Leave policy - full details

PURPOSE OF LEAVE


Leave is granted to employees with the good intension of providing rest, recuperation of health and for fulfilling social obligations. This provides for a healthy and efficient staff for the company.

LEAVE YEAR AND APPLICABILITY

qThe Leave policy is applicable for all permanent staff of the company.
qLeave year is from 1^st January to 31^st December.
qEligible leave is credited to the employees on the 1^st of January every year.
qThe different types of leaves given under the policy are:
§Casual Leave (CL)
§Earned Leave (EL)
§Leave without Pay (LOP)
qLeave is not a matter of right.
qSanctioning of leave is at Management discretion based on exigencies of business or seriousness of the case.
qEmployees who are appointed during the course of the year shall be entitled to the above leaves on pro-rate basis.
qEmployees whose date of joining service falls between 1^st to the 15^th of a month are entitled to get the leave credit for that month.
qEmployees whose date of joining service falls between 16^th to the end of the month are not entitled for the leave credit for that month.
qIf an employee is relieved on any day between 1^st to 15^th of a month, then he / she is not entitled for leaves due for that month.
qIf an employee happens to leave on any day between 16^th to the end of the month then he / she is entitled for leaves due for that month.
qClubbing of different types of leave is not possible.

CASUAL LEAVE


ELIGIBILITY

All permanent staff. (why repeat already stated)
Casual leave is calculated for a period of one year ( January to December ).
ENTITLEMENT

• 12 days of Casual Leave in a calendar year.
• CL is calculated at the rate of 1 day per month.
• CL upto a maximum of 3 days in a row can be taken.
• If CL extends beyond 3 days, then the excess days taken will be deducted from EL if available otherwise those days will be treated under LOP.(Not good provision to have and is inconsistent with the policy)
• It is upto the Management’s discretion to sanction more than 3 days of CL at a stretch.
• National / Festival / Declared / weekly off days can be prefixed and / or suffixed to CL.
• Intervening National / Festival / Declared holidays will NOT be counted as part of the leave. (This is good for employee but the company will face manning problem)
• Half day of CL can be taken as needed.
• Balanced CL remaining unutilized as on 31^st December will lapse.
• When leave is taken without prior sanction (under certain unavoidable circumstances), the absence should be notified to their respective managers on the same day either through phone / email. (Donot put it in Policy but allow it as an exception otherwise employees will seldom apply earlier)

EARN LEAVE (EL)
ELIGIBILITY

• All permanent staff. (why repeat already stated)
• EL is calculated for the days worked during the previous calendar year.

ENTITLEMENT

• 18 days of EL in a calendar year. (Better put it as: EL will be accumulated at rate of 1 day for every 20 days worked. [ This is put control on chronic absentees])
• EL will be credited to permanent staff only on completion of one year of service with the company.
• The days served under probation will be taken into account for EL eligibility.
• EL can be availed only on prior approval. (Give details of EL application and approval process. This is very important since it has both legal and tax implications)
• National / declared / festival / weekly off days can be prefixed and / or suffixed to EL.
• Intervening National / declared / festival / weekly off days will BE counted as part of the leave.
• Half day of EL cannot be taken. (This is not proper) Replace: Minimum Number of EL that must be taken is 6 days. (You can make the period as four keeping in balance with CL).
• Balanced EL remaining unutilized as on 31^st December can be carried forward.
• EL can be accumulated for a maximum of 45days.
• Accumulated EL over and above 45 days can be encashed at the rate of last basic pay drawn on the 10^th of January or during final settlement in case of resignation / retirement / termination.
• At the time of resignation / retirement / termination the balance EL will be encashed at the basic pay rate as on the day of resignation / retirement.
• Any absence of more than the number of EL sanctioned will be treated as leave without pay, unless given valid reasons to the management. (What is natural need not be stated)

Eligibility

An employee should have worked 20 days to avail 1 day of EL (Never give this Law allows you to give EL after one year and it is better you keep it at that, that an employee will be eligible for availing PF after he has completed one year of service [ can vary from 6 months but should not be less then that otherwise you will face administrative inconvenience)

LOSS OF PAY (LOP) (Leave Without Pay)
1.LOP can be applied by an employee when no other leave is available or on special cases like Studies or External Training Programmes attendant on own accord for meeting the employees professional and/or career growth and should have relation to his current Job Requirements.
2.During the period of LOP, the employee is not entitled for any pay or allowance. (What is obvious need not be stated)
3.A maximum of 3 months of LOP can be availed on the approval of the management. (Please don’t put a limit as it encourages employees to avail LOP which defeats the spirit and intention of policy)
4.If the employee fails to report to duty on the specified date after the sanctioned LOP, disciplinary action will be taken as per Rules of the Company in place of “it is deemed that the employee has abandoned his service with the company on his own accord”.
5.LOP can be implicated on disciplinary grounds with regard to attendance by the management regardless to the availability of the other types of leave. (YOU CANNOT GIVE LOP in Disciplinary Action it called Suspension)
6.LOP days will not be taken for EL eligibility.


