Case Study ti 10

HE DOES, I Do*

The Civil Service Commission could not have picked a worse time to str ictly
implement its rule on tardiness. Besieged by constant complaints of cl ients that they have to
led out
wait a long while for tardy employees before they can transact business, the CSC ru that
nths during
ten late for at least two months in a semester or at least two consecutive mo the year,
nse.
renders one liable for habitual tardiness and faces dismissal for third offe The CSC also
announced modified flexible schedules for government personnel outside of the regular
schedule for everybody (8:00 am to 5:00 pm). In this scheme, one may choose a
schedule that begins between 7:00 and 9:00 in the morning and ends between 4:00 to 6:00 in
the afternoon. Recently, however, the Commission also authorized agency heads to
promulgate their own internal rules and regulations on attendance and punctuality which
will require their employees to incur less absences and tardiness than the frequency allowed by
Commission.

Pursuant to this latest policy, the agency where Roy works prescribes that employees
who come to the office by 8:15 a.m. shall not be considered tardy. However, the number of
minutes they are late will be deducted from their leave credits.

Despite this, Roy thought this was still unfair for rank-and-file employees like him. He
goes home to San Pedro, Laguna and holds office near the Batasan Building in Quezon City.
He had a reputation for being chronically late due to traffic and some other factors. His boss,
who heads the administrative office comes late to office also. Unlike Roy, he is provided a
car, gasoline and a driver by the office. However, Mr. Sanchez, Roy's boss, felt
there was no comparison when he first heard that Roy was complaining about his own
lateness. Roy, of course, gets notices for his late arrivals. While Mr. Sanchez, as a Director,
was not getting any notices for being late. Being an official, Mr. Sanchez does not register
the time of his arrival and departure. For Roy, there are many Directors who earn many leave
credits because the number of minutes or hours they are late are not deducted from their
leave credits. Hardly do they file leave of absences too.

* Adapted from EROPA's Seminar on Ethics, 1997.

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 "He should wait until he becomes a boss," said Mr. Sanchez. "I labored long and hard to
be where I am now and when I was where he is now, I had to follow the rules too.
Besides, I am sometimes asked to work on Saturdays or even Sundays and holidays,
without getting overtime so it should all even up in the end."

IfThat do you think? Who is right, Roy or his boss?

it dr

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