The Center warns of severe penalties for employees for being late

The center has warned of strict action against its employees for tardiness and said the concerned authorities should take serious action against simply showing up late to classes and leaving work early.

The move came after it was noticed that several employees were not registering their attendance on the Aadhaar Biometric Attendance System (AEBAS) and “some employees were regularly late.”

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In its order, the Ministry of Personnel suggested the use of a mobile phone authentication system that provides, among other things, “live location detection and geo-tagging.”

The issue of strict implementation of AEBAS was recently reviewed and considering the serious gaps in its implementation, “it is reiterated that all MDOs (ministry/department/organization) will regularly monitor attendance reports,” according to the order.

“The habitual tardiness and early termination of duties should be taken seriously and generally discouraged. Stringent action may be taken against defaulters as per existing laws,” it said.

All central government departments have been asked to ensure that employees reliably mark their attendance using AEBAS.

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“This will ensure that there is no discrepancy between ‘registered’ and ‘active’ employees in AEBAS,” said the order issued to all secretaries of central government departments.

All managers of MDO facilities were asked to sensitize their employees to the need to follow instructions regarding working hours, lateness, etc.

“They would regularly download the consolidated report from the portal (www.attendance.gov.in) and identify defaulters,” the order said.

Citing existing regulations, the Ministry of Personnel said that “half-day compassionate leave (CL) should be accrued for each day of tardiness, but tardiness up to an hour, not more than twice in a month and for justifiable reasons may be accepted by the competent authority.”

In addition to deductions for compassionate leave (or earned leave if CL is not available), disciplinary action may be initiated against public servants who consistently arrive at the office late, as this amounts to “misbehavior” under the Code of Conduct, he said.

“Early departure should also be treated in the same way as late arrival. Data regarding an employee’s punctuality and attendance should also be taken into account while considering him for important assignments, training, postings and transfers/secondments, the order said.

All government departments and ministries have been asked to ensure uninterrupted functionality of biometric devices.

If any employee is not registered with AEBAS, immediate steps should be taken to register his biometric details on the portal, he said.

“In respect of Divyaang employees, MDOs will make appropriate arrangements to provide convenient and easily accessible biometric data collection machines through appropriate alternative means,” the June 15 order said.

In its order, the Ministry of Personnel also took notice of facial authentication apps on Android/iOS phones introduced by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI).

“Facial authentication offers robust features such as faster authentication, live location detection, geo-tagging, etc. The nodal officer of the concerned MDO will configure the personal mobile policy on the attendance portal for the employees of his organizations and download the geographical coordinates to the office entry system,” it said in the order.

The Ministry of Personnel said it “issues instructions from time to time regarding punctuality compliance by government employees. The responsibility for ensuring the punctuality of its employees rests with the concerned ministry/department/organization (MDO).”

In this regard, instructions regarding the implementation of AEBAS by the MDO are also issued from time to time, he added.

In its order of June 23, 2023, the Ministry of Personnel stated that “all MDOs have been advised, among other things, to: ensuring strict implementation of AEBAS and monitoring attendance periodically to ensure punctuality.”

It has now asked secretaries of ministries/departments etc. to “kindly inform employees about the contents of these instructions and put in place a robust monitoring mechanism to ensure complete compliance by employees and take appropriate action against non-working employees.”