Hi Ramesh,
I went through your mail. Allow me to introduce myself first. My name is Sadashiv Rao (from Bangalore), now based in Kuwait. The questions that you have asked are perfect! (even if I were in your place, I would have asked the same). I will try to help you out as much as possible on all the questions that you have asked.
a. Branding the HR (I am not familiar with this term, but in case you tell me what this means, I will try to help you out).
b. Should Payroll be the function of the Admin/Finance/HR?
Good question! Definitely not the Admin dept, but payroll is correlated with the Finance & HR dept. In the sense before the finance starts working on the payroll, the HR dept has to give them the crucial information on which the payroll will be based, like leave records, loss of pay, final settlements of employees left, info on new joinee with the salary so that the same is incorporated in that month's salary statement, etc. You can elaborate on the same.
After the payroll is done (every company might have a different system), then the statutory payments like the PF, ESI if applicable, Profession Tax will have to be filed.
c. Help on drafting the HR policy.
Nothing to worry about on this point. Speak to a few of your friends who are in the HR field and try to get an idea as to what topics they are covering for the employees in their organizations. Based on that, you can diversify and elaborate on the same and frame it for your Company.
The next step is to sit with the top management and find out what their idea of running the organization is and the sort of rules they have in mind. Note down the same and gradually draft out. This will have to be converted into a handbook that will be easily understood when an employee reads it.
I presently do not have a copy of the policy, but in the near future, if I manage to get it, I will send you the information.
d. Attendance Management.
As per statutory rules, you will have to maintain the attendance register (The Karnataka Shop & Establishment Act 1961), which will be available with your local stationery vendor. But take care that you specify that you need this register only! You will have to mark the Sundays, holidays, leave, absentees in RED! The attendance register is mandatory.
The next step is you can go in for the biometric attendance system (which will recognize the employee on the basis of their thumb impression on the infrared sensor, they should have been registered).
OR you can go in for the card swipe attendance system.
Both the above-mentioned systems are very common in most of the software companies. For info on the above products, refer to the Bangalore Getit Yellow pages, you will get plenty of them! But weigh the pros and cons before deciding which system to implement.
But remember, the attendance register is compulsory!
e. Basic statutory compliance of IT company is you will have to notify the Provident Fund authorities if you have more than 25 employees (same is the case with Profession Tax). Outsourced employees like Security Guard/Housekeeping etc., who have come through an agency, are not your headache at all. Employees drawing up to Rs. 7500/- pm have to be included in the ESI.
Other formalities find out from STPI (regarding the import of computers or if you are exporting software: the exemptions, etc.). Specified books will be available to guide you on this, hence do not worry.
f. Leave policy: This will differ from Company to Company. There are 3 types of leaves: Casual/Privileged or earned leave/Sick leave/In case of lady employees: Maternity leave. Always remember that PL can be carried forward to the next year. Leave is always calculated as per the calendar year, that is from Jan to Dec, although some companies do it as per the financial year from April to March. Find out from your management as to what sort of leave procedure they wish to follow.
I hope you have understood what I have tried to explain. In case you still have doubts, kindly write back. I will try my best. Lastly, let me wish you the very best and I am sure that you will do very well in your job. God Bless!
Regards,
Sadashiv Rao 😀