HR Policy - Impart

THE PROGRAMS UNDERNGO currently working on as following :-

Name of the Program:
Area of the Program:
Target Population:

Supported by:

Since:Put the month and year from when the program is going on and the same format will be used for other program also

1.EMPLOYEE FILES

A personal file should be maintained for each employee. The file should contain the following:

Application made by the employee for the job
Personal Information form
Letter of provisional offer (if applicable) and acceptance thereof
Appointment Letter indicating terms of employment and their acceptance
All records related to confirmation, i.e. letter of confirmation, etc
Appraisal form
Commendation or criticism of work, all memorandums issued to the staff
Change in personal attributes and updating records (like acquiring additional professional qualification, etc)
Resignation letter
Acceptance of resignation and copy of final settlement of dues
Signed copies of letter of appointment, confirmation or any other change affecting remuneration should be sent to the accounts department responsible for paying the employee.

The Rules contained in this manual will supersede all earlier services conditions, and come into force from DD/MM/YY.Put the date from when the policy document will be implemented for the organization

Definitions: “Board of IMPART ” means the supreme governing and administrative body of “ IMPART ” duly created as a society/trust.

“Employee” means a person wholly employed by IMPART for the time being, exclusively for and in connection with the work undertaken by IMPART and subject to direction of IMPART .

Any person engaged as learner, trainee or intern, with or without a stipend solely for the purpose of learning or training or for being trained, whether for employment or not, for a short specified period not exceeding two years, shall not be deemed to be an employee.

Applicability: This manual will fully and totally substitute all existing conditions of service and work of all employees.

The contents hereof shall apply to all employees/volunteers of IMPART , unless any specific provisions not consistent with this manual are explicitly made in the letter of appointment or contract.

Classification of Employees

“Permanent” employee is an employee who has been appointed on a permanent basis through a letter of appointment under the signature of the Executive Director, and includes an employee who having completed his/her period of probation has been confirmed as a permanent employee.

“Probationer” is an employee who is provisionally employed with a view to fill a permanent post or a temporary post, but is for the time being under trial or observation testing his/her capacity, conduct, character, etc. for a period of six months. The services of a probationer can be terminated with out any notice.

“Casual” employee is one who is engaged for work of a casual nature and/or intermittently. This includes a person engaged to fill a short duration requirement arising out of a permanent or a temporary employee or a probationer remaining absent for any reason whatsoever, or against a casual increase in work.

“Contractual” employee is one who is contracted for a specific project. The contract period is usually for 1 year subject to renewal depending on the performance appraisal at the end of the year and the availability of resources.

APPOINTMENTS
All appointments shall be made in the name of IMPART under the signature of the Secretary/Executive Director. No letter of appointment issued otherwise than in accordance hereof shall be held valid or binding on.
Where it is intended to fill a position, the appointee shall be required to serve on probation for an initial period not exceeding 6 months. The Secretary/Executive Director, can however in his/her sole discretion, waive or reduce such a period of probation. This can further be extended up to a period of not more than 3 months, if necessary, at the sole discretion of the Executive Director.
If the services of the probationer are found unsatisfactory, it may be terminated at the end of the initial or any extended period of probation and before being admitted to regular employment. This can be done at the discretion of the Executive Director.

Assignment of work and duties

The reporting relationship, and/or designations/job titles and the nature of duties/work/project/assignment of each employee will be as may be determined from time to time. The designation/job titles do not indicate or determine the duties or the nature of assignments. The job titles or various categories of jobs assigned to employees are only illustrative and new/additional profiles may be added as and when required.

All employees will be expected to work across programs.

Increments and promotions

Promotions will be allowed entirely to meet the staffing needs of IMPART , and cannot be claimed as a matter of right. Promotions and increments of an employee will depend on the performance in his/her work, ability, capacity and demonstrated commitment to the organization – its interests, mission and strategy in discharge of his duties and program funding.
The Secretary/Executive Director will be the final executive authority to judge these factors. Additionally, in deciding on promotions, availability of higher positions will be an essential condition.
Employees will be sanctioned increment usually on an annual basis. Increment shall not be taken as a right and is dependent on the availability of funds. The annual performance appraisal report and the availability of funds will be taken into account when deciding on increments.
Employees who perform their duties exceptionally well or undertake additional responsibilities may be granted additional increments(s). The Secretary/Executive Director will judge the annual performance appraisal reports.

