HR practices: There's more to it than meets the eye
~ Economic Times, Mar 14, 2008
Just before February, the season of love, hit the world, Japanese firm Hime & Company announced that it would give its employees 'heartache leave' . The Tokyo-based company offered those who had broken up with their partners one day off per year if they were younger than 24 years and two days off if they were between 25 and 29 years.
Those older were eligible for three days off to 'cry their hearts out and return to work refreshed' , said its CEO Miki Hiradate then.
"Not everyone needs to take maternity leave but with heartbreak, everyone needs time off, just like when you get sick," was Hiradate's rationale behind the idea. The company also offered two mornings off twice a year as 'sales shopping leave' for workers looking for good bargains. These paid leaves made news the world over and with good reason.
Closer home, our desi IT biggies don't consider sales and heartache good enough reasons to give time off work. But they do have a lot of interesting benefits that employees of traditional industries only dream of. Maternity leaves, privilege leaves, sick leaves, club and gym memberships are passé.
The new set of benefits on offer are extended maternity leaves, vacation donations, cab drops during pregnancy, adoption maternity leaves and even bereavement benefits.
Analyse this: If you're an employee of companies like IBM and Hewlett Packard, being socially aware can be a rewarding experience. IBM offers an adoption maternity leave for those who choose to bring someone else's child into their families. Unfortunately, this benefit is for women employees only, with single men adopting children being at a nascent stage in India.
"Every woman employee would be eligible for four weeks of maternity leave for adoption. This has to be availed within one month of adoption and is applicable to women employees working out of IBM India locations," IBM India tells its employees.
Hewlett Packard offers the same benefit, and is believed to even pay up to a certain amount towards the legal expenses incurred while adopting a child.
The proof of the act, in form of an adoption deed or an adoption order by a court, and an approval from the manager is all it takes for an employee to enjoy four weeks of uninterrupted time with the adopted child to form bonds that just might last a lifetime.
Yet another corporate social responsibility ? You bet! While on the topic of maternity leaves, IT companies offer one new thing that is hard to find in other sectors. If maternity leaves aren't enough, a female employee who has just had a baby can take up to a year of leaves without pay as she copes with being a mother.
At IBM, the post-maternity leave is capped at six months while those like Infosys give you a year off work, keeping your job secure as you learn the fine art of being a mommy. SAP Labs offers support even before you become a mommy.
In the last two months of pregnancy , you can get a chauffeur-driven car to make your commute to office and back more than a little easier. Sounds good? It is.
While the arrival of a new member to the family is definitely celebrated by IT majors through these small ways, they're not far behind when it comes to sympathising with employees for the loss of a loved one. Most of these offer bereavement benefits if an employee loses a close family member.
At IBM, a grieving employee can get time off work if the managers sanctions it. In addition, Big Blue also offers an interest-free contingency loan of Rs 5,000 for such an employee. "The loan will be deductible in 20 instalments of Rs 250 per month," says the mandate.
SAP Labs gives you five days of paid leave should you lose a family member. The bereavement benefit is offered by most IT companies but in various forms.
Leaves are a benefit that workers of most companies are eligible for. Healthy employees and workaholics usually let their casual and sick leaves lapse at the end of the year. But if you're working at Qualcomm, you can borrow some leaves from colleagues should you need them.
The vacation donation programme, as it is called, is a system 'wherein colleagues can donate their vacation time, up to a maximum of five days, to other employees who have exhausted their leaves and need additional leaves' . "Here's an example of this benefit.
An employee suffered a major illness and needed additional leaves. Other employees got together and because of the vacation donation option, accumulated about 105 days of leaves for the employee in question, recalls a Qualcomm spokesperson.
So instead of allowing leaves to lapse, you can donate them to your colleagues and spread some cheer around.
There's more SAP Labs offers an interest-free personal loan of up to Rs 75,000 to its employees in need. For IBM, the amount is Rs 50,000. Big Blue also offers something called a 'hardship allowance' , which is meant for employees who choose to work in strife-torn or 'hardship' locations.
An employee of IBM working in Jammu, Srinagar, Leh, Assam or Northeast India would get between Rs 12,000 and Rs 15,000 a month over and above his or her salary. India Inc may not give you a chance to sob your broken heart out, but it sure meets you halfway in many other ways.
