Secretariat employees in Kerala required to use biometric attendance as per government mandate.

The Kerala government has mandated biometric punching for all Secretariat employees, except for the Chief Secretary, according to a recent circular. Although previous circulars had made punching compulsory, many offices in the Secretariat failed to implement the rule. The new circular lists the Secretariat’s working hours and admissible leaves, and mentions that punching need not be done on occasions when the machine malfunctions.

The circular also includes specific directions for employees to follow. The Secretariat’s working hours will be from 10:15 am to 5:15 pm, with half a day calculated for the periods between 10:15 am and 1:15 pm, and 2 pm and 5:15 pm. Employees should punch in and out, with the first and last punches each day being considered for calculating attendance. Employees who work full-time outside the Secretariat and those working on daily wage, contract, and temporary basis need not punch in.

For those with duties outside the Secretariat until noon, they must punch in before 2 pm. A grace period of 300 minutes each month will be given for arriving late or leaving early, but employees should not use more than one hour from this on a single day. The grace period allowed is between 10:15 am and 11:15 am, and between 4:15 pm and 5:15 pm.

Employees who do not have enough grace time in their accounts and punch in between 11:15 am and 2 pm but punch out at 5:15 pm will be considered as half-day leave. Similarly, if one punches in before 10:15 am but punches out between 1:15 pm and 4:15 pm, it will be considered as half-day leave. Employees who work overtime of 10 hours per month will be given a day’s compensatory leave. Half-pay leave, commuted leave, and earned leave will be allowed based on the credits available in the employees’ accounts. Only casual leave can be clubbed with compensatory leave.

It is important to note that one cannot apply for casual leave along with half-pay leave, commuted leave, and earned leave. The new circular aims to ensure better attendance and punctuality among Secretariat employees.