Salary/Wages

IMPART will determine salary from time to time.
Salary for each month shall be paid on or before the seventh working day of the succeeding month.

Other Benefits: As per letter of employment/contract.

Holidays: IMPART will observe a maximum of 10 holidays in a calendar year in addition to eligible vacation.

Working Hours: Staff may be required to vary or change their normal working hours according to the needs of the programme. Field Staff should however be available at a time convenient to the target group. Normal office hours are 9am to 5pm Monday to Saturday, with one hour for lunch. Staff in the same sections of the office should try to coordinate their lunch breaks as far as possible to ensure continuous coverage. Individual working hours are as specified in the ‘Statement of Terms and Conditions of Employment’ or individually agreed between managers and members of staff.

If a member of staff is late for whatever reason, including public transport difficulties, they may be asked to make up the time, according to the needs of the programme. Persistent lateness may result in disciplinary action being taken against the staff member concerned.

Attendance

Working hours are from 9.00 am to 5.00 pm. Field staff would have working hours suited more to the needs of the situation.
Those coming in after 10 minutes later will be marked late.
Three late marks in a month will be treated as half-day leave and the leave will be deducted from the quota of privilege leave.
If all the privilege leave have been availed of or if leave rules are not applicable to a particular employee, half day’s salary will be deducted.
Compensatory time off is not allowed.

Attendance registers

A system to track employees’ job attendance has been established. This is done by maintaining a simple attendance log, which records dates and hours worked.

A time sheet given as an appendixis prepared at the end of each month in order to keep on record a person’s attendance and in cases where persons work on multiple programmes their time spent on each.

Detail of leave eligibility for employees and leave availed should also be tracked either through the attendance registers or through leave cards/sheets.

NORMS OF DISCIPLINE AND CONDUCT
No employee shall indulge in any ‘misconduct’
Every employee shall, in accordance with the laws applicable to IMPART for the time being and policy (including service condition and procedures) laid down by IMPART , perform the duties entrusted to her/him from time to time.
Employees shall safeguard IMPART goods and property; also see that all books, records and articles belonging to IMPART are safely kept and maintained. They are not removed without the express permission of the Secretary/Executive Director/Program Coordinator, or lost or damaged in any way. Employees recognize and accept that all materials developed by IMPART are considered to be IMPART ’s property.
Every employee shall during the tenure of her/his service devote her/his whole time and attention to the affairs of IMPART in all respects, and fully confirm to directions and service rules of the organization.
Every employee shall comply with the orders and instructions of IMPART and its nominated functionaries, and shall conscientiously work to fulfill its functions and purposes. She/he shall make her/his utmost endeavor to promote interests of IMPART and serve at such places and in such capacity as may be required from time to time.
Every employee shall maintain honesty and integrity.
Every employee shall observe courtesy and politeness; and refrain from any riotous or disorderly behavior, or any behavior not conducive to normal functioning of IMPART .
No employee shall enter into monetary dealings with her/his colleagues, subordinates or clients, or shall accept any presents from them.
Every employee shall present herself/himself at the place of work at the stipulated time, and maintain punctuality in office and other work assignments.
Every employee will generally conduct herself/himself in a manner that is consistent with office discipline and good reputation of herself/himself and IMPART .
Disciplinary action will be taken against an employee who commits any misconduct, or otherwise acts in violation of the norms of disciplined conduct by following the principles of natural justice and/or the existing law applicable to IMPART .

l) Disciplinary action may entail discharge from service if there has been a serious misconduct. In other cases the employee may be suspended from work for a stipulated period with loss of pay. If the employee is on probation this may be extended/terminated.

Termination

If one or more of the listed codes of conduct is violated, the employee will be liable for termination.

Inability to perform up to the requirements of the program can also lead to termination.
An employee could be terminated in the event of the end of program funding.
IMPART requires to give the employee one month’s notice prior to termination.
All IMPART ’s property will have to be returned at the time of resignation/termination.
Salary cheque can be collected within 7 working days from the date of the resignation unless otherwise decided by the Secretary/Executive Director.
If any organization makes a reference call before appointing the person who was terminated at IMPART , the reasons for termination will be kept confidential and only factual information like designation and duration of stay at IMPART will be shared.

