The employee was late for work (40 minutes)... how to formalize this correctly and then issue a remark...

Hello! In this article we will tell you everything about being late for work.

Today you will learn:

1. What is considered late?
2. How is being late different from absenteeism?
3. What sanctions can be applied to an employee for non-compliance with labor discipline.
4. Instructions for dismissing an employee for being late.

What is considered late for work?

When a person is at the workplace, he is obliged to obey the charter of the enterprise and the work schedule. An employee does not have the right to come to work whenever he wants (exception if the position provides for a flexible schedule).

Some irresponsible employees believe that being a little late will not entail any consequences. But this is a misconception. First, let's figure out what is considered late.

Lateness is the absence of an employee from the workplace for any reason from 1 minute to 4 hours.

Some managers allow employees to be late by up to 5 or 15 minutes. But this is at the discretion of the authorities. However, if such violations are systematic, then sooner or later the employer will get tired of such negligent attitude towards labor regulations.

The Labor Code says nothing about the concept of “lateness”. It is called differently - violation of discipline.

Let's look at examples of delays:

• Absence of an employee at the beginning of the working day;
• Late return of the employee from lunch break;
• Leaving the workplace on your own initiative without warning anyone;
• An employee leaving work before the end of the working day.

When hired, each employee signs an employment contract, which spells out all the rules of the enterprise and the daily work schedule.

If this agreement does not contain a clause on lateness, or the employee for some reason was not familiarized in writing with the rules of being in the workplace, he cannot be held accountable. Otherwise, he can go to court.

The legislative framework

In the Labor Code there is no interpretation of such a concept as “lateness”. This means that an employee’s delay even for 1 minute will constitute non-compliance with the internal regulations of the enterprise.
Article No. 192 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation describes the measures of influence that a manager can apply to an employee.

These include:

• Oral remark;
• Written reprimand;
• Dismissal from the organization, Article No. 81 of the Labor Code.

Most often, the heads of organizations do not reprimand for being 5-5 minutes late, but limit themselves to a verbal warning to the employee.

More serious liability comes with repeated violations of discipline, up to and including termination of the employment contract.

What is the difference between being late and absenteeism?

Working hours are present in almost every organization. This document establishes the company's operating hours and also indicates the person's employment hours. If an individual schedule is not provided for an employee, then he must arrive on time. An unexcused delay of up to 4 hours is considered late.

The intentional absence of a person from the enterprise for more than 4 hours is absenteeism. This offense will be considered as non-compliance with the labor regime, but more significant than being late. A manager has every reason to fire a subordinate for absenteeism, but not for a slight delay.

Dismissal can follow even for a single absence. This penalty is provided for in Article No. 81, paragraph 6 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.

The fact of a person’s long absence from work is documented:

• A report is drawn up regarding the employee’s absence from work;
• A written explanation of the reason for absenteeism is requested.

If a subordinate does not want to explain something, the manager writes an act of refusal to explain. Labor legislation allows the director to fire a person for absenteeism without warning or drawing up reports . Notice of termination of the employment contract is sent by mail.

Late for a valid reason

If you are a strict manager and notice that your subordinate is absent from the workplace, do not rush to punish him. First, you need to figure out what caused the delay, because force majeure circumstances happen in the life of any person.

Not every person can be punished for being late. Such violations are divided into lateness for a valid reason and for an unexcused one.

Valid reasons:

• Employee illness;
• Illness of his relatives and close people (for example, a child);
• Death of one of the relatives;
• Natural disasters, accidents, etc.

Any lateness for a valid reason must be documented. This could be sick leave or other medical certificates.

If you were flooded by your neighbors, then a certificate from the housing office; if you were in a car accident, a certificate from the traffic police; if the fault was due to broken public transport, a certificate from the motor vehicle transport service that services this route.

A traffic jam is not considered late for a valid reason.

Actions of a late employee

If a person realizes that he cannot get to work on time, the following steps must be taken:

• Warn the director or colleagues that he is delayed;
• Prepare certificates confirming valid reasons for being late;
• Submit an explanatory note to the boss, detailing the reasons for the delay.

Such employee behavior will help avoid serious consequences for violating the company’s internal rules and regulations.

Providing false certificates is grounds for dismissal. In addition, the person who issued the documents may be subject to criminal liability.

The fact of violation of discipline is recognized only if the person was officially familiarized with the internal rules and operating mode of the enterprise. Without his signature, absence from the workplace is not interpreted as being late.

What is the difference between being late and absenteeism?

Sometimes managers mistakenly assume that being late and absenteeism are the same thing. But that's not true.

Let's look at the main differences in the table.

What to do next with the act?

After the document is drawn up, it is necessary to familiarize the offending employee with it against receipt. Then the form is sent to the head of the organization, who makes his decision on this issue: imposes a disciplinary sanction or is limited to verbal suggestion. If the director is not convinced of the reasons for the employee’s absence, then an order is issued about being late for work and imposing a disciplinary measure. Within 3 days, the employee must familiarize himself with the document and put his signature on it. Then the entire package is transferred to the HR department, which attaches it to the employee’s personal file.

Punishment for being late

Being late is not considered a serious violation, so punishment can only be disciplinary.

These include:

• Note – if the employee was late once;
• Reprimand – 2 or more latenesses;
• Severe reprimand – delays are systematic;
• Dismissal – regular lateness (3 times or more).

If the reason for being late was valid, and the employee has documented this, then no punishment will be imposed.

For 1 such violation, one disciplinary sanction is provided. The manager can apply punishment within 6 months after the violation. All penalties are canceled after 1 year.

