--- title: "Attendance Regularisation: Policy and Process | LekhaHR" description: "Attendance regularization explained: missed punch, on duty and remote days, a fair policy (approver, limit, cutoff before payroll) and its effect on LOP." canonical: https://lekhahr.in/guides/attendance-regularisation/ last_updated: 2026-10-06 --- > Design preview · sample data. Product previews and filled examples on this page use one sample company, Paiteq Technologies, and its people. They are not a LekhaHR customer, a testimonial or usage figures. Attendance regularisation · guide · updated 6 Oct 2026, [checked by the LekhaHR team](https://lekhahr.in/editorial-policy/) # Attendance regularisation corrects a day the record got wrong, before payroll reads it. The employee files the right times and a reason, the manager approves, and the day is rewritten with the original kept beside it. A fair policy names the approver, caps the requests per cycle and closes them before the payroll lock. A day still wrong at the cutoff is paid as it was recorded. A fair policy Late marks and LOP Key facts - Attendance regularisation is a request to correct a day the attendance record got wrong, such as a missed punch or a day spent at a client's office, approved by a manager before payroll reads the month. - A fair policy names the approver, limits the requests per cycle (Paiteq's sample: 3), and sets a cutoff (sample: 4 days after the day or the payroll cutoff, whichever is earlier). - A day still wrong at the cutoff is paid as it was recorded. A short day becomes a half day, and a half day becomes half a day of loss of pay. - Since 21 Nov 2025, the Code on Wages, s.20, allows a deduction only for absence from the place where the person is required to work, for the whole or part of the time, and only in proportion to it. A day the person can show they worked, at a client's office or after a missed punch, is not an absence, so a correction approved late is paid back as an arrear, not lost. because a missed punch should cost a minute to fix, not a day's pay. No. 01 Reasons ## What is attendance regularisation used for? Attendance regularization (regularisation in Indian English) covers days when the person worked but the record says otherwise. Four reasons account for nearly all requests, and each has a different person best placed to check it: the punch log for a missed punch, the manager who sent someone out for an on-duty day, the phone's own time for a late sync. - **01Missed punch-in or punch-out**: most requests because the person worked but forgot to punch. Vikram missed his punch-out on Fri 18 Sep; he filed the out time, 18:40, with a note: “Left at 18:40 after a client call.” - **02On duty away from the office**: client visit, bank, event because the person was working somewhere the office punch cannot see. The request names the place and the hours; the manager who sent them there approves it. - **03Work from home on an office day**: if your policy allows it because a remote day outside the agreed pattern shows as absent. Paiteq handles a planned remote day as a remote punch approved on the day: Rohan's Tuesday clock-in from 6.1 km from the Koramangala office went to Meenal, who covers Priya's approvals while she is away. - **04Phone or network failure**: when a late sync causes a late mark because a punch made offline counts from when it arrives, with the phone's time kept beside it. Rohan punched at 09:18:07 with no network; it synced at 09:31:40, after the 09:10 grace, so the day carries a late mark that a fix with the phone's time can correct. On a [mobile attendance app](https://lekhahr.in/mobile-attendance-app/) an offline punch is held on the phone and counted when it arrives, with the phone's time shown beside it and location taken at the punch only, so the approver of a late-sync request has both times in front of them. No. 02 A fair policy ## What does a fair regularisation policy look like? Six decisions, each written down. These are Paiteq's sample answers; every value is yours to set, but the order of the dates is not: the cutoff for a day must fall before the payroll lock for the month that day is paid in. - **01Who approves**: the person's manager because they know whether the person was at the client's office. When the manager is away, whoever covers the manager's approvals while they are away approves instead, so a request never waits a week. - **02How many per cycle**: 3 because a limit turns regularisation back into an exception. Vikram's screen showed “3 of 3 fixes left this cycle” when he filed. On-duty requests the manager asked for should not count against it. - **03Deadline**: 4 days, or the payroll cutoff if earlier because memory fades. The deadline is 4 days after the day or the payroll cutoff, whichever comes first, so