How to Handle Employment Records After an Employee Resigns Post-Extended Maternity Leave?

Hello Everybody,

One of our employees took an extended maternity leave of 3 months beyond her permitted allowance. Now she has resigned, and the company has accepted the same. My query is, do we consider her experience only until she completed the 3 months of compulsory leave granted, or do we need to mention the extended 3 months? Even though she was on Leave Without Pay (LOP), she was on the company's payroll.

Should we provide a separate letter stating the details of the extended leave? Your valuable inputs would be appreciated.

Thanks & Regards,
Gargi

Dear Mr. Gargi,

If the company has permitted her for 3 months extended maternity leave, then we need to include that extended period in her service certificate.

KP

Dear Gargishetty,
I wonder, how can an HR professional even think of, "My query is, do we consider her experience only until she completed the 3 months of compulsory leave granted, or do we need to mention the extended 3 months as even though she was on LOP, she was on the company's rolls. Or should we provide a separate letter stating the details of the extended leave?" Is there some personal bias involved here?
Have you ever come across an "Experience Certificate" that segregates or bifurcates the period of leave?
As HR professionals, we should not be influenced by personalities or our relationships, whether they are good or bad; instead, we should focus on the facts and act professionally. In such a case, doubts like these would never arise.
Warm regards.

Hi,

Giving an experience letter should not be an issue unless the employee is not taking full advantage of the privilege provided. Extended maternity leaves are normal and usually required. However, you don't have to pay for these extended leaves.

Take care

Dear Mr. Raj Kumar Hansdah,

Thank you for your response. With due respect to your feedback, I still think my question has been read in the wrong context. Let me explain it again and rephrase it.

Employee has resigned after availing 6 months of leaves, of which 3 were paid for as per the company rule and the remaining 3 months were unpaid.

My query is: should I include the 3 months of LOP and non-working time as part of experience, or should I just account for the time till the maternity leave expired? I agree on that part where I discussed a separate letter; it's wrong. Thank you for correcting me on that.

Just as an input, sir, the person I am talking about happens to be very close to me. We do not want anyone in the company to misjudge our friendship as taking rules for granted. That is why this query.

Thank you, everyone, for your inputs.

Regards,
Gargi

Please advise.

Thanks

Gargi,

Legally speaking, the leaves were approved by management and therefore you can't exclude them from the experience or tenure of employment, regardless of paid or unpaid leaves; that's an internal decision of the management.

Another way of looking at it is that the employee, before going on leave, has contributed to the organization. Keep that in mind as a good gesture, and we should include it in her experience certificate. This will not only demonstrate how employee-oriented your procedures are but also help in preventing an irate employee.

It is simple. Leave is a part of the job, whether it is paid or unpaid, and it is officially approved.

Regards,
Rajesh

In Experience/Service Certificate, the Date of Joining and Date of Relieving are mentioned to indicate the total service period; hence, excluding the leave period from the service period is out of the question.

You cannot have different dates on record, i.e., you mention one date in the Service Certificate and another date in the Leave and Attendance Record. This is unfair as well as wrong.

If you do not wish to include the employee's leave without pay in her service period, which also happens to be at the end of her service period, you may obtain a backdated resignation letter from her and make the necessary changes to all your records. However, I am not in favor of doing this.

Thanks & Regards

Hi,

Leave has been approved by management, so it is a part of her tenure with your organization. As HR professionals, we should not forget the 'human' touch.

Regards

Hello,

She has extended her leave for a further period of three months. This period also includes her experience as she has extended her leave. She submitted her resignation only after the additional three months.

Manokavin

Dear Gargi,

There are two aspects to consider in terms of service accountability:

(a) Qualifying Period (with full/half pay and allowances)
(b) Non-Qualifying Period (leave without pay and allowances).

When evaluating service for the purpose of promotions, increments, etc., the non-qualifying period will not be taken into account. Similarly, in calculating total service, the non-qualifying period should be subtracted to determine the actual length of service.

Sasikanth

Dear Sasikanth,

Please let us know the format of the Experience Certificate issued by you or your company. Do you mention the break-up of the Qualifying and Non-Qualifying Period in the service certificate, as defined by you. Please revert.

Thanks & Regards