Habitual Absenteeism, Tardiness, and Undertime

Regularity in attendance is very important in the government. Yet, problems in absenteeism

tardiness and undertime plague offices all the time.

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.

Some don’t really know this, but offenses involving serious violations of the rules on
attendance are considered grave offenses. It could get an employee suspended for 6 months and 1
day to 1 year for the first offense and could get him/her dismissed 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:

1. Any officer or employee who incurs undertime, regardless of the number of

minutes/hours, ten times a month for at least two months in a semester shall be liable
for Simple Misconduct and/or Conduct Prejudicial to the Best Interest of the Service, as
the case may be; and

2. Any officer or employee who incurs undertime, regardless of the number of

minutes/hours, ten times a month for at least two consecutive months during the
year shall be liable for Simple Misconduct and/or Conduct Prejudicial to the Best
Interest of the Service, as the case may be.