Employee who Files the day as Vacation Leave due to Tardiness
Tardiness is one of the company policies where the employer imposes disciplinary action for violation.
Employees who avoid being tagged as tardy get creative by filing the day as a vacation leave.
How will the employer appreciate this particular situation?
Habitual tardiness is a form of neglect of duty. Lack of initiative, diligence, and discipline to come to work on time everyday exhibit the employee’s deportment towards work. Habitual and excessive tardiness is inimical to the general productivity and business of the employer. This is especially true when the tardiness and/or absenteeism occurred frequently and repeatedly within an extensive period of time. [R.B. Michael Press vs. Galit, G.R. No. 153510 February 13, 2008]
For this reason, employees who have accumulated already several violations involving tardiness at work attempt to go around the policy.
Vacation leave (VL) is not found in the Labor Code. However, it is derived from Service Incentive Leave (SIL) under Article 95 of the Labor Code. Being so, it is a benefit that is above and beyond what is provided by law.
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By law, SIL gives just five (5) days of leave benefit. Some companies grant in excess thereof in the form of VL, Sick Leave (SL), or Emergency Leave (EL). While SIL is a mandatory benefit, the VL, SL, and EL are not rather, they are company-initiated benefits subject to the management prerogative insofar as the right of employer to establish rules and policies about them.
The Supreme Court (SC) held that in the grant of vacation leave privileges to an employee, the employer is given the leeway to impose conditions on the entitlement to and commutation of the same, as the grant of vacation leave is not a standard of law, but a prerogative of management. [PNCC Skyway Traffic Management and Security Division Workers Organization vs. PNCC Skyway 
Corporation, G.R. No. 171231, February 17, 2010]
The grant of VL is a mere concession or act of grace of the employer and not a matter of right on the part of the employee. Thus, it is well within the power and authority of an employer to impose certain conditions, as it deems fit, on the grant of vacation leaves, such as having the option to schedule the same.
Usually, availment of VL is subject to the policy that it should be filed in advance. By converting the day’s tardiness into VL, this violates the policy. Being a violation, the employer may decide to deny the application for VL and declare the employee as AWOL for the day.
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