Resignation

One month’s notice is required for resignation failing which a month’s salary will be forfeited.
All IMPART ’s property will have to be returned at the time of resignation.
Salary cheque can be collected on the 7th working day of the next month unless otherwise decided by the Executive Director.
If any organization makes a reference call before appointing the person who has resigned from IMPART , feedback will be given of the staff’s performance during her/his employment at IMPART .

Communication

Communication with employees will be in English and/or Hindi/local language.
Any communication sent to an employee to her/his last known address as per the records of IMPART shall be treated as served on the employee. It is therefore, in the interest of employees to promptly notify any changes in their local and permanent address; and they should also ensure that any communication sent by IMPART to their address is properly received.

C. LEAVE RULES

“Service is the period during which an employee has continuously worked in the organization including the probationary period. The termination of the employee’s service for any reason will automatically constitute discontinuance of service, regardless of whether the employee is subsequently re-employed.
“Leave year” for an employee will in the first instance, be the period between the date of joining and 31^st December of the year. Thereafter the leave year will coincide with the calendar year.
Any Sunday/Holiday falling during privilege /sick leave shall be treated as leave.
Sundays/Holidays can be prefixed / suffixed with Privilege/ Sick leaves. In case where they are suffixed, the employee must report to work on the following working day, failing which the Sunday/Holiday and the subsequent days will be treated as leave or as absence as the case may be.
During the probation period, no leave will be sanctioned.
An employee needs to complete a year of service at IMPART to avail privilege leave.
All leaves are non-cumulative.
IMPART management reserves the right to refuse leaves in order to ensure effective coverage.

Overstay of leave

If an employee proceeds on unauthorized leave or overstays beyond his authorized leave, the period shall be treated as unauthorized absence.
The employee should intimate the organization for any overstay of leave and explain in writing the reasons for the same.
The organization reserves the rights to treat as leave-without-pay any unauthorized absence from work.
If the organization does not accept the request for overstay due to exigencies of work and if the employee still overstays their leave despite clear orders to report on duty; he/she will be liable to disciplinary action unless he/she can prove so to the satisfaction of the leave sanctioning authority that the overstay was coincidental and not intentional. Such overstay is, however, to be treated as leave-without-pay.
If the organization observes that an employee is frequently absent on the next working day after a holiday or on an intervening day between two holidays and subsequently applies for casual or sick leave; the organization may warn him/her in writing. If the employee continues to take such leave without prior approval then the holiday prefixed or suffixed to their leave may also be treated as leave or leave-without-pay, as the sanctioning authority may decide.
The organization reserves the right to refuse sanction of leave or call back a person on sanctioned leave if the exigencies of work require it.

Procedure

Prior sanction should be taken by the employee availing privilege leave or casual leave in the specified leave application form and forwarded to the administrator. For sick leave the form must be filled and submitted for office records along with a medical certificate, if applicable, within two days of reporting back to duty.
The administrator would maintain the annual record leave of each employee as per the prescribed format. On receiving a leave application, the administrator would fill the status of leave for the employee and forward to the concerned sanctioning authority /ies.
Once sanctioned, it is the duty of the concerned staff to reflect the sanctioned leave at the appropriate place in the attendance sheet. Else, the leave may be treated as unauthorized

Privilege Leave (PL)

Staffs who have completed a year of service will be entitled to two and half day per completed month of service in a calendar year.
PL cannot be combined with any other leave
A person will not be entitled PL for the period of unauthorized absence or leave-without-pay.
Applications for PL must be submitted 15 days in advance. No employee can proceed on leave unless the competent authority sanctions the leave. All applications for privilege leave must specify the contact address while on leave.
Extension of PL should be avoided. However, in compelling circumstances, the employee must send his application at least 4 days before the expiry of original or extended leave as the case may be.

Sick Leave

All staff will be entitled to 10 days sick leave in a calendar year.
Sick leave availed for more than 3 days must be supported by a medical certificate from a registered medical practitioner. These support documents will have to be validated by the Medical Director of IMPART .
Leave application along with the necessary support medical documents has to be filed within two working days of joining duty.

Leave without pay

In exceptional cases the management may grant leave without pay. This will be decided on a case to case basis.
Any leave/weekly off falling during such leave shall also be treated as leave without pay.
Prior application for such leave is essential.

SEXUAL HARASSMENT POLICY

SEXUAL HARASSMENT

All employees of IMPART should equally be allowed to work in an environment free from sexual harassment. To this end IMPART reiterates its support of the statement on sexual harassment and commits itself to dealing with sexual harassment as a disciplinary offence.

