ABSENTEEISM, TARDINESS,

AND UNDERTIME
August 11, 2014

Government employees are required to

render 40 hours of service every week, or 8 hours daily from Mondays through
Fridays. Heads of agencies are mandated to ensure a system that will monitor
attendance. The agency could use a Daily Time Record (DTR) via bundy clock,
a Biometric Machine, or an Attendance Logbook if the two other options are
not available. Since the public requires the delivery of efficient and prompt
service, a civil servant is expected to be available and be at his/her workstation
during the regular office hours – that is, from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM except in case
of a flexible work schedule.
Regularity in attendance is very important in the government. In fact, offenses
involving violations of the rules on attendance are considered grave offenses
that merit suspension of 6 months and 1 day to 1 year for the first offense and
dismissal on the second. These offenses are:

1. Habitual absenteeism – this happens when the employee incurs unauthorized

(read: no approved/official leave) absences for more than 2.5 days for at least
3 months in a single semester, or for 3 consecutive months in a year;

2. Habitual Tardiness – this happens when the employee is tardy for at least 10
times in a month for 2 months in a single semester; or 10 times in a month for two
consecutive months in a single year. Take note that, technically, 8:01 AM is
already considered tardy. The 15-minute “grace-period” known and commonly
practiced among government offices has no basis in law or CSC regulation. To
be sure, forget about the so-called “grace period” in determining whether
you’re tardy during a particular date or not; and
3. Loafing – an employee is guilty of loafing if he/she incurs frequent
unauthorized absences from duty during office hours. A simple (yet very real)
example of this is when a government employee does personal shopping at a
mall during office hours.

Now, what if you were only absent for half day? CSC Memorandum Circular No.
17, s. 2010 (Policy on Half-day Absence) explains that a morning absence is
considered tardy while an absence in the afternoon is considered as an
undertime . Remember the following rules on undertime indicated under CSC
MC No. 16, s. 2010:

Source: CSC MC No. 16, s. 2010

Piece of advice before I end, if you can’t help being late, absent, or going
home earlier than you should, then don’t forget your Math.