[simias]

We have that in France as well, I assumed it was common everywhere. Otherwise how do you justify yourself to your employer/school/whatever if you're late because your commute took one hour more than usual because of something completely out of your control?

[1-more]

When I worked in midtown Manhattan, NYC I could show up basically whenever as a salaried engineer, but the administrative staff of our office were paid hourly and scheduled to show up at a certain time. They also all lived further out with more transfers so more chances of delay on the subway. The answer from their boss was "plan that into your commute" even though the variance could be 40 minutes for a real delay. Perverse!

[reidjs]

Does someone actually care enough to check the slip? The few times I've been late due to things like this (flat bike tire, crazy traffic, train delay, whatever) my boss was just like ...ok try not to let it happen again and possibly documented it somewhere. I have been salaried for the most part, maybe if you're hourly you might get docked the time. When I have had someone under me and they're late once in a while I don't really care. (USA)

[frostburg]

In schools with minors there may be liability reasons. I used to have a somewhat unreliable commute, so my school was exempted from being legally responsible for my wellbeing for a few minutes after what would have been normal.