HALF DAY LEAVE (INSERT IT IN CL NO NEED TO GIVE SEPARATELY)

1.Half day of CL can be availed as per the respective leave norms.
2.The half day leave thus availed should be either the first four hours of the work day or last four hours of the work day.


COMPENSATORY OFF

1.If an employee is required to work on any important assignment on a National / Festival / Declared / weekly off days, he is eligible for Compensatory off on any other working day.
2.Official approval is required from the department head / management to work on such National / Festival / Declared / weekly off days. No compensatory offs will be entertained when worked on these days without proper approval.
3.The compensatory off has to be availed within a period of three months from the date worked.
4.Compensatory off when not availed within the stipulated time period will lapse.
5.Only two days of compensatory offs can be combined and availed at a stretch.

LEAVE SETTLEMENT DURING RESIGNATION / RETIREMENT / TERMINATION

If an employee to be relieved has availed more number of CL against the number of months he has worked, then the excess CL will be deducted during his final settlement from his accumulated EL if any or else from other dues.

EL for the days worked till the employee’s date of relieving will be calculated and paid during the final settlement, provided he / she fulfils EL eligibility criteria.

PROCEDURE FOR APPLYING LEAVE (SHOULD BE STATED IN EACH CASE SEPARATELY)

The available leave balance is to be checked by the employee with the HR department and the leave to be applied by duly filing up the leave application form available in the HR department. The application has to be forwarded by the employee to their department head for approval. The department head is authorized to either grant or disapprove the leave on valid grounds. The signed leave application has to be submitted back to the HR department for recordings and subsequent processing.

Leave Card: Leave card is to be maintained for each employee in the format specified. On receiving the leave application from the employee the available balance is to be checked and necessary entries to be updated.

CANCELLATION OF LEAVE (Please put a separate procedure for EL Cancellation because it has statutory and tax implications)


1.The department head can also cancel the once sanctioned leave on situational / need basis. If an employee proceeds to avail the cancelled leave then those days will be treated as absence from duty and the rules pertaining to absence from duty will be applied.

EXTENSION OF LEAVE (Please don’t put it in policy, do it on case to case approval basis. Only Keep this for EL and mention it separately including the procedure)

• • As it is necessary to get prior approval for leave so it is also for extension of leave. The employee has to apply to his/her department head for extension of leave well in advance and get it sanctioned to avail them. In case an employee overstays the unsanctioned leave availed will be treated as absence from duty.

ABSENCE FROM DUTY (This is not a leave and don’t put an official status delete this section and put it under disciplinary procedures)

1. When an employee takes off from duty without prior leave approval or proper intimation under certain unavoidable circumstances, then those day/days will be treated as absence from duty.
2.The days of absence will be treated under Loss of Pay.
3.The employee has to report to his / her department head on rejoining duty from absence and provide valid reasons for absence before taking up work again.
4.If an employee is absent from duty continuously for more than 7 days (including any National / Festival / Declared / weekly off days which may fall in-between), an official correspondence from the HR department will be sent to him asking to report to duty and to provide explanation for his absence.
5.Based on the enquiry any action deemed fit would be taken by the management.
6.If there is no response from the employee within the stipulated time mentioned in official correspondence , it would be assumed that the employee has withdrawn his service from the company on his own accord and recorded accordingly.

Objective:


The policy sets up the guidelines for facilitating employees and the organization to know about the leaves, its procedure, how the leaves should be availed and encashment of leaves. Based on the need / reason and length of leave, the following categories of leave can be availed:
A.Casual Leave.

B.Sick Leave.

C.Earned Leave.

D.Maternity leaves.

E.Special Occasion Off.
F.Leave Without Pay.
G. Casual leave for consultants /Trainees.

Eligibility:

Applicability guidelines are given under each head.

