Navigating Appraisals and Pay During Maternity Leave: When and How to Proceed?

Hello all,

I need some suggestions regarding a scenario: An employee would be going on maternity leave from December; she is due for appraisal in the month of February. My questions are:

1. When do we conduct her appraisal [before or after ML]?
2. If after, will she be applicable for the arrears [Mar-May], or only from the month she gets back to work, i.e., from June?
Also, when do we pay the 3-month salary? Will it be month on month or a lump sum at the end of the 3rd month?

Please guide me through.

Regards,
N P

Appraisal and Maternity Leave: Suggestions

I'm giving you the suggestion based on my current company procedure.

1. The appraisal will be postponed for the months she is taking maternity leave. For example, if she is taking 3 months of maternity leave, then her review will be in May instead of February.

2. She will not be eligible for the arrears. It should not be shown or mentioned as arrears since she is not eligible.

3. This can be remitted to her account on a monthly basis. You need to mark her attendance as full, mentioning that she is on paid maternity leave.

I hope this information is useful.

Since you have not provided details of your company, we will assume it is a private company in the service sector. If you are subject to standing orders, then follow the provisions given in those standing orders. If nothing is specified in the standing orders, you need to refer to the internal HR procedures formulated and communicated to employees.

If neither applies, then the management is free to decide when the appraisal will take place and whether they will provide the increased salary with prospective or retrospective effect. Most companies would conduct the appraisal after the maternity leave is over and provide the employee's salary only from the date of joining or even from the date the appraisal has been completed or confirmed. I do not see any justification for giving an increased salary for the period when the person is on leave.

Under the requirements of the Maternity Benefit Act, you will need to pay the salary for the maternity period at the time when the person goes on leave.

With reference to your reply, "The appraisal will be postponed for the months she is taking ML. For example, if she is taking 3 months ML, then her review will be in May instead of February," on the anonymous question, can you please clarify if there are any rules or guidelines that prescribe the postponement of the appraisal for the equivalent period of leave/absence of the employee? In other words, when a female employee is entitled to 6 months of maternity leave under the new law, do you mean to say her promotion should be withheld for 6 months by postponing the review of her appraisal due to her maternity leave, even if she is eligible for promotion/increment based on other efficiency criteria.

In my view, any such arbitrary course of action indicates the unsystematic functioning of the HR department of the organization. The question that arises is, which law or rule prohibits the entitlement of promotion or increment to an employee due to maternity leave or any other authorized leave, if they are otherwise eligible based on various criteria?

I hope for your insights on this matter.

Thank you.

I think you are confusing review (or appraisal) with promotion. Promotion is decided only after the review. A review is determined only after evaluating performance, which is rated based on work over a one-year period. An employee is eligible for review only if they perform for a specific period, i.e., one year in this case. Therefore, whether an employee is eligible for promotion or an increment will be decided only after the review.

Let me provide you with another example: all employees are entitled to certain leaves as per specific acts. No one can prevent an employee from taking leave. However, during the review, the performance rating may differ for employees who take leave compared to those who do not take any leave in the same review period. The latter will have an advantage, assuming that all other criteria ratings are the same for both employees.

In the case of maternity leave, we cannot apply the same principle as above. A common and fair approach is followed whereby the review period is adjusted based on her leave, as I mentioned earlier. This ensures that the leave period does not impact her performance rating, and the company can assess her performance over one year, just like with other employees, in a fair manner.

It is not that her promotion is delayed; rather, it is the review that is delayed.

I hope I have made myself clear.

Dear Saravanan, neither did I ask for logic or examples, nor did I talk about conventions being adopted in the review of appraisals. If you re-read my post, my simple question was, "Can you please clarify if there is any rule or guideline that prescribes the postponement of the appraisal for the equivalent period of leave/absence of the employee?"

Now, my other question is whether a calendar year (January to December) or financial year (April to March), whatever is fixed for appraisal, gets changed as per the legal definition. This is another issue if the HR prefers to adopt some arbitrary manner, which is usually noticed in several cases rather than following any set rules.

Anyway, would you like clarification on my two questions?

Thank you.

Dear Dhingra, In your post, you have clarified your question as: "In other words, when a female employee would be entitled to get 6 months of maternity leave under the new law in the offing, do you mean to say her promotion should be withheld for 6 months by postponing the review of her appraisal due to her proceeding on maternity leave, even if she is eligible for promotion/increment on account of several other efficiency criteria."

Eligibility for Promotion/Increment

How do you decide on eligibility for promotion/increment? I think my explanation in my previous post is clear.

Many books and research papers are available on performance appraisal methods followed in different private companies. New innovative and advanced methods are discovered and implemented day by day.

Your question is such that performance appraisal should have been done in a constant manner (fixed percentage) to all employees in a given FY or Calendar Year, irrespective of their DOJ, performance, attendance, etc. I think the discussion here is not for a Government Organization which has a fixed increment structure over a period of time, till the next promotion (automatic promotion after a fixed period of time).

Regards

In the absence of clarity from your side on the company policy, I would like to express my views as follows:

1. The review of the employee will not change, whether you appraise the employee before proceeding on leave or after proceeding on leave, as there will be no contribution from the employee during the leave period.

2. To maintain uniformity and ease of working, it is suggested that the appraisal takes place before the employee proceeds on leave. This will help you in HR budgeting, promotions, and other vertical or lateral movements in the organization.

3. You may make the increment, promotion, or any other decision effective from the date of re-joining of the employee.