Patna: Employees of Bihar State Power Holding Company Limited (BSPHCL) and its sister companies will be docked leaves if they reach office late.

The new system came into effect from September 1 for BSPHCL, Bihar State Power Generation Company Limited, Bihar State Power Transmission Company Limited, North Bihar Power Distribution Company Limited and South Bihar Power Distribution Company Limited.

Employees are supposed to report to work at 10am and they cannot leave office before 6pm. The attendance would be registered using the biometric machines.

In case of exigencies employees would be allowed to report up to 15 minutes late but if a person is late for three consecutive days, half-day casual leave would be deducted. For delay more than 15 minutes but less than one hour, half-day casual leave would be deducted. If the employee is late by more than a hour, a day's casual leave would be deducted.

Employees who are supposed to be late to office due to engagement in official work or are supposed to leave office before the stipulated time they would have to inform their controlling officer in a prescribed format and by explaining the purpose.

In case an employee has exhausted his/her casual-leave quota and is late to office without reason, the person would be docked leave without pay.

Chairman-cum-managing director Pratyaya Amrit said the broader goal of the move was to ensure punctuality. "Also, the order is applicable for one and all," he said.