the last days of a window get less time. That is why many companies lock payroll 2 working days after the window closes rather than the same evening. Vikram's Fri 18 Sep could be fixed until Tue 22 Sep; he filed on time and Meenal approved it on Mon 21 Sep, 10:05. - **04Before the payroll lock**: Fri 25 Sep because payroll reads the window 26 Aug – 25 Sep once it locks (Fri 25 Sep 2026, 19:30 IST). A deadline that runs past the lock means the fix reaches pay a month late. - **05What the request must say**: time, place, reason because the approver decides on facts. “Missed punch” alone is not enough; “left at 18:40 after a client call” is. - **06What happens to the original**: kept, not overwritten because the corrected day keeps the original entry attached, so anyone can see what was recorded and what was approved. Policy wording you can copy > “Attendance regularisation. An employee may request a correction to a day's attendance for a missed punch, an on-duty assignment away from the office, or an approved remote day, stating the correct times, the place and the reason. Requests are approved by the employee's reporting manager, or by the person covering the manager's approvals. Up to 3 missed-punch requests are allowed in each payroll cycle; on-duty assignments made by the manager do not count towards this limit. A request must be filed within 4 days of the day or by the payroll cutoff, whichever is earlier. A day not corrected by then is paid as recorded; a later correction is paid as an arrear in the next month. The original record is kept with the correction.” The [attendance management system](https://lekhahr.in/attendance-management-system/) page shows the same cutoff beside a missing punch on the person's phone, and the approval waiting on the manager's screen: Vikram Nair · Mon 28 Sep, “Missed punch-out. On a client call until 18:30.” No. 03 Late marks and LOP ## How does regularisation affect late marks, permission and loss of pay? Regularisation fixes a wrong record. A late mark is usually a right one, a permission is asked for in advance, and a true short day is covered by leave, not regularisation. Rohan's 16 Sep shows the last: he left at 14:30, applied no half-day leave by the 20 Sep cutoff, and September carries 0.5 day of LOP. _Design preview · sample data_ ### Rohan Das · 16 Sep to payday window 26 Aug – 25 Sep - **Wed 16 Sep**: Half day because in 09:02, out 14:30: 4 h 28 m after the 1 h unpaid break, and Paiteq's sample rule makes a day from 4 h, under 8 h a half day - **Sun 20 Sep**: cutoff passes because no half-day leave or regularisation was filed - **Fri 25 Sep**: payroll locks because the window closes at 19:30 IST - **LOP**: 0.5 day because a half day is half a day of LOP - **Salary not paid**: ₹293 Paid days 29.5 of 30 · calendar-day divisor How the ₹293 is worked out, and how the divisor changes it, is in the [loss of pay guide](https://lekhahr.in/guides/loss-of-pay/). The free [attendance sheet template](https://lekhahr.in/resources/attendance-sheet-template/) counts a half day as half a day of LOP the same way. Deduction for absence · Code on Wages, 2019, s.20 (deductions for absence from duty) · in force 21 Nov 2025 · [reviewed 6 Oct 2026](https://lekhahr.in/editorial-policy/) No. 04 Questions ## Questions about attendance regularisation ### What is attendance regularisation? It is a request to correct a day the attendance record got wrong, such as a missed punch, an on-duty day at a client's office or a remote day the system marked absent. The employee files the correct times and a reason, the manager approves, and the day is rewritten before payroll reads the month. ### What are the types of attendance regularisation? Four, each a day the person worked but the record shows otherwise. Missed punch-in or forgot to punch out: file the actual time, as Vikram did with his 18:40 out time. On duty or client visit: the person worked away from the office, so the request names the place and hours and the manager who sent them approves it, without using up the monthly limit. Work from home on an office day: in Paiteq's sample setup a planned remote day is a remote punch approved on the day, so a request is only for a day that was missed. Phone or network failure: an offline punch counts from when it reaches the server, with the phone's time kept beside it, so a late sync can leave a late mark that a request with the phone's time corrects. Coming in late or leaving early is not a regularisation type: a late mark is a true record, a planned few hours away is a permission request asked in advance, and a true short day is covered by half a day of leave. A whole site's device failure is fixed by HR in one entry, not by each person filing. ### How to regularise attendance? Open the day in the attendance