Lateness, absences and overtime: clear rules you can actually apply

Lateness, absences and overtime are the three topics that create the most tension around attendance tracking. They have one thing in common: they become simple when the rule is written before it is applied. This article proposes a method, summarises the reference points of the Moroccan Labour Code, and shows how software can apply the rules consistently.

This article gives practical reference points, not legal advice. Check the text in force, your collective agreement and your internal rules with your adviser. Outside Morocco, the figures below do not apply.

What the Moroccan Labour Code says (reference points)

According to the consolidated Labour Code published by Morocco’s Ministry of Justice:

• Normal working time (article 184): in non-agricultural activities, 2,288 hours a year or 44 hours a week. The annual total may be spread over the year according to the company’s needs, provided normal working time does not exceed ten hours a day, subject to the exceptions provided for.
• Overtime (article 196): possible for work of national interest or exceptional workload, under conditions set by regulation, with compensation on top of salary.
• Premiums (article 201), non-agricultural activities: 25% between 06:00 and 21:00, 50% between 21:00 and 06:00; raised to 50% and 100% respectively on the employee’s weekly rest day, even if compensatory rest is granted.
• Weekly rest (articles 205–207): at least 24 hours, midnight to midnight; establishments open continuously may organise it on a rotating basis.

These points explain why attendance tracking must record when overtime was worked and on which day (rest day, public holiday): payroll needs both.

Defining the lateness rule

A useful lateness rule answers four questions:

1. Reference: the start time of the shift planned for that day (not a general time).
2. Grace period: the number of minutes beyond which an arrival is late.
3. Measure: is lateness counted from the start time, or only beyond the grace period?
4. Justification: who can accept a justification, and how is it kept?

In Atlaxys Tempo, the grace period is set once in the attendance rules. A justified late arrival is approved with its reason; the day remains viewable with its original punches.

Telling absences apart

“Absence” covers very different situations that are not handled the same way:

Situation	How to handle it
Approved leave	Not an absence: deducted from the balance, the day is not counted as missing
Justified absence (sickness, family event)	Approved with its justification, attached to an absence type
Unjustified absence	Stays visible until a decision
Forgotten punch	Not an absence: the missing punch is added with a reason

The most common trap is confusing “no punch” with “absent”. Good software flags a missing clock-out or a day to review instead of concluding on its own. For leave, see leave and absences.

Framing overtime

Three decisions to make and write down:

1. From when is an hour “extra”? Beyond the planned duration of the day, after the planned end time, or beyond a threshold (say 30 minutes) to ignore small overruns.
2. Who approves? Must a manager validate before hours go to payroll?
3. How to distinguish them: day or night, rest day, public holiday — so payroll applies the right premiums.

Tempo offers these three calculation rules, optional approval, and identifies work on a rest day or public holiday separately. It does not calculate amounts: it exports hours that your payroll software values.

Applying the rules without arguments

• Publish the rules (internal memo, internal regulations) before applying them.
• Apply them to everyone: software helps precisely because it makes no implicit exceptions.
• Correct punches, not totals: each correction keeps its author, date and reason.
• Review every week, not only at month end: differences are easier to explain while they are recent.

For month end, follow our method to prepare a reliable monthly attendance report.