Leave and Holiday Policy https://portal.corp.soprasteria/hr/HR_IN_ST/MyDaytoday/absencemana...

The Group Functions & Support Human Resources Quality & Industrialisation Offerings & Innovation Digital Transformation Communities

Sopra Steria India > My Day to day > Absence Management

Leave and Holiday Policy

1. Objec ve

Steria India believes that a correct balance between professional and personal life is essen al for a personal as well as professional well-being. Employees are therefore encouraged to take leave
at the mutual convenience of both - the company and themselves.

2. Scope

This policy applies to all salaried employees/regular on-roll, fixed me contract/partner staff employees and interns of Steria India Limited. The policy is effec ve from 1st January 2016.

3. Defini ons/Abbrevia ons

Terminology Abbrevia on Defini on

Casual Leave CL Paid leave for casual / exigency situa ons for absence from
duty for personal reason(s) such as family commitments/
marriage occasions, personal work with government
authori es, banks, sickness, etc.

Earned Leave EL Paid leave earned in respect of period of con nuous service
with the Company

Maternity Leave ML Paid leave as per Maternity benefits Act applicable to women
employees.

Adop on Leave AL Paid leave to female/male employees for legally adop ng a

child.

Paternity Leave PatL Paid leave for legally married men when they become fathers'
the first and second me only.

Marriage Leave MaL Paid leave for employees ge1ng married.

Long Service Leave LSL Paid bonus leave which are extended to employees who have
completed five/ten/fi2een/twenty/twenty five years.

Out of Office OoO Leave applied on days being away from office for official
purpose like a5ending external training/workshops/seminar
/offsite, working from any external premises and working from
client site.

Con nuous Service Shall mean uninterrupted service at Steria India and includes
any sanc oned leave without pay while on duty or the
dura on of deputa on to any other country within Sopra
Steria Group.

Year The year commencing on the first day of the Calendar year i.e.
1st January – 31st December.

Unauthorized Leave UL Any leave that does not fall under the purview of any of the
leave types (CL, EL, ML, PatL, MaL, AL, TO, OoO and LWP)
men oned above and has no prior sanc on.

Leave Calcula on While calcula ng the numbers to be availed/ recovered, the

rounding off will happen to the nearest 0.50.

Approving Authority All leave requests need to be availed with prior consent from
the manager who will also be the approving authority on
PeopleSo2.

Leave Management System Stands for applying leave online through PeopleSo2.

Half day leave Half day leave can be availed by employees. Absence of 4
hours would be considered as half-day leave.

Combining Leave All Leave can be combined with any other type of leave.

Leave during Proba on Employees on proba on can avail any type of leave subject to
eligibility and prior consent from manager.

Advance Leave Employees can avail leave only as per accrued balance and
cannot avail any leave in advance.

Encashment Only Earned Leave (EL) can be encashed for employees on

regular rolls.

1 of 6 9/18/2018 11:21 AM
Leave and Holiday Policy https://portal.corp.soprasteria/hr/HR_IN_ST/MyDaytoday/absencemana...

4. Leave Policy

4.1 Casual Leave

Maximum 7 (seven) days CL with full pay for every calendar year of con nuous service.
CL will be credited every year on the 1st of January.
CL en tlement on joining or leaving the Company is pro-rated to the period employed during the year.
CL not taken in a given calendar year will not be carried forward to the next year.
CL can be taken for a minimum period of half day to a maximum of 2 days in a month.
CL cannot be taken for more than 2 consecu ve days at any instance.
The leave can be prefixed or suffixed with weekly offs or authorized holidays. Intervening weekly offs/ holidays will not be treated as CLs.
Accumulated CL will not be subject to encashment (i.e. no payment in lieu of accumulated leave will be made) or adjustment at the me of leaving.

4.2 Earned Leave

Maximum EL at the rate of 18 (eighteen) days for every twelve months of con nuous service.
The en tlement is accrued at the rate of 1.5 days per completed month of service.
A team member can take con nuous ELs up to a maximum of 22 working days. Any excep on would be considered on a case to case basis subject to the business requirements.
EL requests should be made with reasonable no ce, wherever possible, and are subject to the prior approval of the Manager.
A team member is required to apply for con nuous ELs on the system (and inform their manager) at-least 2 weeks in advance. If EL is greater than 15 days, informa on is required to
be shared by days' at-least equivalent to number of leave they wish to apply for.
EL can be prefixed and suffixed to a weekly off/ holiday.
EL not taken in a given calendar year will be carried forward to the next year.
Accumula on of unavailed ELs is allowed subject to a maximum accumula on of 45 days. Accumula ons beyond 45 days as on 31st December will be encashed automa cally and
payable in the following months' salary.
Accumula on less than 45 days too can be encashed at the end of the year, basis team members' discre on; however, 10 non-encashable EL balance will be maintained for mee ng
exigencies/future leave needs. Since this encashment is not auto, the team member is required to inform their decision to Finance team and respec ve Talent Partners.
The amount payable towards encashment of leave will not be reckoned as salary/ wages for the purpose of Provident Fund, ESIC, Bonus, Incen ve, etc.
Any tax liability arising out of encashment will have to be borne by the employee.

