Is it legal to deduct an amount from the employee's salary for coming in late? An employer is deducting Rs.200 per day for any employee who reports to work even 5 mins late from his scheduled time. Is this legal? Please advice.
From India, Bangalore
2From India, Bangalore
Deduction of wages for absence from work is permitted under the Payment of Wages Act. But it should be proportionate to the the hours of absence. That means if he was absent for half a day, half day wages can be deducted and if he was absent for 1 hour wages for 1 hour only can be deducted. That means, the deduction should be proportionate to the the late coming and should not be arbitrary.
Madhu.T.K
From India, Kannur
Madhu.T.K
From India, Kannur
Thank you for your response, Madhu. would you be able to let me know the section and the clause that talks about salary deduction under Payment of wages Act?.
From India, Bangalore
From India, Bangalore
The section in paymnet of wages act deduction for absence applies to special cases relating to Being in the factory but not at place of work. Like in case of partial strike or attending protest Ralies.
The company is free to make its own rules for debuting for late arrival as punishment, which is definitely not required to be proportionate to work lost. However, it does need to be reasonable.
Most companies follow the practice of deduction of half day for every 3 days of late arrival up to a cut off of 20 min. After that they are sent back or allowed with half day loss of pay.
In case of a large unit, the terms must be in the standing orders (which then needs to be certified by the labour officer / inspector)
Actually, any deduction in this case unless covered by standing orders would be fine / penalty under the act and needs to be approved by the authority under payment of wages act and displayed accordingly
From India, Mumbai
The company is free to make its own rules for debuting for late arrival as punishment, which is definitely not required to be proportionate to work lost. However, it does need to be reasonable.
Most companies follow the practice of deduction of half day for every 3 days of late arrival up to a cut off of 20 min. After that they are sent back or allowed with half day loss of pay.
In case of a large unit, the terms must be in the standing orders (which then needs to be certified by the labour officer / inspector)
Actually, any deduction in this case unless covered by standing orders would be fine / penalty under the act and needs to be approved by the authority under payment of wages act and displayed accordingly
From India, Mumbai
Section 7 (2) (b) is a general clause permitting an employer to deduct wages if an employee absents from work. At the same time, section 9 speaks about deduction of wages for abstaining from work place while having come for work. In both the cases, unless it is a concerted effort of ten or more persons without notice and without due cause in which the deduction may be 8 days wages, the deduction should be proportionate to the wages.
Madhu.T.K
From India, Kannur
Madhu.T.K
From India, Kannur
Mr Madhu,
POW Act is applicable to a person whose wages is not above Rs 18000/- in a wage period.In the case persons with wages above this limit Company.s rule will apply.But it is desirable to deduct proportionately.But it will lose it's punitive value.
Varghese Mathew
09961266966
From India, Thiruvananthapuram
POW Act is applicable to a person whose wages is not above Rs 18000/- in a wage period.In the case persons with wages above this limit Company.s rule will apply.But it is desirable to deduct proportionately.But it will lose it's punitive value.
Varghese Mathew
09961266966
From India, Thiruvananthapuram
If an employee is getting a salary of ₹25000 a month, and he is 15 min late, as per this rule, he will lose ₹30. I don't think he will care. He will lose about ₹700 per month even if he is late every day.
Incidentally, I checked model standing orders for Hariyana. It says that if the employee is late by more than 5 minutes, employer can send him home. Else he can allow the employee in with penalty as per company rules.
From India, Mumbai
Incidentally, I checked model standing orders for Hariyana. It says that if the employee is late by more than 5 minutes, employer can send him home. Else he can allow the employee in with penalty as per company rules.
From India, Mumbai
In the case of those not covered by Labour laws it is okay and you can impose punishment according to company's rules and regulations. But in practice and from my own experience what I have seen is that these late coming rules and punishments are confined only to workers and for other like team leaders or managers, these rules will not be applicable and they will claim to have "flexible timing". In many cases this flexibility is misused. This seems to be true in almost all sectors.
Madhu.T.K
From India, Kannur
Madhu.T.K
From India, Kannur
Again, i would differ,
Large and professionally managed factories have strict in time monitoring for managers also. (In lala run companies, managers get away with a lot)
There are provision to show that you had work outside and therefore you are late, but that cant happen repeatedly and also needs approval of the HOD (or in case of HOD, approval of business head / plant head).
The standard late penalty is half day pay for every 3 days of late arrival.
Flexi time is not common in Indian scenario yet.
From India, Mumbai
Large and professionally managed factories have strict in time monitoring for managers also. (In lala run companies, managers get away with a lot)
There are provision to show that you had work outside and therefore you are late, but that cant happen repeatedly and also needs approval of the HOD (or in case of HOD, approval of business head / plant head).
The standard late penalty is half day pay for every 3 days of late arrival.
Flexi time is not common in Indian scenario yet.
From India, Mumbai
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