New third fingerprint scan to curb employees’ attendance loophole

• Employees must scan their fingerprint within sixty minutes after two hours into their shift. They are exempt if they have a permit for any part of this period.

• If an employee’s presence isn’t verified within sixty minutes, they are deemed to have left without permission, and the time from two hours after their attendance until verification will count as a delay.

• Leaving work without permission is common in many government agencies, but the decision excludes employees who are required to work offsite.

Sharida Al-Maousherji, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs, and Acting Head of the Civil Service Council, has mandated that employees’ attendance, departure, and presence at the workplace during official hours be verified using facial recognition technology, according to Al Qabas newspaper.

This was stated in Resolution No. 6 of 2024, which adds Article 10 bis to Civil Service Council Resolution No. 41 of 2006, concerning the rules, provisions, and controls of official work.

The decision stipulates, “Without prejudice to the permission systems and the prescribed grace period, proof of an employee’s attendance, departure, and presence at the workplace during official working hours shall be verified through facial recognition. The entity may also incorporate additional electronic methods alongside fingerprint systems, as well as facial recognition, as deemed necessary for the efficiency of the work.”

The employee must prove their presence at the workplace during official working hours by performing a fingerprint scan within sixty minutes after two hours have passed from the beginning of their shift. The employee is exempt from this requirement if they have obtained a permit for any part of the time within the sixty-minute period.

Extended delay

If an employee’s presence is not verified within sixty minutes, they are considered to have left during official work hours without permission. In this case, the period from two hours after their attendance until their presence is verified by the fingerprint scan will be counted as part of the monthly delay periods, in accordance with Article 18 of this decision.

A government source told Al-Qabas newspaper that the decision to implement a third fingerprint scan came in response to the increasing number of employees leaving after their attendance fingerprint and then returning at the end of their shift to perform the departure fingerprint.

The source confirmed that this decision aims to regulate workflow and prevent job negligence in government agencies, noting that a disciplined employee will not be affected by the requirement for a third fingerprint.

Issues of ‘leaving work’ widespread

The source explained that the issue of ‘leaving work’ is widespread in many government agencies, and it is illogical to equate committed employees with those who are not. The decision excludes employees whose job requirements necessitate leaving the office to complete work at external locations. They noted that committed employees will not be harmed by this decision.

After a series of stages and procedures to prove attendance in government agencies—including the generalization of fingerprint systems across all ministries and departments and the implementation of ‘flexible working hours,’ which allows each agency to set its own start time without affecting the interests of reviewers or the completion of transactions—the third fingerprint system was approved to establish discipline and prevent job negligence.

Additional electronic methods

According to the decision, the employer may incorporate additional electronic methods into the fingerprint systems, in addition to facial recognition, as deemed necessary for the effective management of work.

The Civil Service Council’s decision states the following, “After reviewing Decree Law No. 15 of 1979 concerning civil service and its amendments, the decree issued on April 4, 1979, regarding the civil service system and its amendments, and Civil Service Council Resolution No. 41 of 2006 concerning the rules, provisions, and controls of official work and its amendments, based on the proposal of the Civil Service Commission and the approval of the Civil Service Council.”

Article 1: Article 10 bis will be added to the aforementioned Civil Service Council Resolution No. 41 of 2006, with the following text:

Article 10 bis: Without prejudice to the permission systems and the prescribed grace period, an employee’s attendance, departure, and presence at the workplace during official working hours shall be verified through facial recognition. The entity may also incorporate other electronic methods into the fingerprint systems, in addition to facial recognition, as deemed necessary for the effective management of work.

Fingerprint decision to regulate attendance in government agencies

In addition, a government source confirmed that the third fingerprint decision aims to regulate and control the attendance mechanism in some government agencies, where ‘job lapses’ have been observed. These lapses are considered violations and must be addressed.

New controls for fingerprinting

The decision established new controls for fingerprinting and stipulated that an employee whose presence is not verified by fingerprinting within the specified sixty minutes may be considered as having left during official work hours without permission.

New fingerprinting times

The Civil Service Commission may set additional times for fingerprinting to verify the employee’s presence in the workplace during official working hours, depending on circumstances and the needs of the work.