Leave and Absenteeism: Human Resource Policy for Microfinance Companies

Purpose of Leave

Leave is granted to employees with the good intention 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

Leave is not a matter of right.
Sanctioning of leave is at Management discretion based on exigencies of business or seriousness of the case.
Leave year is applicable as per the calendar year from 1^st January to 31^st December.
The different types of leaves given under the policy are:

Casual Leave (CL)
Privilege Leave (PL)
Maternity Leave (ML)/ Paternity Leave
Compensatory Leave (CCL)
Special Leave

The Leave policy is applicable for all permanent employees of the company and as well as consultants/contractual employees.
Employees who are appointed during the course of the year shall be entitled to the above leaves on pro-rate basis.
Employees 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.
Employees 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.
If 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.
If 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
Leave without pay can be availed either after Earned Leave has been exhausted or if Earned Leave cannot be availed.
Any leave application is to be applied at least one week/ 07 days in advance for approvals
When leave is required for more than 7 days, the leave application should be submitted at least 15 days in advance for approval.
Half-day Casual Leave (CL) would be deducted automatically for every three instances of reporting late to office. In case the employee has exhausted CL, then half-day deduction would be done from Privilege Leave (PL)

Casual Leave (CL)

Twelve days of Casual Leaves will be available per calendar year.

Casual leaves will accrue on a pro rata basis at the rate of one leave per month from the date of joining and can be combined with any other leave (PL/CCL) with prior approval
Maximum of 3 casual leaves can be taken at a time.
Casual leaves will neither be en-cashed nor be carried forward to the next calendar year.
If CL extends beyond 3 days, then the excess days taken will be treated under LOP or Privilege Leave.
It is up to 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.
When leave is taken without prior sanction (under certain unavoidable circumstances), the absence should be notified to the respective HOD’s on the same day through phone.
Approved leave application should reach the HR department within 3 working days of rejoining.

Privilege Leave (PL)

Employees are eligible for 15 days of Privilege leave per year, which accrues, on a monthly basis from the date of joining. They shall be entitled to avail of all such leave or any part thereof only in the subsequent period following the completion of three months of continuous service with the company calculated from the date of joining.
An employee can avail minimum of 3 days of privilege leave at anytime.
If unable to exhaust the privilege leaves, a maximum of 6 days of PL could be carried forward at the end of each calendar year and which needs to availed by next year June (within 6 months from the end of the calendar year)
However, they may also be adjusted against shortfall in notice period or for recovery of dues, on a case to case basis as per management’s discretion
At the time of resignation / retirement / termination the balance EL will be en-cashed 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.

Compensatory Leaves (CCL)

Employees who are eligible for paid holidays but who may be required to work on a Organizations paid holiday are entitled to compensatory off with a prior approval from reporting manager/authority.
It should be noted that the employee is eligible for Compensatory leave only if he/she has worked for at-least 6 hours on the organization paid holiday.
Compensatory leave should be availed within 30 days of the leave being generated.
Compensatory off when not availed within the stipulated time period will lapse
Compensatory leaves cannot be en-cashed.

Maternity Leave (ML)

All female employees are entitled for twelve weeks or 84 calendar days provided the employee has worked with Company for a minimum period of six months before availing the maternity leave for giving birth or adopting an infant child.
Maternity leave can be availed only twice during the entire lifetime by an employee
The leave period could start at least 6 weeks prior to expected date of delivery. In case of adopting an infant less than a year, it starts from the date of adoption.
Maternity leave is a paid leave and does not affect the Privilege leaves and Casual Leaves.
A woman suffering from illness arising out of pregnancy, delivery, premature birth of child, miscarriage, or tubectomy operation shall on production of proof be entitled in additional paid leave for a maximum period of one month.
For employees covered under Employee State Insurance (ESI) will be entitled for leave without pay and will need to get in touch with ESI for the compensation.
Maternity leave can be pre-fixed or suffixed with annual leave or LWP (leave without Pay) provided it is duly approved and signed off by the Supervisor/ HR Manager.
Maternity leave cannot be accumulated, carried forward or en-cashed.

Paternity Leave

All male employees are entitled for 5 consecutive days of paternity leave provided the employee has worked with Company for a minimum period of six months before availing the paternity leave.
Paternity leave can be availed only twice during the entire lifetime by an employee

Special Leave

Employees are eligible for special leave only post minimum 6 months of their joining
The special leave can be taken only if all the other leaves are exhausted
This leave could be paid leave /without pay on discretion and prior approval from the CXO
The approval should be taken at least 15 days in advance before the leave starts
The special leave could be of the following types;
i. Sick/ Hospitalization Leave:

Applicable to all employees
The number of days would depend on case to case basis and on the discretion of the management
Depending on the severity of the case, the sick leave could be approved as paid leave or even as Leave without Pay (LOP).
Approved leave application along with relevant medical documents should reach the HR department within 3 working days of rejoining.

ii. Sabbatical Leave:

Sabbatical leave is applicable only for Managers and above. An employee should have at least completed 1 year of employment with the Company.
This leave is completely at the discretion of the management to approve
It could be taken for educational purposes and certain personal reasons maximum for a year (could be for a shorter duration as well)

iii. Leave without Pay:

An employee can apply LWOP when no other leave is available. During the period of LWOP, the employee is not entitled for any pay or any allowance.
A maximum of 30 days (1 month) can be availed on the prior approval of the management/CXO
If the employee fails to report to duty on the specified date after the sanctioned LWOP, it is deemed that the employee has abandoned his service with the company on his own accord