6 months maternity leave in Microsoft India

6 months maternity leave in Microsoft India 

Microsoft India has doubled maternity leave for its women employees to six months from February 1. This is in addition to the option of unpaid leave for up to three months and flexible work hours for up to two years. 

Further, all male employees at Microsoft are eligible for two weeks of paternity leave. Additionally, to care for adopted children, mothers are eligible for eight calendar weeks of paid leave and fathers are eligible for two weeks of paid leave. 

Further, all male employees at Microsoft are eligible for two weeks of paternity leave. Additionally, to care for adopted children, mothers are eligible for eight calendar weeks of paid leave and fathers are eligible for two weeks of paid leave. 

"At Microsoft, our continual endeavor is to support our employees in the best possible ways so they can thrive both at the workplace and in their personal lives," said Rohit Thakur, HR head at Microsoft India. "We understand how important it is for new mothers to not only be able to spend time with their babies, but also be able to transition back to work effectively. The enhancements to our maternity benefits are intended to ensure our women employees have the time and support they need to embrace this new phase of life." 

Source - http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/software/microsoft-india-doubles-maternity-leave-to-6-months/articleshow/50754153.cms

Good Behavior Results in Parole during Prison Time

Good Behavior Results in Parole during Prison Time

Sanjay Dutt is being granted parole for his good behavior. This is not because of him being an actor but it is a benefit that any inmate can get due to their good behavior.

What is parole? There are different rules, regulations, and definitions of it. Let us know more – 

Under the law, there is relaxation due to good behavior in prison time. Whenever someone has done a good work, they are provided with relaxation in time. Financial relaxation is also provided in this. In this way, 2 to 5 days of relaxation can be obtained each month.

In the case of Sanjay Dutt, he has obtained remission during prison time. In addition to good behavior relaxation, he also obtained financial remission. This means that whenever someone does financial or monitory work in prison, then they are provided with relaxation. For example – Vikas Yadav had worked for the management of small business during prison time. This provided relaxation to him. The proposal of relaxation during prison time is described in the prison manual. 

Points of good behavior -

Many states have their different prison manuals. Most of the points described in them are similar with some differences. Section 46 of chapter 11 of Delhi Prison manual has provided a list of crimes. When a criminal does not indulge in these crimes during prison time then this comes under good behavior. 

• Not disrespecting the law 

• Not hitting any one and not using any physical force 

• Not harming oneself physically 

• Not using any threatening language 

• Not indulging in illegal behavior 

• Not denying to do any physical work

• Not trying to take off hand cuffs

• Not sending any letters or message outside the prison without any permission

• Not showing any laziness in doing any work 

• Not harming the government records

• Not keeping anything that is not allowed

• No claims of being sick when actually healthy 

• Not putting any wrong accusations with wrong intentions on authorities 

• Not being a part of prison break by withholding information to authorities 

• Helping in natural calamities 

• Not indulging in hunger strike 

• Not cooking in the cell 

• Not indulging in any drug abuse 

• Not playing poker 

These points also provide parole -

As per rule 297, the jailer can write to the superintendent for parole of the criminal. The superintendent after discussing with assistant superintendent, jailer and in charge can provide parole to the criminal under the rule 273.

There can also be reduction in parole due to bad behavior. If the prisoner attracts the authorities or indulges in bad behavior, then the parole time can be taken away. As per rule 304 of Delhi prison manual, it is the right of the superintendent to end the parole time of any criminal.

In accordance, Sanjay Dutt has been granted a parole of 105 days earlier to his release date. The jail administration has decided to granted parole to him. There is a rule in which a prisoner can be given parole 114 days before his time when he agrees with some regulations. Therefore, in this case he has not been given any special treatment.  

Under the prison law, a prisoner gets parole twice a year. This is granted to them so that they can be with their family in good or bad times. Those prisoners, who go absconding during their parole time, are sentenced to 2 years of jail time and financial penalty under the section 8(2) of the good conduct prisoner act 1962. 

Parole is of two kinds – Regular and custody. Under regular parole, permission is taken from the government. Mostly parole is increased for a month and under special circumstances, it can be increased more. Under custody parole, the prisoner is sent with police protection for a day, during which he can attend a wedding or death ceremonies. 

FACT: Furlough is granted to those criminals who have completed 3 years of jail time out of five or more years.

Source #Advocate Nandita Jha, High Court -New Delhi 

Intuit India rolls out extended parental benefits to attract and retain quality talent

Intuit India rolls out extended parental benefits to attract and retain quality talent

IT and software firm Intuit India has announced a slew of benefits for employees in the early weeks of parenthood. The measures come on the heels of several companies in India stepping up efforts to attract and retain quality talent through progressive initiatives.

Flipkart, Adobe and Accenture are among the companies that have recently increased their maternity leave benefits. "As an employee-focused company, we want to create the best possible work environment that is simultaneously value-driven. Our employees are our most important asset, and we want to be able to provide them the necessary support so that they can do their best work without compromising on the work-life balance," said Vijay Anand, SVP and MD, India Development Cente.

