Attendance Policies & Rules

Attendance policies define the rules that govern how check-ins, late arrivals, early departures, absences, and working hours are evaluated. The AttendancePolicy model in Udyamo HRMS allows administrators to configure granular time rules that determine payroll impact, half-day deductions, and loss-of-pay calculations. This chapter covers creating and configuring attendance policies, assigning them, and understanding their impact.

Prerequisites

Required: Before configuring attendance policies:

• Shifts must be created (see Creating & Assigning Shifts)
• The work week must be configured (see Work Week, Timezone & Fiscal Year)
• You should understand your organization's attendance expectations and disciplinary rules

Navigating to Attendance Settings

1. From the sidebar, click Attendance.
2. Click Settings or Policies from the submenu.
3. The Attendance Policy configuration page opens.

Alternatively:

1. Navigate to Settings > Leaves & Attendance.
2. Select the Attendance Policies tab.

What Is an Attendance Policy?

An attendance policy is a set of configurable rules that define:

• How many minutes of late arrival are tolerated before consequences
• How many late arrivals per month trigger a deduction
• What constitutes a half-day versus a full absence
• Minimum working hours required for a full day
• Rules for early coming and late going
• Auto-checkout behavior
• Holiday and weekend attendance validation

Creating an Attendance Policy

Step 1: Open the Policy Form

1. On the Attendance Policies page, click Add Policy or Create New Policy.
2. The policy creation form opens.

Step 2: Enter Policy Details

Step 3: Configure Time Rules

Late Coming Rules

These rules define how late arrivals are handled.

Example Configuration:

• Grace period (on shift): 15 minutes
• Late Mark After: 0 minutes (i.e., late after 15-minute grace)
• Maximum Late Arrivals Per Month: 3
• Deduction: After 3 late arrivals, every subsequent late arrival counts as a half-day deduction

Early Coming Policy

The early coming policy controls how the system handles employees who check in before their shift starts.

Tip: For most organizations, allow early check-in but do not count it as overtime. This provides flexibility for employees who arrive early without inflating payroll costs.

Late Going Policy

The late going policy controls how the system handles employees who check out after their shift ends.

Warning: If Count Late Hours as Overtime is enabled, ensure overtime policies and approval workflows are also configured to prevent unauthorized overtime claims. See Overtime Requests.

Step 4: Configure Working Hour Rules

Working Hour Thresholds Explained:

Tip: Set the half-day threshold to exactly half of the full-day requirement. This creates a clear and predictable rule. For example: full day = 8 hours, half day = 4 hours.

Step 5: Configure Absent Marking Rules

Step 6: Configure Auto-Checkout

Warning: Auto-checkout at the end of shift is recommended over midnight auto-checkout. Midnight auto-checkout may record inflated working hours for employees who forgot to check out.

Step 7: Save the Policy

1. Review all configured rules.
2. Click Save.
3. The policy appears in the Attendance Policies list.

Holiday and Weekend Validation

These rules control attendance behavior on non-working days.

Tip: Organizations that require weekend or holiday work should enable check-in on these days and configure the hours as overtime or compensatory off (comp-off).

Policy Assignment

After creating a policy, assign it to employees.

Assignment Levels

Assigning a Policy

As Organization Default

1. On the Attendance Policies page, locate the policy.
2. Click the Actions menu.
3. Select Set as Default.
4. The policy applies to all employees who do not have a department, office, or individual assignment.

To a Department

1. Navigate to Settings > Organization > Departments.
2. Edit the department.
3. In the Attendance Policy field, select the desired policy.
4. Save.

To an Individual Employee

1. Open the employee's profile.
2. Navigate to the Attendance section.
3. In the Attendance Policy field, select the desired policy.
4. Save.

Tip: Use the hierarchy wisely. Set a permissive default policy at the organization level, then apply stricter policies to departments or roles that require them (e.g., customer-facing teams, manufacturing units).

Policy Priority (Override Order)

When multiple policies could apply to an employee, the system follows this priority order (highest to lowest):

If an employee has an individual policy assigned, that policy applies regardless of department or office settings.

Impact on Payroll — LOP Calculation

Attendance policies directly affect payroll through Loss of Pay (LOP) calculations.

How LOP Is Calculated

LOP in Payroll

During payroll processing:

1. The system counts the number of LOP days for each employee based on attendance records and the applied policy.
2. The per-day salary is calculated as: monthly_salary / total_working_days_in_month.
3. LOP deduction = per_day_salary * LOP_days.
4. The deduction appears in the payslip under the "Loss of Pay" component.

Warning: Review LOP calculations before finalizing payroll each month. Incorrect attendance policy settings can lead to unintended salary deductions. See Running Payroll for the payroll review process.

Example Policy Configurations

Standard Office Policy

Manufacturing / Shift-Based Policy

Flexible Hours Policy (IT/Services)

Editing and Deleting Policies

Editing

1. Navigate to the Attendance Policies page.
2. Click the policy name.
3. Click Edit.
4. Modify settings and save.

Warning: Changes to a policy affect all employees currently assigned to it. Changes apply from the current date forward and do not alter past attendance records.

Deleting

1. Click the Actions menu for the policy.
2. Select Delete.
3. Confirm.

Warning: You cannot delete a policy that is currently assigned to employees or set as the organization default. Reassign all employees and remove the default designation before deleting.

Common Issues and Solutions

Next Steps

• Set up attendance devices for automated check-in — see Attendance Devices & Face Recognition
• Configure overtime tracking — see Overtime Requests
• Review attendance reports — see Attendance Calendar & Reports