record, choose the reason (missed punch, on duty, remote day), enter the correct times and a note that someone else could check, and send it to your manager before the cutoff. Vikram missed his punch-out on Fri 18 Sep: he filed an out time of 18:40 with the note “Left at 18:40 after a client call.”, Meenal approved it on Mon 21 Sep, 10:05, and the day was paid as a full day, ahead of the Tue 22 Sep cutoff. The original punch stays attached to the corrected day. ### What is an example of an attendance regularisation mail? Subject: Attendance regularisation for Fri 18 Sep. “Hi Meenal, my punch-out on Fri 18 Sep did not record. I punched in at 09:36 and left at 18:40 after a client call. Please regularise the day as present (8 h 04 m worked). Thanks, Vikram.” Keep it to the date, the actual times, where you were and something the approver can check. Where the HR system has a regularisation request, file it there instead, so the approval reaches payroll on its own. ### How many attendance regularisations should be allowed in a month? Most small companies allow 2 to 4 a month; Paiteq's sample allows 3 per payroll cycle. Watch the pattern more than the count: the same person filing a missed punch-out at exactly the shift end every Friday is usually leaving early, and the approver should check it against something real, such as a client email, a gate register or the last login. On-duty days a manager asked for should not count against the limit, because they are not the person's mistake. ### What is the last date to regularise attendance? A few days after the day, or the payroll cutoff, whichever is earlier. Paiteq's sample cutoff is 4 days after the day, and the payroll window 26 Aug – 25 Sep locks on Fri 25 Sep 2026, 19:30 IST, so a day late in the window gets less time. A day still wrong at the cutoff is paid as recorded, and a correction approved later is paid as an arrear next month. ### What does “date of regularisation” mean? In a service record it usually means something else: the date a temporary, probationary or contract employee was made permanent, as written in the confirmation letter. It has nothing to do with correcting a day's attendance. If an HR form asks for your date of regularisation, give the date on your confirmation or permanent appointment letter. ### Can a late mark be regularised? Only if the record was wrong, for example the person was on duty elsewhere. A late arrival is a correct record: Vikram's Mon 21 Sep stays a late mark, in 09:44; grace for the 09:30 shift ended at 09:40. What a late mark costs is a separate rule in the attendance policy. ### What is the difference between a permission request and regularisation? A permission request asks in advance for a few hours away, such as a morning at the bank; a common allowance is 2 a month of up to 2 hours each, approved by the manager, and an approved permission means no late mark for that time. Regularisation corrects the record after the day. If your policy has no permission type, people use regularisation for planned absences and the monthly limit runs out for genuine missed punches. ### How is a day with a punch-in but no punch-out treated until it is fixed? Write it into the policy. A safe default: the day shows as “missing punch”, not absent, and is not loss of pay until the cutoff; if nothing is filed by then, it is paid as the hours the policy can prove, usually a half day. Marking it absent on the day sends a payslip scare to someone who worked a full shift. ### What if the punch device fails for a whole site? When a biometric device or the power goes down for a whole site, HR corrects the day for everyone affected in one entry, with the reason. It does not count against anyone's monthly limit, and nobody should have to file a request for a fault that was not theirs. No. 05 Sources ## Where the rule comes from Regularisation itself is company policy. What a day still wrong at the cutoff may cost is limited by the Code on Wages. 1. [Code on Wages, 2019, s.20 (deductions for absence from duty)](https://www.labour.gov.in/static/uploads/2025/06/c328da14bbb15fc4ad571dc33e7a4ab3.pdf) Ministry of Labour & Employment, in force 21 Nov 2025 · read 6 Oct 2026 primary 2. [Code on Wages, 2019, s.19 (fines: approved acts, displayed notice, show cause, within 3% of the wage period's wages)](https://www.indiacode.nic.in/bitstream/123456789/15793/1/aA2019-29.pdf) Government of India, in force 21 Nov 2025 · read 6 Oct 2026 primary [Checked by the LekhaHR team](https://lekhahr.in/editorial-policy/) · reviewed 6 Oct 2026 · next review by 31 Dec 2026. This guide explains the practice; it is not legal advice for your establishment. For employersLekhaHR is HR and payroll software for small Indian teams. [See attendance →](https://lekhahr.in/attendance-management-system/)