Guidelines for Availing Leaves:

• Though leaves are important to all of us but leaves are not a matter of right. The discretion of allowing or disallowing leaves lies with the management based on the exigencies of business or seriousness of the case.
• Ideally leave information has to be mailed one week in advance to his /her immediate reporting officer with a copy to HR at hrt@netcustomer.net. For any kind of leave, one has to fill up the leave application form and get it approved or signed by the concerned authorities and submit it to concerned HR person.
• Incases where employees are not able to inform in advance, it is expected and required that the employee telephonically informs his / her immediate superior regarding proposed leave and expected duration of the same. The person on receipt of such information has to put a mail at hrt@netcustomer.net on his/her behalf.
• The HR department maintains leave record and employees shall ensure that his/her leave record is updated and communicated to HR within 48 hrs of rejoining.
• As a policy, a combination of any two leaves is not permitted except for SL which can be suffixed with EL only on the approval of the appropriate reporting officer however the management may decide clubbing of leaves for specific cases based on circumstances/reasons, other than sick leave with privileged leave.
• All leave entitlements will be on a pro-rata basis and are credited only after the completion of the month.
• “Year” is defined as the calendar year commencing on the first day of Jan (1^st Jan) to the thirty-first day of December (31^st December) of the year.
• Any unauthorized leave would be treated as absenteeism and shall be viewed seriously.
• The verbal intimation for leaves should be made to the respective supervisors in person, no intimation through a professional friend would be accepted.

·Any one who is absent for three days or more without any information, shall have to give a written explanation of such act and shall be liable to appropriate disciplinary action.

·Only confirmed employees are eligible for the encashment of leaves. All leave encashment are taxable.

·Off days and holidays falling within a spell of leave will not be debited to the leave account.







(A) CASUAL LEAVE



Objective

To provide leave to attend to personal exigencies/unforeseen circumstances.


Applicability

This policy is applicable to all employees from their date of joining except consultants and trainees.


Eligibility

a)The employee is entitled for ten (10) leaves in a year.
b)Maximum number of consecutive days for which CL can be availed at a time is 2.
c)CL cannot be accumulated and be availed of with prior sanction (to the extent possible.
d)Casual leave will not be allowed to be combined with Sick Leave, Earned leave or Maternity Leave.
e)Unutilized casual leaves shall not be encashed or carried forward to the next year.












(B) SICK LEAVE


Objective

To provide leave to attend to sickness & medical ailments.

Applicability

This policy is applicable to all employees from the date of their joining except consultants and trainees.

Eligibility

a)The employee is entitled for six (6) medical leaves in a year.
b)The sick leaves will be credited to the employees account at the beginning of the year but can be availed on pro-rata basis.
c)For availing sick leaves of three days or more the employee shall have to produce certificate from Registered Medical Practitioner, Nursing Home or Hospital or Doctor Prescription.
d)Sick leave cannot normally be combined with casual leave but can be suffixed to earned leave and would require approval of the appropriate verifying officer.
e)Utilized sick leaves shall be carried forward and can be accumulated up to 25 days, beyond twenty-five it will lapse.
f)The sick leave shall not be encashed.









(C) EARNED LEAVE


Objective

To provide for long duration planned leave.
Applicability

This policy is applicable to all employees from the date of their joining except consultants and trainees.
Eligibility

a)The employee is entitled for eighteen (18) leaves in a year after completion of one year.
b)Minimum number of consecutive days for which EL can be availed at a time is 3. It can be availed only on 4 occasions in a year
c)At least 7 days of advance notice is required to avail EL.
d)Intervening Sundays and holidays will not be counted as part of leave.
e)A minimum of 3 days privilege leave has to be availed in order to avail LTA benefits.
f)Half day earned leave is not allowed.
Accumulation


Earned leaves may be accumulated up to 36 days.
Encashment

a)Earned leaves balance over and above 36 days will be encashed on 15^th January and 15^th July to the employee, based on last drawn salary as applicable less PF. (For the encashment the basic salary of the last month shall be considered)
b)EL Encashment amount is taxable. Encashment at the time of retirement will be dealt according to the tax laws as applicable at that point of time.

(D) MATERNITY LEAVE



Objective

a)To provide for Leave to female employees during the final stages of pregnancy, at time of delivery and convalescence.
b)To provide for Leave to female employees at the time of adoption of a child.
c)To provide for Leave to female employees in case of miscarriage.

