional 15 minutes) for the deduction to apply? Is the same rule applicable to the Head of Department (HOD) as well?

Leave Entitlement and Salary Deduction

2. In case the leave entitlement has been exhausted, is it acceptable to deduct salary?

General Practices in the Service Industry

3. Respectable HR professionals, please advise on the general practices in the relevant service industry in India, specifically Kolkata.

Thanks & Regards

Dear Shuvra,

Please find the reply to your query below:

1. Ideally, you are not supposed to deduct salary or leave for the full day. Yes, you can deduct actual late coming time from the salary of the employee. Yes, you can deduct half day leave if the employee is late for 4 hours in total and a full day leave if the employee is late for 8 hours.

2. It is rightful to deduct salary if leaves are exhausted.

3. Nowadays, many companies work in flexi shifts if this is not actually affecting work culture.

Thank you, Mr. Kamble, for the reply. As mentioned, "can deduct half-day leave if the employee is late for 4 hrs in total and full-day leave if the employee is late for 8 hrs." Is there any service rule regarding this? It would be great if you could forward the same. Kindly reply.

Thanks,
Shuvra

There is no such rule written for the same, but yes, this may be formed under your company policy.

Thank you, Mr. Kamle. Requesting other respectable HR professionals to comment on this as well, please.

Regards,
Shuvra