If an employee has been reprimanded for a violation, the manager may remove it before the 12-month period, provided that this does not happen again.

The manager may impose a fine or reduce wages for lateness. This is contrary to the Employment Agreement. If this is allowed at an enterprise, then management may be held administratively liable.

Being late as a violation of discipline

When hiring a new employee, the employer enters into an employment contract with him and introduces him to the internal labor regulations (ILR) against signature. PVTR introduce working hours at the enterprise. If an individual regime is provided for an employee, this is stated in the employment contract (Article 100 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).

Working time is the period during which an employee is obliged to perform his official duties (Article 91 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).

Being late is a violation of working hours and labor discipline. In this case, management has the right to apply disciplinary action.

Step-by-step instructions for dismissal for being late

According to the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, it is impossible to fire an employee for one delay. If an employee systematically violates labor discipline, the manager has the right to dismiss the negligent employee on his own initiative in accordance with Article 192 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.

The sequence of actions in this case is as follows:

1. When the employee is late for the first time, he is obliged to write an explanatory note, where he will state the reason for his action and attach the available certificates to the document. This must be done within 48 hours.
2. If within 2 days the employee does not provide the appropriate note and refuses any explanations, a Statement of Refusal of Explanations is drawn up in the presence of 3 witnesses.
3. If the reason is not valid, then a lateness report is drawn up. This document must be signed by 2 witnesses who confirm the fact of the violation.
4. If the violation is identified by the head of the unit, who does not have the right to impose a penalty, he writes a report addressed to his management and attaches the necessary documents.
5. After this, the head of the company sets a date and time for the analysis, where all involved persons are invited.
6. Based on the drawn up act and the analysis carried out, the enterprise issues an order, which will indicate the sanctions applied to the violator.
7. After this, it is necessary to familiarize the employee to whom the penalty is being applied with the order. If an employee refuses to sign an order, then a corresponding act is drawn up and signed by 3 witnesses.
8. The second delay is processed in the same way as the first.
9. If the employee is late for the third time, the manager may fire the employee on his own initiative. In this case, the following reason should be indicated in the work book: “Systematic violation of labor discipline.”

Features of the act, general information

If you are faced with the need to draw up an act of being late for work, but you do not know exactly how to do this, read our tips and pay attention to the example document.

First, let's give general information that applies to any papers of this kind:

1. Today there is no unified model of the act. This means that you can write it in free form or, if the organization has a document template, according to its type.
2. Any act must have a certain structure, which includes a “header” - the beginning of the document, the main part and the conclusion.
3. The act must necessarily include the signatures of the drafters, but it is not necessary to put a stamp on it. This is due to the fact that recently the mandatory requirement to use stamps for document approval has been abolished, so the act must be stamped only when such a rule is in the organization’s regulatory documents.

In addition, keep in mind that the act can be drawn up on a regular blank sheet of any convenient format (preferably A4) or on company letterhead. It is allowed to print the act on a computer (with subsequent printing) or write it by hand (without blots, errors or corrections) - all this does not matter in determining the legality of the document.

The act is made in two copies , which must be identical in content and equal in law. One copy of the document remains with the employer, the second is given to the employee who is late for work.

Mistakes that managers can make when trying to quit

Before dismissing an employee, the manager must understand that violators sometimes disagree with the employer's decision. They go to defend their rights in court.

If management acted within the framework of the Labor Code, then the court will be on the side of the employer. If an employee proves the illegality of the actions committed against him, he will have to be reinstated at the enterprise.

Let's look at the main mistakes that managers make when dismissing someone for being late:

• The employee was fired after being late for 2 times, but there was no written confirmation of the first violation (it was not documented);
• The employee was late 2 times, but only one was for an unexcused reason;
• If the period between two delays was more than 12 months;
• The employer summed up all the employee’s tardiness and called this violation absenteeism;
• There were 2 violations, but no penalty was imposed for one of them.

Reasons for being late

An individual who has an employment relationship with an organization may be delayed for good or bad reasons. However, current legislation does not clearly define these circumstances, leaving it to the discretion of the employer. It is they who will establish whether the delay was committed in the presence of compelling arguments or not.

In business practice, it has developed that the following situations are considered valid:

• death of a close relative or exacerbation of a chronic disease;
• a sudden painful condition in the worker himself;
• getting into an accident;
• fires, floods, other natural and man-made disasters.

But the punishment will definitely not be long in coming if the employee is late for the following reasons:

1. I got stuck in a traffic jam while driving to my place of work.
2. Solving personal issues, including family ones.
3. Overslept.

Is it possible to fire an employee?

Dismissal cannot be applied for being late, although it is a type of disciplinary action. Delays in work are not among the grounds for terminating an employment contract at the initiative of the employer. In Art. 81 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation talks about repeated failure by an employee to fulfill labor duties without good reason and their one-time gross violation. Being late is not considered a gross violation and therefore cannot be punished by dismissal.

However, if an employee fails to show up for work on time several times without good reason, then his act is considered as a malicious failure to fulfill his obligations under the employment contract. This is grounds for dismissal under clause 5, part 1, art. 81 TK. Again, the final decision rests with the manager. He may limit himself to a remark or reprimand even if he is late again.

In practice, bosses often take advantage of the legal ignorance of their employees and threaten them with dismissal for the slightest violation, including being late. Employees must understand that an employment contract can only be terminated under circumstances provided for by law.

If an employer fires a subordinate for being late, his actions are classified as unlawful and can later be appealed in court.