From India, Coimbatore
732~ Economic Times, Mar 14, 2008
Just before February, the season of love, hit the world, Japanese firm Hime & Company announced that it would give its employees 'heartache leave' . The Tokyo-based company offered those who had broken up with their partners one day off per year if they were younger than 24 years and two days off if they were between 25 and 29 years.
Those older were eligible for three days off to 'cry their hearts out and return to work refreshed' , said its CEO Miki Hiradate then.
"Not everyone needs to take maternity leave but with heartbreak, everyone needs time off, just like when you get sick," was Hiradate's rationale behind the idea. The company also offered two mornings off twice a year as 'sales shopping leave' for workers looking for good bargains. These paid leaves made news the world over and with good reason.
Closer home, our desi IT biggies don't consider sales and heartache good enough reasons to give time off work. But they do have a lot of interesting benefits that employees of traditional industries only dream of. Maternity leaves, privilege leaves, sick leaves, club and gym memberships are passé.
The new set of benefits on offer are extended maternity leaves, vacation donations, cab drops during pregnancy, adoption maternity leaves and even bereavement benefits.
Analyse this: If you're an employee of companies like IBM and Hewlett Packard, being socially aware can be a rewarding experience. IBM offers an adoption maternity leave for those who choose to bring someone else's child into their families. Unfortunately, this benefit is for women employees only, with single men adopting children being at a nascent stage in India.
"Every woman employee would be eligible for four weeks of maternity leave for adoption. This has to be availed within one month of adoption and is applicable to women employees working out of IBM India locations," IBM India tells its employees.
Hewlett Packard offers the same benefit, and is believed to even pay up to a certain amount towards the legal expenses incurred while adopting a child.
The proof of the act, in form of an adoption deed or an adoption order by a court, and an approval from the manager is all it takes for an employee to enjoy four weeks of uninterrupted time with the adopted child to form bonds that just might last a lifetime.
Yet another corporate social responsibility ? You bet! While on the topic of maternity leaves, IT companies offer one new thing that is hard to find in other sectors. If maternity leaves aren't enough, a female employee who has just had a baby can take up to a year of leaves without pay as she copes with being a mother.
At IBM, the post-maternity leave is capped at six months while those like Infosys give you a year off work, keeping your job secure as you learn the fine art of being a mommy. SAP Labs offers support even before you become a mommy.
In the last two months of pregnancy , you can get a chauffeur-driven car to make your commute to office and back more than a little easier. Sounds good? It is.
While the arrival of a new member to the family is definitely celebrated by IT majors through these small ways, they're not far behind when it comes to sympathising with employees for the loss of a loved one. Most of these offer bereavement benefits if an employee loses a close family member.
At IBM, a grieving employee can get time off work if the managers sanctions it. In addition, Big Blue also offers an interest-free contingency loan of Rs 5,000 for such an employee. "The loan will be deductible in 20 instalments of Rs 250 per month," says the mandate.
SAP Labs gives you five days of paid leave should you lose a family member. The bereavement benefit is offered by most IT companies but in various forms.
Leaves are a benefit that workers of most companies are eligible for. Healthy employees and workaholics usually let their casual and sick leaves lapse at the end of the year. But if you're working at Qualcomm, you can borrow some leaves from colleagues should you need them.
The vacation donation programme, as it is called, is a system 'wherein colleagues can donate their vacation time, up to a maximum of five days, to other employees who have exhausted their leaves and need additional leaves' . "Here's an example of this benefit.
An employee suffered a major illness and needed additional leaves. Other employees got together and because of the vacation donation option, accumulated about 105 days of leaves for the employee in question, recalls a Qualcomm spokesperson.
So instead of allowing leaves to lapse, you can donate them to your colleagues and spread some cheer around.
There's more SAP Labs offers an interest-free personal loan of up to Rs 75,000 to its employees in need. For IBM, the amount is Rs 50,000. Big Blue also offers something called a 'hardship allowance' , which is meant for employees who choose to work in strife-torn or 'hardship' locations.
An employee of IBM working in Jammu, Srinagar, Leh, Assam or Northeast India would get between Rs 12,000 and Rs 15,000 a month over and above his or her salary. India Inc may not give you a chance to sob your broken heart out, but it sure meets you halfway in many other ways.
From India, Coimbatore
Really nice article.... However, reactions from people who actually availed these could respond to these better... whether it's about welfare or to say just earning some brownie points over other employers is the question. For either reason, such gestures do generate positive vibes for sure...:razz:
From India, Mumbai
From India, Mumbai
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Innovative HR Practices-.doc