Punching made mandatory for secretariat staff; applicable to IAS officers other than Chief Secretary

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Department of Public Administration has issued a circular making biometric punching mandatory for all employees in the Secretariat except the Chief Secretary. From today, all including IAS personnel will have to register attendance through biometric punching. Punching was not mandatory for IAS officers in the 2021 guidelines but it has now been changed. Temporary employees and contract workers do not need to punch.

Working hours are from 10:15 AM to 5:15 PM. The grace time allowed in a month is 300 minutes. Grace time in a day is a maximum of 60 minutes. Grace time is allotted for a full day from 10:15 am to 11:15 am and from 4:15 pm to 5:15 pm. A maximum of 60 minutes of grace time can be used for half day also.

Employees on shift duty have no grace time. If more time is spent than the remaining grace time in the payroll software Spark, the day will be treated as a holiday. Even if this leave is adjusted, the old grace time will not be restored later. The pay bill is prepared on the basis of attendance from 16th of one month to 15th of the next month.

If leave during this period is not granted through SPARK, it will be treated as unauthorized leave and the salary will be reduced. Salary will be sanctioned later on submission of leave application.

Other Important Instructions

• Employees who are on duty outside for a full day should not punch.
• Those who are on duty outside in the morning should record punching in before 2:00 pm and punching out after 5:15 pm. A grace time of 60 minutes is also available on these days.
• Gazetted employees who do not get special postings may not punch at present. Non-gazetted employees should punch
• One-time punching can be arranged twice a year. After that, it can only be adjusted as merit leave
• A compensatory off may be allowed to those including gazetted officers who work overtime for 10 hours or more in a month.
• Even if you are present for duty on public holidays, you should punch. Compensatory off for this will be allowed
• Requests for leave/outside duty should be submitted through SPARC to their respective superiors for approval.
• Leave through Finance and Administration Departments should be approved by submitting an application as per circular instructions
• Employees coming late and leaving early after the grace time is over will be subjected to withholding of pay unless leave is submitted
• Officials going on deputation should inform the Public Administration Department