Recently, the labour ministry approved a proposal from women and child development minister Maneka Gandhi to increase maternity leave in private companies to 26 weeks from 12 weeks, at present. This puts India on a par with several countries across the globe; some countries like Britain give a year off to parents of newborn children.

Under the new benefits rolled out at Intuit from January 1, paid maternity leave has been increased to 26 calendar weeks from 12. Paternity leave, earlier given for five working days, will now be given for 15 working days. Adoption leave will also be provided for 26 calendar weeks from the previous 12. Adoption leave is agnostic of gender and will be provided to all employees adopting children - whether male or female - so long as they are the primary caregiver of the child.

"Employees should not have to slow down their professional careers when embarking upon motherhood or fatherhood, and we see it as our responsibility to provide them the enabling environment to take sufficient leave as required," said Somnath Baishya, director-HR at Intuit.

The changes have been rolled out after consultation and brainstorming with employees, said Shikha Verma, C&B leader, India and APAC. "In urban nuclear families, a strong support system can be difficult to come by. Extended maternity and paternity leave give new parents the chance to bond with their baby and enjoy the onset of parenthood without added responsibility," she said.

The new benefits are part of the #GotYouCovered campaign, and are aimed at not only helping employees celebrate parenthood with time off, but also address the increasing parental responsibilities new fathers take on after a child's birth.

Intuit has about 930 employees at its Bengaluru office, and enjoys a gender diversity ratio of 38%, with 27% of the tech workforce and 33% of the leadership roles occupied by women. This apart, to make the transition back to work smooth, Intuit offers work flexibility through telecommuting and flexi-time options.

"Welcoming a new child into the family, either through birth or adoption, is the start of an exciting new chapter in life. Time to bond with and care for the new child (or children), and adjust to the change, is immensely important," employees were told in a mailer dated January 11 to announce the new benefits programme. ET has seen the mail.

"A happy and engaged workforce is a productive workforce, and that happiness stems from trust. Trust that your company has your back when you need it most, and this is the kind of trust we're building with our new policy," said Sriniwasan Ramaswami, talent engagement leader, India and APAC.

http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2016-01-19/news/69900645_1_new-child-maternity-employees

180 days maternity leave in surrogacy cases - Maharashtra

Maharashtra first state to grant 180 days maternity leave in surrogacy cases 

Maharashtra will be the first state in the country where women employees in government jobs can avail up to 180 days’ maternity leave while having a baby through surrogacy. 

While several courts across the country have in recent months ordered that such leave be granted in specific cases, the state government is the first to issue a government resolution to the effect. 

The women employees will have to apply in advance to the authority concerned who will decide on the applications. The women employees will need to furnish certificates provided by the authorities according to the surrogacy guidelines of the Indian Council of Medical Research. 

The leaves will be applicable from the date of the child’s birth and will be granted only once in the employee’s tenure of service. All employees working in the state’s educational institutions and universities can also avail this benefit. 

The existing maternity leave rules provide for 180 days’ maternity leave to pregnant women and 90 days for women adopting children. The Bombay High Court had ruled last year that even a mother having a child through surrogacy was entitled to maternity leave.

Infy lets employees ‘work from home’ for 9 days in a month

Infy lets employees ‘work from home’ for 9 days in a month

Infosys has made another set of changes to its HR policy, in an effort to remain attractive to its employees, arrest attrition and drive productivity.

The country’s second largest software exporter has allowed its employees five extra days in a month, to ‘work from home'. With this, employees can work 9 days in a month from their home, compared to 4 in the past. Infosys HR sent an internal email to all employees a few days ago.

Considering the kind of hassle that employees go through commuting to and fro, often travelling an average of 90 minutes one way, employees had asked the company HR to be more flexible when it comes to its work out of home policy. “This will also go a long way in enhancing employee productivity as well as maintain a better work-life balance,” the note added.

Infosys is taking these measures for a couple of reasons, opine industry watchers. The first has to do with the fact that the bulk of the 1.8 lakh employees, in their twenties are very vocal about flexibility, in the way they work. Secondly, efforts like these will go towards curtailing attrition, which according to Sikka has been steadily coming down since he took over. In October, Infosys appointed Krish Shankar, a former Philips executive as its global HR head with a mandate to handle a different kind of workforce.

Also, this development comes six months after Sikka first announced the decision to do away with the policy of casual wear only on Fridays. Instead, he advocated employees to flaunt their business casuals all week. Similarly, immediately after taking over, Sikka relaxed the company's long-held rule that said employees needed to wear ties, after a number of employees asked him to scrap this rule.

Attrition down

In the third quarter, attrition in Infosys came on an annual basis came down to 13.4 per cent from 14.1 per cent in the previous quarter. On a consolidated basis, attrition came down to 18.1 per cent from 19.9 per cent in the September-ended quarter.

The company reported a strong set of quarterly numbers and cheered the market by increasing FY16 revenue guidance to 12.8-13.2 per cent in constant currency terms, and 16.2-16.6 per cent in rupee terms on December 31, 2015 exchange rates.

News Source - http://m.thehindubusinessline.com/info-tech/infy-lets-employees-work-from-home-for-9-days-in-a-month/article8107965.ece