How Should We Communicate the New Gate Pass Rule for Personal Work to Employees?

Subject: Gate Pass Requirement for Personal Work

Dear Team,

I hope this message finds you well. I would like to inform all employees that a gate pass is mandatory for personal work. The gate pass should bear signatures from both the HR department and the Head of Department (HOD). Please be advised that failing to produce a gate pass will result in a penalty.

Your cooperation in adhering to this policy is greatly appreciated. If you have any questions or require further assistance, please do not hesitate to reach out to the HR team.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Best regards
HR Department

Dear Manya@61212,

First and foremost, I need to correct you. "Gate pass" is used when some company property is taken out of the company premises. There are two types of gate passes: one is "Returnable Gate Pass," and the other is "Non-returnable Gate Pass." Gate passes are used even when very small company property, like a SIM card, is issued to the employees.

In contrast, when employees are required to move out of the company, whether for official reasons or personal, they are required to submit an "Outpass," duly approved by the approving authority, and submit it to the security section. On-duty security personnel, upon verification of the outpass, allow the employee to make proper entries in the Employee Movement Register.

For a situation like this, it is better to create a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) and circulate it among all staff members. A memo alone is not sufficient. Since your requirement is company-specific, those of us outside this forum cannot suggest the details. However, roughly, you may include the following points:

a) In whose possession will the "Outpass Book" be held?

b) The entire procedure to approve the outpass, including who the authorized signatories are, who is exempted, and what separate measures need to be followed for exempted persons.

c) What security personnel are expected to do once they receive an outpass that is duly approved by the approving authority? What needs to be done if the highest approving authority is not available yet the Head of Department (HOD) wants to send someone out due to pressing needs?

d) Who will check the issuance of the outpasses? When will it be checked, and how will it be checked?

e) What would be the retention period of the old outpasses? Who will dispose of them, how will they be disposed of, and what records of the disposal will be maintained?

Additional Comments: If 1-2 additional points occur to you, you may include them in your SOP. Secondly, I recommend keeping HR out of the issue of outpasses. The issuance of an outpass is a matter between the individual employee and his/her HOD. Yes, it could be approved by the GM/VP but not by an HR person. HR will come into the picture only when someone from their department needs to leave the company premises.

Thanks,

Dinesh Divekar

Hi Manya, please do not implement in a hurry.

Considerations for Implementing a Gate Pass System

1. If your organization is a factory with registered trade unions, then you have to be careful while implementing new processes. It is always better to come up with a convincing case—why a gate pass?
- Affecting productivity
- Security reasons
- Etc.

2. The second step is to include the gate pass in your standing orders and follow the formalities to publicize.

3. Parallel to this, you have to organize adequate infrastructure like monitoring systems, registers, etc. It is not recommended to come up with harsh steps like fines, wage cutting, etc., initially.

4. Also, never bring the gate pass business to HR. This is normally a shop floor concern, and at most, loop in the time office staff.