IMPART wishes to make it clear that we regard sexual harassment as a serious issue. Sexual harassment will not be tolerated in the work place, and IMPART is committed to ending it. It is a form of discrimination, which can severely affect physical and mental health as well as morale and work performance. Traditionally, sexual harassment is thought of as male/female phenomena but it also occurs between people of the same gender.

IMPART considers that it is each individual’s responsibility to challenge any form of sexual harassment.

Acts which are not deliberately or intentionally offensive but which nevertheless cause offence may constitute sexual harassment. Sexual harassment is regarded as a disciplinary mater to be dealt with in accordance with terms and conditions of employment. Although this is not an exhaustive list, sexual harassment can be defined as:

Unnecessary touching or unwanted physical contact
Suggestive remarks or other verbal insults or abuse of a sexual nature.
Suggestions that sexual favours may further someone’s career (or that refusal may damage it).
Compromising invitations
Displays of offensive pornographic materials those are not relevant to the work of the organisation.
Physical or sexual assault.
Suggestive/abusive letters or e-mails.

In general, sexual harassment falls into two main categories

Sexual Favour for Jobs: under this category of sexual harassment, submission to sexual advances, requests for sexual favours or other verbal or physical conduct is made a condition of employment; or submission or rejection of the unwelcome conduct is used as a basis for an employment decision. These cases normally involve persons who have authority or power over another person’s job status or working conditions.
Hostile Work Environment: under this category of sexual harassment, the sexual conduct interferes with work, or creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment.

Behaviour or conduct of a sexual nature that is unwelcome by a staff member may constitute sexual harassment whether or not the alleged offender believes that such behaviour or conduct is inoffensive or otherwise appropriate.
Whoever believes to have been the victim of sexual harassment is encouraged to inform the alleged offender that such behaviour or conduct is unwelcome.
There may however be instances where the work relationship of the two parties may make such direct confrontation difficult. In that case, its is advisable to keep a description of what happened, including names of witnesses and anyone to who the incident(s) may have been mentioned, for possible referral of the case to the Grievance Committee.
When seized of a complaint, the Grievance Committee will have full authority to hear and investigate sexual harassment complaints and accusations, and to decide on possibly disciplinary action upon the conclusion of his/her investigation.
The Grievance Committee will have 5 members, of whom at least 3 will be women. Among the members, 4 will be staff members elected from among the staff; 1 will be an external member (a woman who has experience of dealing with issues of sexual harassment and no professional or personal connections with the NGO; she will be proposed by the Board to the majority vote of staff members).
The NGO will implement without delay the recommendation of the Grievance Committee.
It is essential that all staff members, especially those in management and supervisory roles, develop a greater awareness of the issues surrounding sexual harassment in the workplace and a fuller appreciation of the pernicious effect that such unacceptable behaviour can have on the morale and productivity of staff members.
Supervisors are fully expected to support both the letter and the spirit of this policy. It is the affirmative responsibility of supervisors to ensure that the working environment is free of sexual harassment, and to take immediate corrective action whenever they become aware of an incident which may constitute such unacceptable behaviour.
This policy shall be displayed prominently at the offices and other operational sites of the Organisation.
All staff members shall be given a copy of the policy at the time of recruitment or when this policy comes into effect. Efforts will be made to sensitise the staff about this policy.

Consequences

Anybody found violating the organisational policy on sexual harassment would face disciplinary action as per the decision of the management.

CONFIDENTIALITY POLICY

This policy applies to all board members, staff, volunteers, doctors and service users. It relates to spoken, written and computerized information.

IMPART recognizes the importance of confidentiality of individuals, in particular their HIV status. As such, confidentiality must be central to the work of IMPART . Service users must be assured of confidentiality when they access our facilities/services. It is crucial that everyone associated with IMPART recognize this.

Definition of Confidentiality: Treating with confidence personal information about clients, whether directly or indirectly or by inference. Such information includes name, address, biographical details and other descriptions of the service user’s life and circumstances, which might result in identification of the service user.

In the course of work with IMPART , staff may have access to information about individuals, which is of highly personal and confidential nature. Such information includes details about sexual orientation, HIV status, AIDS diagnosis, health, medical conditions, treatment, finances, living arrangements, drug use, employment, details about family and friends. It must be understood that this information is strictly confidential and that all employees and volunteers have a responsibility to uphold this principle at all times in the present or future.

