Tardiness means starting work after the scheduled time. It is a scheduling and pay question as much as a discipline one, because how you record and round late minutes affects what people are paid.
The federal rule at 29 CFR 785.48(b) allows rounding clock times to the nearest 5 minutes, tenth or quarter of an hour, as long as it is used in a way that does not, over time, fail to pay employees for all the time they actually worked. A rounding rule that always rounds late arrivals up to the next quarter hour, but early arrivals down, does not even out, and it underpays people.
To record clock-ins, breaks and overtime automatically, see EZTime time and attendance software.
For exempt salaried staff, 29 CFR 541.602 generally does not allow deductions for partial-day absences, so docking an exempt manager for arriving 40 minutes late can put the exemption at risk. See rounding rule and salary.
| Method | Recorded start | Paid hours | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Actual minutes | 8:07 | 7.88 | Pays exactly for time worked |
| Nearest quarter hour (8:07 rounds to 8:00) | 8:00 | 8.00 | Neutral rounding; evens out over time |
| Always round late arrivals up (8:07 becomes 8:15) | 8:15 | 7.75 | One-way rounding; underpays |
The first two methods are defensible. The third saves 8 minutes on this shift and creates a back-pay claim across every late shift for every employee. If you want lateness to have consequences, use the attendance policy, not the rounding setting.
Late returns from breaks deserve the same approach, with one difference: the time is already on the clock, so the issue is coverage, not pay. A break alert can remind people before a break runs over.
A clinic receptionist is regularly 10 to 15 minutes late back from her 30-minute lunch, which leaves the front desk empty when afternoon patients arrive.
Her manager shows her the break punches and asks why. The nearest place to eat is a 10-minute walk each way. The clinic moves her lunch to start 15 minutes earlier, before the first afternoon appointments, and adds a break alert at 25 minutes. Late returns stop within two weeks.
Whatever your written policy says. Many employers use a grace period of 5 to 7 minutes, but the key is that the rule is written down and applied to everyone the same way.
For hourly employees, you pay for the time actually worked, so late minutes are not paid. Rounding must even out over time. For exempt salaried employees, partial-day deductions generally are not allowed.
In an at-will setting, repeated lateness under a clear policy is a common lawful reason. Apply the policy consistently and keep records.
Tardiness is starting late. Absenteeism is missing all or most of a shift. Both are usually covered in the same attendance policy, counted separately.
Only if the policy says so. Many policies count late returns from meal breaks, and the policy should say how they are counted.
Yes. They have different causes and fixes, so track and report them separately, even if both affect the same attendance policy.
Mobile, web, kiosk and NFC clock-in with geofencing, plus missed-punch requests that need approval and leave an audit trail.