Attendance Policy

Employee regularity and availability enables organisations to set and achieve their goals, meet client expectations and avoid any disruptions in regular business operations. The Company Attendance Policy defines the framework for adherence to working hours regularly as stipulated in the Appointment letter or the Company policy.

Attendance Policy

Objective

The Company Attendance policy ensures regular working hours by setting forth a strong framework of rules & regulations to maintain regularity in work.

The Company attendance policy aims to encourage attendance by laying down a strong framework for managing “Employee Absence” and “Tardiness”.

Scope & Applicability

The Scope of this policy is to formulate a strong framework of attendance within the organisation as the presence of employees plays an important role in productivity levels. The Company Attendance policy is a strong framework of procedures for handling employee “Absence” & “Tardiness”. The fundamental principle behind this policy is to promote the company's effective operation for handling any unscheduled absences. This policy applies to all employees within the organisation.

Policy / Process

Policy Definition

Punctual and regular attendance is an essential responsibility of each employee. Employees are expected to report to work as scheduled, on time and prepared to start working. Employees also are expected to remain at work for their entire work schedule. Late arrival, early departure or other absences from scheduled hours are disruptive and must be avoided.

The Company Attendance Policy defines different scenarios for absences and further necessary actions to be taken by the employee, Line Manager and HR. The different scenarios of Absences and the description of “Good Attendance” are described in the sections below.

Absence

"Absence" is defined as the failure of an employee to report for work when he or she is scheduled to work on specific days and time. Absence, also referred to as Absenteeism, means frequent absences from an employee’s job responsibilities. The two types of “absence” or “absenteeism” are defined below

Excused Absence / Excused Absenteeism AND OR Authorized Absence

The employee provides to their supervisor / Line Manager sufficient notice at least 48 hours in advance of the absence. The absence request is approved in advance by the employee's supervisor/Line Manager.

The employee has sufficient accrued paid time off (PTO) to cover the absence. Unexcused Absence/ Unexcused Absenteeism AND OR Unauthorised Absence Absence/Absenteeism that occurs when any of the above conditions are not met.

Unforeseen Absences

Absences due to unforeseen circumstances like a sudden illness, severe accidents in the family or acute medical emergencies. In such cases, the absence shall be recorded as an excused absence. However, the Doctor’s notes may be asked later.

Good Attendance

Employees with less than three incidences of absences or tardiness shall receive an award. A good Attendance record shall be considered when an employee

• Reports consistently to work.
• Comes to work at the scheduled shift start time.
• Leaves work at the scheduled shift end time (except when paid overtime hours are required).
• Remaining at work during working hours (excluding breaks).
• Take breaks that do not exceed an expected length.
• Notifies their supervisor when s/he needs to be absent or late.
• Is absent or late for good reasons only.

Overtime

• Private sector employees must work 8 hours per day or 48 hours per week. During the holy month of Ramadan, working hours are reduced by 2 hours.
• The employer may ask employees in the private sector to work overtime, provided overtime should not increase by more than two hours in one day.
• In the event where an employee/s works beyond the regular working hours and only if the Overtime exceeds beyond two hours from the regular working hours, then the employee shall be entitled for payment equal to NORMAL WORKING HOURS REMUNERATION (which is based on basic salary) plus 25 percent of that pay. The additional 25 per cent to the basic salary may increase to 50 per cent if the overtime is done between 10 pm and 4 am. This rule of Overtime between 10 pm and 4 am does not apply to employee/s who work based on shifts.
• In the event that an employee works on an off day and/or on a public holiday then the employee/s shall be entitled for a compensatory off for the number of off days and/or public holidays s/he was deployed at work. Employee/s, however, can only take one compensatory off at one time. Compensatory Offs cannot be granted on a cumulative basis, i.e. employees cannot accumulate the compensatory off and apply for the same at once. Compensatory Offs shall have to be granted and taken by employees immediately, keeping in view the workload and professional commitments at the employee’s end. However, the Manager and the HR shall not deny the Compensatory Off to an employee. The Manager and the HR should reach out to the employees in time to avoid the accumulation of compensatory offs of employee/s.
• In the event if employee/s work on an off day and a public holiday and employee/s does not take compensatory off and organisation is unable to grant compensatory off, then employee/s is liable for a payment equal to NORMAL WORKING HOURS’ REMUNERATION (which is based on basic salary) plus 50 per cent of that pay.
• Employees have the right to take breaks if they work for more than 5 hours consecutively. Breaks are not calculated within working hours.

Procedures

The employees must inform their Supervisor/Line Manager about the following

Excused Absences

• The employee needs to provide sufficient notice to their supervisor / Line Manager at least 48 hours before the absence.
• Employees with three or more consecutive days of excused absences because of illness or injury must give the HR proof of physician's care and fitness for duty release before returning to work.
• In the case of an Excused absence, the employee should get approval from their supervisor / Line Manager before heading for the absence.
• The following list, although not exhaustive, includes reasons not considered in excused absence Waking up late. Stopping on the way to work for personal reasons. Traffic or public transportation delays Personal vehicle breakdown or issues

Unexcused Absences

The employee must notify their supervisor/Line Manager no later than the employee's scheduled starting time on that same day.

Unforeseen Absences

In the event of absences due to unforeseen circumstances.

• The employee shall submit doctor’s certificates or necessary documents once s/he reports back to the organisation. The Line Manager or the management of the organisation, including the HR department, may exempt the employee from presenting any documents on humanitarian grounds in specific cases.
• Tardiness, Early Departures & Early login
• If employees cannot report to work as scheduled or be delayed, they must notify their supervisor no later than their regular starting time. This notification does not excuse the delay but simply notifies the supervisor that a schedule change may be necessary.
• Employees who must leave work before the end of their scheduled shift must notify the supervisor immediately.
• Employees who report to work before their assigned shift time will still have to adhere to their complete shift hours.
• Three instances of tardiness of early departures in a month will lead to half-day leave

Managers & HR’s Responsibility

• The Line Manager should ensure the working hours are being adhered to and inform the HR department regarding regular violations immediately. However, the HR department should conduct monthly random checks across departments to ensure compliance with Time & Attendance Policy.
• Supervisor/Line Manager must define the work schedule for the workforce keeping in view the business demands.
• The HR and Business heads should mutually work in cohesion for proper implementation and maintenance of policy execution at all times through regular meetings and discussions.
• The Managers are responsible for managing the attendance of their teams and/or the attendance of the employees who are reporting to them.
• If the Manager notices/ observes that their team member is consistently late or absent, then the Manager should arrange a private meeting with the respective team member to discuss.
• The Manager should ask the respective team member if they experience issues with their schedule or whether they need help balancing their personal lives with work. Flexible hours, work from home or time management training options may provide a solution but only in consultation with HR.
• If the employee is willfully tardy or abuses their Sick Leave, then the Manager should notify HR of the same.
• All employees must adhere to their committed schedules and come to work on time as scheduled. If the employee commences working before the official working time, the employee will still have to stay until the end of the official working time.
• The employees must report any challenges encountered in the company’s time management portal/machine to the Line Manager and HR, as login and log out is mandatory for marking attendance. The HR shall take necessary action to rectify the company's portal /machine and not mark the employee as absent.

Non-compliance and consequences

Non-compliance with this policy will be construed as a violation of the Employment Agreement and will lead to disciplinary action, including termination of the employment contract.

Special Circumstances and Exceptions

Special circumstances and Exceptions will be decided by the Management and HR of the organisation on a case-to-case basis.