How Should We Handle Frequent Leaves by New Designers Without Breaking Company Policies?

Dear Seniors, We have an IT company in Delhi with 20 employees. We are now frustrated with unwanted and unauthorized leaves taken by employees. In the Designer team, we hired three designers three months ago. According to our policies, no one can take leaves during the probation period, but since their joining, all of them have been taking 3-4 leaves per month. We have warned them, but the same behavior continues. Although their probation period has ended, we have not yet provided them with a confirmation letter. They visit HR daily to inquire about their confirmation, and we are unsure of what to do. Terminating them could disrupt the workflow, but confirming them may lead to non-compliance with company policies, affecting other staff members.

We seek your valuable feedback and suggestions. Additionally, please share with us the IT Policies & Procedures Handbook.

Policy on Employee Leave

You have expressed your frustration over the leave that newly joined employees request. Now the question arises: do you have a policy on employee leave? If their absence exceeds the authorized quota, why do you not deduct their salary?

Employee Commitment and Leave

The second challenge is about their seriousness toward their work. Why do they require 3-4 days of leave each month? Have you checked the genuineness of the reasons for the leave? Are they looking for a job elsewhere? Because of their absence, has the work been impacted? Was there an impact on customer satisfaction?

Leave and Performance Targets

Lastly, regarding leave itself, in most IT companies, work is based on deadlines. If the employees are availing their leave, are they able to meet their performance targets? Are the performance targets well-defined where there is no room for subjectivity?

Some IT companies in Bangalore, especially from the SME category, have stopped counting the number of days of leave. Leave is limitless, but targets are so stiff that far from taking leave, employees have to work excessively.

I feel that if you revise the performance targets, you could solve the problem. Partially, it could be your recruitment problem as well. For further discussion, feel free to contact me.

Thanks,
Dinesh Divekar

Sir, we have understood your problem, but we feel sorry that you are struggling with designing performance rankings. If an undertrainee falls below the required attendance mark, they are deemed unfit for the role of a successful trainer. Attendance is a primary criterion even in primary schools. Why not consider revising your company's norms? Making changes could lead to improvements. Everything will be alright.