How Should We Handle Attendance Issues for a Pregnant Employee in Our SME?

Issue with Employee Attendance During Pregnancy

We belong to the SME manufacturing sector. We have a pregnant employee (3 months pregnant) who has been irregular in attendance and coming late to the office every day. When we raised an issue with her as it was affecting work, she forwarded the following email:

Dear Sir/Madam,

As per your below mail, I accept that I have had several absences and have been late during my pregnancy period. I took a one-week leave as instructed by my gynecologist last month. Due to my pregnancy, I have morning sickness and am unable to come in at 9:00 am every morning.

It would be greatly appreciated if you could understand and allow me to come in at 10:00 am every morning. You may deduct for my lateness; however, I will make an effort to arrive by 9:00 am.

We request your input on the above and what our response should be.

Thanks,
Harshada

Maternity Benefit Act Provisions

The Maternity Benefit Act allows for up to a month of sick leave if the illness or problem requiring leave is due to pregnancy, delivery, or premature birth. During this month, the employee is entitled to the usual wage. However, she needs to submit proof of the illness.

Work Restrictions During Pregnancy

The Maternity Benefit law states that from 10 weeks before a female employee's due date, she should not be required to do arduous work, stand for long hours, or perform any other tasks that may cause problems. A working woman also has the right to request light duties during pregnancy.

Now, you are advised to tell her to submit proof of morning sickness, which must be issued by a registered medical practitioner. If she submits this proof, you can and should grant her leave (1 hour).

For further queries or any other information, please call or email me.

The law, as rightly stated above, provides for leave in case requested by the doctor. However, it does not require you to allow the employee to be late every day or come in whenever she feels like it.

Your organization is small, so you are familiar with the nature of the workforce and their attitudes. Will the rest of the employees accept this as necessary, or will it generate ill feelings and resentment?

Please take a decision accordingly.

I am not an HR person or a law expert. But as a lay retired person, I can say that there should not be any problem with the staff, as she is not asking to come late for free; she is prepared for you to cut her wages when she is late. However, you are the best judge to say whether the work will be affected if she comes up to an hour late on occasions.

Apologies for the delay in reply. I have considered the inputs given by our colleagues on Citehr and have arrived at a decision, which I have conveyed to this employee as below.

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Dear ___________,

I appreciate that you have acknowledged your regular absenteeism and late marks. Further, you are also okay with your salary being deducted for excessive late marks. However, please understand that we at AXIS are not interested in deducting salaries of employees for late arrivals. Our motive is to develop a habit of punctuality and regular attendance in the office so that work doesn’t get hampered. We empathize with exceptional cases like yours and are willing to help such employees. In your case, the situation was becoming difficult because, besides arriving late, you were not even updating your HOD and other team members, so your tasks for the day could be assigned to others in the team.

In this regard, we have decided to give you a 15-minute concession, i.e., you can reach the office by 9:15 a.m. However, after 9:15 a.m., it would be considered a late mark up to 10 a.m., and the salary would be deducted as per company policy. You are expected to update your incoming time to your HOD and on the AXIS WhatsApp group before 8:30 a.m., along with pending activities that may need attention/action until you reach the office.

Besides, your HOD is already allowing you periodic short breaks during office hours whenever needed, which I am sure will help you overcome pregnancy-related sickness.

I am certain this arrangement is good enough for both you and the organization, and we can work together for the organization’s benefit.



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