AMONG all issues of indiscipline faced by industrial and commercial establishments, unauthorised absence from work is of the greatest concern. It not only impedes operations, it also generates administrative issues of arranging replacements, which increases costs.

In one organisation in Karachi employing more than 10,000 employees, incidents of theft, fraud and dishonesty stood at 33 per cent followed by cases of unauthorised absence from work at 31pc and acts of indiscipline at 15pc during the period January 2021 to November 2021. The remaining comprised cases of neglect of duty, conflict of int­erest and harassment. This issue of chronic absenteeism is faced by corporations in developed countries as well. Employers keep pondering over ways to curtail this trend.

Occupational health and safety experts look at the high rates of absenteeism with concern. Such behaviour indicates that the employees may have health issues or they may not be finding the environment conducive. They consider all types of absences other than annual leave as days lost on account of absenteeism.

In order to encourage employees to maintain regular attendance, organisations provide various incentives: a) good attendance allowance for employees who do not absent themselves from work during a calendar mo­­nth; b) an attractive conveyance allowance paid on a daily basis to employees only when they come to work; c) full payment of annual bonuses to employees, who do not have any unauthorised absences during the year.

Leave allowed under the law is quite generous.

The quantum of leave and holidays allowed to employees under the law, is quite generous. Under the Factories Act, they are allowed 14 days’ annual leave, 10 days casual leave, 16 days’ sick leave at half pay (in Sindh, it is 16 days at full pay), 52 days’ weekly rest days besides 10 festival holidays in a year. Employees of shops and establishments are also eligible to avail the same number of leaves and holidays. Women employees are also entitled to 12 weeks’ maternity leave, which is 16 weeks’ leave with full pay in Sindh.

In progressive companies, annual leave is usually increased to 20 days or more in a year, either through collective labour agreement with the union or otherwise. In such companies, two days per week of rest days make it 104 days in a year.

After availing so many leaves and holidays, there is no justification for an employee to remain absent without leave. However, under exceptional circumstances such as sickness or a family emergency, he may apply for unpaid leave.

Indulging in excessive absenteeism constitutes a serious breach of discipline for which an employer may proceed with action against the delinquent employee. According to Standing Order 15 of the Industrial and Commercial Employment (Standing Orders) Ordinance, 1968, habitual late attendance or habitual absence without leave, amounts to misconduct. Absence of an employee from work without leave for more than 10 days also constitutes misconduct.

Among the minor offences is malingering which means pretending to be sick to avoid duty. Some organisations allow their employees to avail one or two days’ sick leave without submitting a medical certificate. It is quite common among the employees of these organisations to misuse this privilege as casual leave.

The prime responsibility to enforce discipline within an organisation rests with the employer. When a domestic inquiry against an employee for misconduct is in progress, the government’s labour department or the labour court are not supposed to interfere at this stage. Accordi­ng­­ly, the courts refuse to accept an employee’s grievance petition in such matters till the final action has been taken against him by the employer.

However, an emplo­yee may approach the court if his grievance against the employer appears to fall within the ambit of unfair labour practices as defined in Section 17 of the Sindh Industrial Relations Act, 2013, in the province.

In view of the foregoing facts, the following proviso to a clause of Standing Order 21 (3) (v) of the Sindh Terms of Employment (Standing Orders) Act, 2015, describing various acts and omissions constituting misconduct, is not desirable and should be omitted — “[H]abitual absence without leave or abs­e­­­nce without leave for more than ten days; provided that where a worker is barred by the employer to enter the factory (gate-bandi), the period of ten days shall not apply, subject to the condition that the worker repo­rts the incidence to the concerned Labour Office within seven working days of the gate-bandi.”

The provision encourages the employees to lay blame of their prolonged unauthorised absence on their employer, thus promoting absenteeism within the organisation. Never­theless, an employee possesses the right to go to court, if he believes that his services have been unfairly terminated by the employer.

The writer is a consultant in employee relations at the Aga Khan University.

Published in Dawn, December 20th, 2021