Political Science

Re Mr. Cheung, Mr. Ma and Mr. Wong
This is to report to you the case of Mr. Cheung and Mr. Ma, workmen from the cleansing team, in relation to the referral of the investigating policemen from the alleged misconduct of the said employees on the ground of falsification of attendance record to cover up their unauthorized absence from duty. Upon thorough investigation on the matter, the two were found guilty of the said demeanor for repeated times during the period of January 2005 to December 2008 and are hereby recommended to be subjected to formal disciplinary action with punishment of financial penalty and or dismissal as may be deemed appropriate.

Also, Mr. Wong, Supervisor of Kwai Tsing Environmental Hygiene Office of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, is recommended for formal disciplinary action with action to reprimand on the ground of slack supervision resulting in recurrence of misconduct of staff.

Furthermore, the attendance record located at the reception unattended should be given attention to avoid future falsification. The attendance record should be under the custody of the Supervisor so he can monitor in strict compliance the attendance of his staff. All the staff should be reminded of their responsibilities indoor especially after their outdoor duty.
 
The accumulated absences of Mr. Cheung reached a total of 500 hours while Mr. Ma got 1500 hours and 200 days of sick leave. As employees, they are expected to render full service on the time agreed upon. This is a case of a big loss for the company and for the government as well since they were paid for the entirety of their service which they failed to render fully due to unauthorized absences. According to the Civil Service Code of Hongkong, Civil Service is the backbone of the government and civil servants are required to uphold core values, one of which is professionalism. In this case, Mr. Cheung and Mr. Ma failed to present honesty and dedication to their work.

However, both admitted their fault. In the case of Mr. Cheung, he only left early whenever he was done with his work to go to his wife and child in Shenzhen. He explained that the attendance book was always left unattended so he could sign it anytime. Mr. Ma, on the other hand, stated that he frequented Shenzhen to seek medical help due to his skin cancer, and like Mr. Cheung, he would only leave after doing his job. He mentioned that he just added his attendance in the record on the following day. He was able to produce a medical certificate from a herbal practitioner, but he failed to present this to the department. This act therefore violates Civil Service Regulation (CSR) 1273, under the section of Sick Leave, wherein it clearly states that,  An officer is responsible for passing the certificate to his departments headquarters at the earliest opportunity.  Furthermore, CSR 1291 authorizes sick leave regardless of its duration as long as it is found necessary after a check up before a government or hospital authority medical officer. Any other medical certificate not from authorized personalities shall not be honored. In the case of Mr. Ma,  he should first undergo a medical examination by an authorized hospital or clinic before directing him to compulsory retirement if necessary. Despite the decreasing quality of his work performance, he has the right to be examined by appropriate personalities before giving him the final judgment.

Since January 2005, Mr. Wong has been unaware of the misconduct of his subordinate, resulting in the frequency of the said behavior. As a supervisor, it is his responsibility to ensure that his staff adheres to the standards of performance required. Thus, he should also be be given disciplinary action if misconduct among his staff continues to recur.

Attendance is essential in any field because time lost is money lost as well. Also,
the importance of having a satisfactory performance at all times is necessary. Any supervisor must not neglect to monitor these aspects that should be observed by all employees. Considering the case discussed previously, I highly recommend that the company employ a timekeeper in order to monitor strictly the attendance of employees and avoid any losses that may be incurred as a result of neglecting to keep track of their attendance.