Late coming can be adjusted in leave

Mr. Ravi Kumar,

To add on to what Adv. Prabhakar has said, what ever is available in collective bargaining agreement and / or certified standing orders of the company, there is a possibility of workmen being late for five to 10 minutes etc, after consuming the permissible limits of 1 hr permissions.  In such case, if you allow the workers to work in the shift and treat half of the shift as half a day leave, then the same will be illegal and workers can claim it otherwise.  If treating such delays as half a day leave is customary practice and workers have not objected till date means no issue.  Allow the said trend to continue.  Alternatively, you have the following legal options:-

(a)  Ask the worker concerned to go back home on half a day leave and let him return back for the job for remaining half of the shift.

(b)  Or allow the worker to join the shift and deduct salary proportionate to the  hours he was late and grant him salary for actually worked hours.

(c)  If you find that the workers are misusing the provision of sub para -(b) mentioned above, i.e. workers if resorting to "COME FOR JOB AS THEY WISH" then you will have to invariably treat the worker concerned as per the disciplinary rules to straighten the worker.

In this regard, I would like to apprise that one of my client company which is public listed company what literally labour heaven or rather a labour driven company.  Much more problems than what you had faced, was being faced by my client's company.  But today, they are to a great extent releived of the nuisances created by labours.

KVB Chari

Advocate & Legal-cum-Management Consultant