Late mark rules

How it works

1. HR opens the attendance rules under Policies in Settings and sets the grace after shift start, for example 10 minutes. A shift can also carry its own grace.
2. Each punch-in is compared with the start of the person's rostered shift. The minutes after the grace time are the minutes late.
3. If a late step is set, a day late by more than that many minutes becomes a half day or absent, or only records a late mark, as you choose.
4. A second step can mark a very late day absent, for example beyond 240 minutes after grace in the Strict preset.
5. On a day that still counts as a full day, the lateness becomes a late mark. After the free marks for the month, every N marks deduct half a day or a full day.
6. The monthly cap limits what late marks and early-outs can cost one person. HR can waive a penalty with a reason until the month is finalized.

What you can set

• Grace after shift start, in minutes, up to 240. A shift's own grace wins over the policy grace.
• Late step: late by more than X minutes after grace counts as Half day, Absent or Late mark only. 0 turns the step off.
• Absent step: late by more than Y minutes after grace marks the day Absent. It must be larger than the late step.
• Free late marks a month, then every N late marks deduct Half day or Full day.
• Early-out marks: leaving more than X minutes before shift end, after the grace before shift end, counts a mark; every N marks deduct half or a full day.
• Monthly penalty cap for late marks and early-outs: 3 days by default, 0 for no cap.
• Lenient preset, recommended: 10 minutes grace, 3 free late marks, every 3 marks cost half a day, half day when late by more than 120 minutes.
• Strict preset: no free late marks, half day when late by more than 15 minutes, absent when late by more than 240 minutes.

How the same lateness is never charged twice

Lateness can cost a day in two ways: the late step can turn it into a half day, or it can become a late mark that adds up over the month. ZeniaHR never does both. A late mark is counted only on a day that is still a full day after the late steps and the hours check. If someone arrives two and a half hours late and the day becomes a half day, that day adds no late mark. Early exits follow the same principle.

Late alerts follow the rules too. When attendance rules are on, the employee and the manager get an alert once a punch-in crosses the late step, or on any lateness after grace when no step is set. Employees can open My Self-Service at any time to see their late marks for the month, the penalties posted and the rules written out as sentences.

Worked example: one month under the Lenient preset

Priya Nair is a customer support executive in Kochi on a 9:30 am to 6:30 pm shift with a 30-minute break and 8 full-day hours. Under the Lenient preset her grace ends at 9:40 am. In September she punched in between 9:45 am and 10 am on seven days and left at 6:30 pm or later, so each of those days was still a full day and counted as a late mark. On one more day she arrived at 11:55 am, 135 minutes after grace, beyond the 120-minute late step.

That day was a half day and added no late mark. Her seven late marks, less three free marks, leave four; every three marks cost half a day, so the marks cost her half a day. Her total loss for the month is one day: half for the late day and half for the marks, well inside the 3-day cap. Her manager received a late alert only for the 11:55 am day, because the Lenient late step is 120 minutes.

Choosing your numbers

Start with the Lenient preset and use the dry run to try it on last month before switching it on. Put the same rules in your HR policy or standing orders so employees have seen the basis of any deduction. Before a penalty reaches pay, check your standing orders and the rules on deductions from wages under the Code on Wages. If a whole department is late on the same days, look at the shift timing or the transport before you tighten the rule.

Frequently asked questions