Applicability

All female employees who have put in 80 days of service in the twelve months immediately preceding the date of expected delivery / adoption of child.
Eligibility

a)A female employee, who has worked for a period of not less than 80 days in the twelve months preceding the delivery date, is entitled to maternity leave.
b) On joining duties, she must submit a medical certificate confirming her pregnancy.
As per the Maternity Act, leave of a total of 12 weeks, inclusive of delivery date can be availed by the lady employee.
OR
Leave for 6 weeks in case of miscarriage, following the date of miscarriage.
OR
c) Leave for a maximum period of one month in case of illness caused out of premature delivery, pregnancy and miscarriage in addition to the aforesaid maternity leave benefit.
d) All intervening holidays will be counted for the purpose of maternity leave.
e) Maternity leave is restricted to two living children only.Application for maternity leave must be at least 30 days in advance of the start of leave.
For rejoining after Maternity leave, the lady employee must submit a fitness certificate. In case of miscarriage, the employee must send information along with the Medical Certificate as soon as is possible.


Operative Guidelines

The employee may claim this facility for a maximum of two instances in one's career in netCustomer and only once in any financial year.
Maternity Leaves would not be treated as break-of-service and all benefits due in the normal course would be payable.
Maternity leaves cannot be accumulated or encashed.

Procedure for Availing the leave

Advance information to be provided at least two months in advance before the proposed date, for proceeding on leave and in case of adoption of a child at least 15 days in advance.
On resuming duty after the ML, the employee must bring with her a fitness certificate and submit it to HR through the concerned manager.
Leaves exceeding entitlement / without approval would be treated as leave without pay.








(E) SPECIAL OCCASION OFF



Objective

To provide for facilities to Employees at times of Special Occasions. netCustomer wants the employee to share these special moments with his / her family.
Applicability

This policy is applicable to all employees from the date of their joining.
Types

a) Leave on self’s Birthdays
b) Leave on spouse’s Birthday
c) Leave on Wedding Anniversary
d) Leave on Child’s birthday
Eligibility

a) Self and Spouse Birthday: An Employee on the day of his / her Birthday and his/ her spouse’s Birthday would be eligible for a half day’s leave. This leave can be availed only on the day of the Employees / Spouse’s Birthday and not on any other day. The date of birth shall be as per the records maintained in the HR.
b) Wedding Anniversary: An Employee on day of his / her Wedding Anniversary would be eligible for a half day’s leave. This leave can be availed only on the day of the Employees Wedding Anniversary and not on any other day.
c) Children’s Birthday: An Employee on the day of his / her children’s Birthday would be eligible for a half day’s leave. This leave can be availed only on the day of the Employees Children’s Birthday and not on any other day. The date of birth shall be as per the records maintained in the HR.
d) A total of 1½ days leave is available for the above four. At his / her will the employee can avail 3 half days leave on any of the four occasions.
e) This off can be taken only if the anniversary/ birthday falls on a working day. Under no circumstances a compensatory off will be given in lieu of this day.
Procedure for Availing the leave

Advance information is to be provided at least a week in advance to the immediate superior.
(F) LEAVE WITHOUT PAY

Objective

To provide for authorized absence of employees when Employees have no leave to their credit.
Applicability

All Employees who are currently on the rolls of the company.
Procedure for Availing the leave

a) Advance information to be provided at least a day in advance.
b) Should be resorted to as a last resort after adjustment of all accrued leave.
c) In such cases all payments including, LTA, performance bonus and other benefits would stand prorated for payment during that year.
Accumulation / Encashment

Not Applicable







(G) CASUAL LEAVE FOR CONSULTANTS / TRAINEES

Objective

To provide leave to attend to personal exigencies.
Applicability

This policy is applicable only to the consultants and trainees and not to the regular employees of the company.
Eligibility
a) Total number of Casual Leaves available in a year is 12 days.
b) The leaves would be credited on completion of every month.
c) Minimum half working day at a time can be availed.
d) If leave exceeds accumulated balance, then leave in excess of accumulation would be considered leave without pay.
e) To be limited to two instances in a month.
Operative Guidelines
Leave applications to be submitted at least 24 hours in advance and approval obtained except in unforeseen emergencies.
Encashment / Accumulation
Not Applicable


Management has the right to review, modify and rescind this policy at any given point of time.

Pankaj Shankar
(Vice-President Human Resource and Admn.)