RMO No. 4-2021: Consolidates the policies and guidelines in the monitoring of attendance and leave management amending RMO No. 28-2008, as amended by RMO No. 21-2011

Key points

1. Work hours and timekeeping. Employees render eight (8) working hours a day and forty (40) hours a week, excluding a one-hour lunch break, Monday to Friday. They use BTAS machines for Check-in, Break-out, Break-in and Check-out, and sign the Daily Record of Attendance (DRA). The CIR, DCIRs, ACIRs, HREA, Chiefs of Staff, Regional Directors, Assistant Regional Directors, others approved by the CIR, and employees whose fingerprints cannot be read due to sickness are exempt from the machines and log only in the DRA.
2. Tardiness, undertime and overtime. Absence in the morning counts as tardy and absence in the afternoon as undertime, deductible from vacation leave credits only, with no off-setting by extra hours. Those above Division Chief level cannot claim overtime pay.
3. Flexi-time. Flexi-time needs CIR approval, with priority for solo parents, caregivers of senior citizen parents, PWDs and employees with severe health conditions. The monitored distribution is 10% on 7:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., 80% on 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and 10% on 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., and the first and last shifts are not for field work. A chosen shift cannot change within one (1) year of effectivity.
4. Reports. The monthly Summary Report of Attendance is due to the Personnel Division or AHRMD on or before the 10th day of the following month. Regional Office reports are due on or before the 15th, and supplemental reports on or before the 25th. Non-submission for one (1) month is ground to suspend salaries of all employees in that Office.
5. Leave credits and applications. Employees get fifteen (15) days vacation leave and fifteen (15) days sick leave annually, or 1.25 days each monthly, with full pay. Heads of Office act on leave applications within five (5) working days, otherwise they are deemed approved. Sick leave may draw on vacation leave credits, but not the reverse.
6. Habitual tardiness, absences and AWOL. Habitual tardiness or undertime is ten (10) times a month for at least two months in a semester or two consecutive months in a year. An employee absent without official leave for at least thirty (30) calendar days is recommended for dropping from the rolls, after a Return-to-Work Order, and leave without pay exceeding one (1) year means automatic dropping. Erring employees are reported to the Internal Investigation Division or Regional Investigation Division for a Show-Cause Order.

Who is affected

• BIR officials and employees
• Heads of Office
• Regional Offices

Deadlines and effectivity

• Summary Report of Attendance: 10th day of the following month (National Office), 15th (Regional Offices), supplemental by the 25th
• Flexi-time shift fixed for one (1) year
• Transferred leave credits certificate within sixty (60) days from reporting for duty