How Do Pharma Companies Communicate Leave and LTA Policies to Employees?

Hello Seniors, can you let me know how companies (specifically pharma) inform their employees about their LTA, leave policy, and other policies to confirmed employees? Is it communicated simply through an email, or is a detailed copy of the policy given to the employee in hard copy or soft copy? Please advise me on this, as our company is new, and I have no prior experience in this area.

Communicating Leave Details and LTA

The Leave Details and LTA published in the Employee Handbook can also be circulated through email. The basic idea is to ensure that employees are well aware of the policies. Additionally, these details can be fixed on the Notice Board too.

If the employees are large in number, then transmitting the policy through a circular is ideal if there is no handbook. Additionally, putting up a notice drawing the attention of the employees to this circular on the notice board, as suggested by Saji, is advisable.

B. Saikumar
In-House HR & IR Advisor

Handling Personnel Policies in Large Companies

If your company is large and the employee strength is considerable, it is suggested not to display Personnel Policies on the Notice Board. Personnel Policies are confidential documents, and all policies should be serially numbered, suitably indexed, and kept together in a good, hard-bound or leather-bound folder. One copy of the folder should be kept in the custody of the Chief Executive Officer or Managing Director, and the other copy with the HR manager.

Personnel policies should not be treated as a reference book for all employees. Only Heads of Departments (HODs) should have access to it. Salient features of each policy should be communicated to employees through the HOD, and the interpretation of policies should be done by the HR Head and HODs.

Communications could be sent by way of circulars to all departments at regular intervals, along with any modifications to the policies.

Thanks,

R K Nair

I would like to add to what learned member Mr. R.K. Nair said. If the personnel policies are of a confidential nature, the HR shall maintain confidentiality about them. However, not all policies will be of a confidential nature, and the member posting the query has sought to know about the means of transmitting information to employees about policies like LTA and Leave. Employees need to be informed about these policies since they should know what their entitlements are and the procedure to be followed to avail these benefits. Hence, appropriate means like a handbook, circular, or notice board were suggested by members. This is only a clarification keeping in view the limited purpose of the query.

Regards,
B. Saikumar
HR & IR Advisor

I refer to Mr. Sasikumar's comment on my posting. Once again, it is clarified that personnel policies should be treated in such a way that the content of the policies should not be interpreted, administered, and executed by employees to their advantage. Hence, it is necessary to maintain confidentiality, and Heads of Department should be prudent in administering the personnel policies so that the very purpose of devising the policy should be safeguarded, and the organization's interest should be taken care of.

Illustration of Policy Communication

To illustrate, if an employee wants to know his eligibility for official travel, he should be informed about the eligibility of his category of employees only while performing official travel. He need not refer to the entire policy nor know the entitlement of other senior employees.

Thanks,

R K Nair

I worked in many reputed organizations (top 10). Here are my views and experiences:

1. Travel policies are posted on the intranet for various categories, and any employee can access them. There is no confidentiality involved.

2. Leave policies are common and open for all employees on the intranet.

3. In the CTC regime, the LTA amount and entitlement vary and are kept confidential. Only HR and the employees know the details.

I disagree with RK Nair.

Pon

I also strongly agree with Mr. Pon & Saikumar. I worked with NOKIA, where all employee-related policies were posted on the intranet. Confidential matters are not disclosed in policies; policies are meant to be disclosed and implemented for a professional environment.