IMPART abides by the laws of confidentiality and is committed to ensure that there is no breach of any information of a personal or confidential nature to any person.

Breach of Confidentiality

Breach of these confidentiality guidelines is taken very seriously. It will lead to dismissal from service. IMPART believes that there is a need to keep confidential information on service users, volunteers and staff in order for it to function effectively.

The methods of obtaining, storing and using this information must be carefully assessed, particularly when information is to be given to an outside body, whether to an individual or to an organization. The co-operation of all parties (those disclosing information, those handling it and those receiving it) is essential in this process, in particular consent of service users should be obtained before recording any information. Information collected should be limited to the minimum necessary for the use required.

Confidential information must be securely locked away and not left lying around on desks or within an open access area.

Records will be reviewed annually and all information, which is no longer relevant, will be removed. This redundant information will be destroyed.

IMPLEMENTATION OF A GENDER POLICY

Gender is a cross-cutting issue and the implementation of a Gender Policy willRequire the commitment, participation and contribution of every staff member in the organisation. Our commitment to integrating gender perspectives will need to be reflected in work plans and budgeting as well. Organisations will be expected to develop plans of action for integrating gender perspectives into their work. These action plans will beused to monitor progress.

Society prescribes to women and men different roles in different social contexts.There are also differences in the opportunities and resources available to women andmen, and in their ability to make decisions and exercise their human rights, includingthose related to protecting health and seeking care in case of ill health.

Gender roles and unequal gender relations interact with other social and economic variables, resulting in different and sometimes inequitable patterns of exposure to health risk, and indifferential access to and utilization of health information, care and services. These differences, in turn have clear impact on health outcomes.

We should be committed to advancing gender equality in our workforce, aswell as in scientific and technical advisory bodies, and among temporary advisers andconsultants. The goal of this policy is to contribute to better health for both women and men,through health research, policies and programmes which give due attention to genderconsiderations and promote equity and equality between women and men.

Organisations/Partners will need to take the necessary steps to ensure a policy is formed in there organisation and is translated into action in both technical and management aspects of their programmes.

A gender Policy would need to apply to all work throughout the Organization: research, programme planning, implementation, monitoring, evaluation, human resource management, and budgeting. Effective implementation of the policy will require senior level commitment and validation, organizational support for activities to advance the knowledge and skills of staff for efficient gender analysis in their area of work. Directors will be expected to institutionalize mechanisms for building capacity among their staff providing, information, training or technical support staff needed to assure the policy’s success.

Terminology: Gender is used to describe those characteristics of women and men, which are socially constructed, while sex refers to those which are biologically determined. People are born female or male but learn to be girls and boys who grow into women and men. This learned behaviour makes up gender identity and determines gender roles.

Gender analysis identifies analyses and informs action to address inequalities that arise from the different roles of women and men, or the unequal power relationships between them and the consequences of these inequalities on their lives, their health and well-being. The way power is distributed in most societies means that women have less access to and control over resources to protect their health and are less likely to be involved in decision-making.

Gender analysis in health often highlights how inequalities disadvantage women’shealth, the constraints women face to attain health and ways to address and overcome these. Gender analysis also reveals health risks and problems which men face as a result of the social construction of their roles.

Gender equality is the absence of discrimination on the basis of a person’s sex in opportunities, in the allocation of resources and benefits or in access to services.

Gender equity refers to fairness and justice in the distribution of benefits and responsibilities between women and men. The concept recognises that women and men have different needs and power and that these differences should be identified and addressed in a manner that rectifies the imbalance between the sexes.

Gender mainstreaming defined as “…the process of assessing the implications for women and men of any planned action, including legislation, policies or programmes, in any area and at all levels. It is a strategy for making women’s as well as men’s concerns and experiences an integral dimension in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and programmes in all political, economic and social spheres, such that inequality between men and women is not perpetuated.

“Mainstreaming gender is both a technical and a political process which requires shifts in organisational cultures and ways of thinking, as well as in the goals, structures and resource allocations …. Mainstreaming requires changes at different levels within institutions, in agenda setting, policy making, planning, implementation and evaluation. Instruments for the mainstreaming effort include new staffing and budgeting practices, training programmes, policy procedures and guidelines”.