Maternity Leave and Appraisals: Is Prorating Increments Fair or Unfair?

Seeking Opinions on Maternity Leave and Appraisal Policies

We are a not-for-profit organization and always emphasize adopting best practices for our staff (12 people in the core team). Our maternity leave policy allows staff to take a full 6 months of leave. We are even flexible post this if that employee needs flexible working hours or to work from home on some days, etc.

Appraisal and Increment Policy

However, when it comes to appraisals and increments, our policy states to prorate the percentage. Our increment percentage gets prorated and is applicable only for the months during which that particular staff member was present. For example, if during the appraisal period this staff member was present for only 8 months and the increment is announced as 10%, we will give = 10/12*8=6.67%.

Do you think this is a wrong practice? Do you give full increments or do it differently? Please help.

As I understand it, if an employee is on leave other than casual leave on the normal date of the annual increment sanction, the increment will be granted, but its monetary impact will only take effect upon the employee's return to work. If the employee takes any leave for which they are entitled to a salary after the annual increment has been sanctioned, they will still receive the fully incremented salary as the increment amount is integrated into the basic salary. Therefore, the increment becomes an essential part of the employee's salary, illustrating the concept of increment.

Unfamiliar Increment System

The increment system described in the post appears unfamiliar to me. It resembles more of an attendance bonus rather than an increment added to the existing salary received by the employee. For instance, if an employee does not take any leave in the first two years of service but goes on earned leave for approximately 30 days in the third year, would the employee forfeit the amounts of two increments from the leave salary for those 30 days?

Could the poster kindly provide clarification?

Hi ANONYMOUS,

Increment depends on overall performance and not on attendance. So, if a person goes on leave for medical or any other reason, that period should be considered in the increment. I feel you should change that.

You should not mix up two things, i.e., increment and promotion. Everyone should get a fair increment as per the market rate (Price Index) regardless of being on leave for any reason.

The promotion policy will determine whether to consider an employee on long leave or not. For example, in an establishment, a staff member is eligible for promotion after 3 years, provided their appraisal has been satisfactory for the last 2.5 years. However, if there was a 0.5-year leave due to unforeseen circumstances, this will be taken into account.