The essentials in 30 seconds

You have an employee who always arrives 10 to 20 minutes late. Every week. The rest of the team notices. What can you do — and what can you not do?

First: you must have proof

This is the step most managers skip — and which later makes any disciplinary action impossible. Without an automatic timestamp, the employee's lawyer will say 'there is no proof they arrived late'. With a digital record, the clock-in time is immutable and indisputable. To learn how to implement a time tracking system that guarantees this proof, read the dedicated article.

What the law says about lateness

Repeated lateness is considered partial unjustified absence under the Portuguese Labour Code. The law distinguishes:

• One-off lateness: it happens. It is human. It does not support disciplinary action.
• Repeated lateness: documented systematic pattern. Can support a verbal warning, written warning, disciplinary sanction, and in extreme cases dismissal for just cause.

The correct process step by step

• Step 1: Document. Gather time records for the past 30 to 60 days. Identify the pattern: how many times did they arrive late? How many minutes?
• Step 2: Informal conversation. Call the employee in private. Present what you observed with concrete data. Ask if there is something causing difficulty. Document this conversation.
• Step 3: Give a deadline. 'Over the next 30 days I expect arrivals to be within schedule.' Specificity matters — without a deadline there is no reference.
• Step 4: Formal warning if there is no change. A written note that enters the employment record.
• Step 5: Disciplinary process if the behaviour continues. From here on it is territory for a lawyer or HR consultant.

What NOT to do

• Do not deduct the full day for 10 minutes of lateness. To learn what you can deduct, read how to penalise employees for lateness with concrete examples
• Do not treat them differently from other employees — you expose yourself to a complaint for unequal treatment.
• Do not threaten without acting — it destroys the manager's authority.
• Do not ignore the pattern out of goodwill — without intervention it rarely improves.

The real business impact

Cumulative lateness has a real cost. If you want to measure the impact on your business, read what absenteeism is and how to calculate it.

With Picco, lateness is automatically recorded with a precise timestamp. The employee knows the system records — which in itself tends to improve punctuality.