How Should I Address Late Arrivals Without Singling Anyone Out in My Travel Company?

I am working in a travel company based out of Europe. Our employees work in a very good atmosphere with all benefits like weekly TGIF's, quarterly Grand TGIF's, 5 days working, 8.5 hours of shift, and Indian and European holidays along with 1 CL and 1 PL every month. In short, it's like a dream job.

We don't have any HR department; I take care of day-to-day admin work and basic HR tasks like file maintenance, policy implementation, attendance, and other daily work—in short, HR cum Admin. Our company gives leverage of 30 minutes before it is marked RED, and the 4th Red is considered as 1 full day leave deduction from the quota of 24 (PL+CL of the year).

A few employees consistently arrive late by 25-29 minutes, and therefore, they are not marked red. Some who arrive late stay back late to give extra login hours—9, 9.5, or sometimes 10 hours—to justify their late arrival. Although being a travel company sometimes requires working late, especially during the season and different time zones, what should I do with those, including their TL and managers, who have the habit of arriving late but avoid being marked red? If there is a red mark, their line manager will email to consider this as an exception and not deduct leave balance.

I wish to send a general email mentioning all this without pinpointing anyone.

A policy decision has to be taken to remove this 30-minute buffer. One needs to see why this buffer was given. By practice, it becomes the new IN time. Let the top brass decide and then remove this buffer in a gradual manner.

In my view, there is no need to give a 30-minute buffer. First, you should remove it because sometimes employees take unwanted advantage of the leniency in policies.

Example of Late Arrivals

Let's take an example: if someone is consistently arriving 25-29 minutes late every other day, but they are not considered latecomers and their tardiness is not counted as red, they can easily save their leave balance. A 5-15 minute relaxation can be justified within a limit like 3-4 times; however, afterward, every late arrival should be counted as an absence or half-day.

Consideration for Honest Employees

You should also consider the honest and hard-working employees who might be late due to an issue or emergency but put in long hours in the office to complete their tasks on time.

Creating a policy can be beneficial for you.

Dear Employees,

It has been observed that many employees are arriving late in the morning. Everyone is required to be in the office before the start time. The office hours are from 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Monday to Saturday. The lunch break is 45 minutes. If an employee is running late, he or she needs to inform HR.

Employees will be allowed to report to duty 10-15 minutes late 2 to 3 times a month, but please do not make it a habit. This attendance practice will be tracked monthly. If there is a continued pattern of late arrivals, strict disciplinary action will be taken.

Late Arrival Policy

3 times late punch: Acceptable
4th time late punch: Marked red and treated as a warning
5th time or more: 1/2 day salary deduction

Punctuality and time management are part of the organization's culture. Kindly cooperate and be punctual for the advancement and progress of our organization.