All central government employees told to punch in by 9.15 am

All government employees, senior officers included, must reach their office by 9 am, with a 15-minute grace period allowed, the government has declared in a bid to enforce discipline in work places.

Those who fail to punch by 9.15 am will have a half-day casual leave deducted from their account.

The department of personnel and training (DoPT) has also told all employees, including the seniors, to use the biometric attendance system without fail.

Punishment for being late

“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,” an official circular said.

The circular said a section of junior employees were observed to often reach office late and at the same time leave early. This, it said, inconvenienced to the public.

Senior officials have been told monitor the attendance and pucturality of employees.

Biometric attendance

The Aadhaar-enabled biometric attendance system was previously used to monitor punctuality until its suspension due to the Covid pandemic. It was reinstated in February 2022.

Since then, the government has urged employees to return to biometric attendance.