Deadline for “latecomers”: Government workers have been informed that they will lose half of their casual leave if they do not show up by 9:15 a.m.
The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) of the Center has ordered that all government employees, including senior officials, report to work by 9 am, with a 15-minute grace period, in an effort to crack down on “latecomers.” By 9:15 a.m., they are supposed to punch in.
Several employees have been neglecting the biometric attendance system since the Covid outbreak four years ago, but all staff members, including senior executives, have been instructed to use it.
– According to the circular published, officers will keep an eye on the attendance and punctuality of workers in their sections. “For any reason, if the employee is not able to attend office on a particular day, it should be informed in advance and casual leave should be applied for,” the circular stated.
These are the specifics: The article claims that employees have been informed that they will lose half of their casual leave if they do not show up before 9:15 am.
– Junior-level personnel frequently arrive late and depart early, which causes inconvenience, especially in tasks that involve interacting with the public. Central government offices are open from 9 am to 5.30 pm. Senior officials contend that since they frequently leave work after 7 p.m. and work longer hours than usual, they do not have set working hours.
– The government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi tried to enforce office hours in 2014, but workers objected, citing difficult commutes as their reason.
– Before it was suspended owing to the epidemic, the Aadhaar-enabled biometric attendance system was used to track punctuality. In February 2022, it was brought back.
– A order from the previous year emphasized the need to take persistent tardiness and early departures seriously and pushed central government personnel to return to biometric attendance.
– Certain individuals routinely miss work or show up for a short while in departments that use faceless IT-enabled tools. Although the new regulation tries to enforce more discipline, workers who are used to arriving late—even past 10 am—may find it annoying.