4.3 Maternity Leave

Maternity Leave is applicable to all female Indian team members who have completed not less than 80 days of actual work of employment in the twelve months immediately
preceding the date of expected delivery.
Maternity Leave can also be availed during proba on period subject to fulfilment of above clause.
An employee is en tled to a maximum of 26 weeks paid maternity leave effec ve 1st April 2017.
Maternity benefit is linked to the actual delivery date and hence such leave should be applied as per expected date of delivery. Out of the 26 weeks of maternity leave, not more
than 8 weeks can be taken before the date of expected delivery.
If any expec ng female employee already has two or more than two surviving children, then the maternity leave shall be restricted to 12 weeks only of which not more than 6 weeks
shall precede the date of her expected delivery.
However, in cases of miscarriage/medical termina on of pregnancy (MTP), 6 weeks paid leave is given immediately following the day of her miscarriage/medical termina on of
pregnancy, as the case may be, subject to produc on of medical cer ficate in prescribed 'Form B' (refer to Annexure 1). This does not include any miscarriage/MTP, which is not
permi5ed or allowed under the Indian Laws.
In case the female employee undergo tubectomy opera on, then she is en tled to 2 weeks of paid leave immediately following the day of the tubectomy opera on, subject to
produc on of medical cer ficate in prescribed "Form B" (refer to Annexure 1).
In case the female employee is suffering from illness arising out of pregnancy,delivery, premature birth of child, then she will be en tled to the maternity leave for a maximum
period of one month , in addi on to the leave men oned above, as applicable. The employee will, however, need to furnish the necessary doctor's cer ficate in prescribed "Form B"
(refer to Annexure 1) for claiming these addi onal leave.
During maternity leave an employee is en tled to payment of salary at the same rate as applicable prior to proceeding on maternity leave.
Maternity Leave incase of Adop on: Effec ve 1st April 2017 a female employee who legally adopts a child shall be en tled to maternity leave from the date the child is handed
over to the adop ng mother. The en tlement of maternity leave is men oned below

Age of the child Maternity Leaves

Age of the child below 3 months 12 weeks

Age of the child more than 3 months and less than or equal to 1 year 6 weeks

Age of child between 1 to 2 years 4 weeks

Age of child between 2 to 5 years 2 weeks

Adop on Leave can be prefixed and suffixed to a weekly off/holiday. However any intervening weekly off/holiday will be counted for the purpose of AL.
Adop on Leave to be taken in one instance, i.e. for a con nued period. Any unavailed part of leave shall lapse.
Prior to availing Adop on leave, employee is required to inform his manager at least 30 days in advance.
Maternity Leave in case of Surrogacy : Effec ve 1st April 2017 the commissioning mother will be en tled to maternity benefit for a period of twelve weeks from the date the child is
handed over to the commissioning mother.

4.4 Paternity Leave

2 of 6 9/18/2018 11:21 AM
Leave and Holiday Policy https://portal.corp.soprasteria/hr/HR_IN_ST/MyDaytoday/absencemana...

All married male team members are en tled to a maximum of 5 (five) days of PatL with full pay (for the first two deliveries only).
Con nuous period of five days including the date of the delivery can be availed and the con nuity cannot be broken down. However, if for official purpose the father a5ends office,
this will not be treated as break in con nuity and he can avail the balance of leave within the next 15 days.
PatL can be prefixed and suffixed to a weekly off/ holiday. Intervening weekly offs/ holidays will not be treated as PatLs.
No accumula on of PatL is allowed. Unavailed part of leave shall lapse.

4.5 Adop on Leave

a. Adop on Maternity Leave

i. AL will be available to all female employees who have legally adopted a child. For availing leave, employee has to furnish sufficient suppor ng documents to the sa sfac on of the
company.

ii. This is applicable to all female employees who have worked for a minimum of 80 days in the preceding 12 months period.

iii. ALs can be availed during proba on period; however, employees must fulfil the above stated clause of having worked for minimum 80 days.

iv. Prior to availing Adop on leave, employee is required to inform his manager at least 30 days in advance.

v. The en tlement of leave will be linked to the age of adopted child:

Age of the child less than or equal to 1 year - 6 weeks

Age of child between 1 to 2 years - 4 weeks
Age of child between 2 to 5 years - 2 weeks
The leave can start from one week before the date of adop on.

vi. AL can be prefixed and suffixed to a weekly off/holiday. However any intervening weekly off/holiday will be counted for the purpose of AL.

vii. AL to be taken in one instance, i.e. for a con nued period. Any unavailed part of leave shall lapse.

b. Adop on Paternity Leave

i. AL will be available to all male employees who have legally adopted a child. For availing leave, employee has to furnish sufficient suppor ng documents to the sa sfac on of the
company.

ii. Male employees shall be en tled to avail a maximum of 5 (five) days of AL with full pay in case of legally adop ng a child. The date of adop on should be part of this leave.

iii. Con nuous period of five days including the date of the adop on can be availed and the con nuity cannot be broken down. However, if for official purpose the employee a5ends
office, this will not be treated as break in con nuity and he can avail the balance of leave within the next 15 days.

iv. Prior to availing Adop on leave, employee is required to inform his manager at least 30 days in advance.

v. AL can be prefixed and suffixed to a weekly off/holiday. Intervening weekly offs/holidays will not be treated as ALs.

vi. No accumula on of AL is allowed. Unavailed part of leave shall lapse.

4.6 Marriage Leave

All team members are en tled to a maximum of 5 (five) working days of MaL for their first legal marriage.
This is a con nuous leave and cannot be broken down into different periods. The day of the marriage will form part of MaL.
MaL can be prefixed and suffixed to a weekly off/ holiday. Intervening weekly offs/holidays will not be treated as MaLs.
MaL can be combined with other leave types.
No accumula on of MaL is allowed. Unavailed part of leave shall lapse.
It is the responsibility of the employee to update the below details in necessary records:
Marital Status
Wedding Date
Nominee details in all relevant records Eg: PF

4.7 Long Service Recogni on Leave

a. Five year anniversary (Gold Club)

One me availing five (5) days bonus leave a2er becoming part of Gold Club. This can be availed before comple ng their sixth year of employment
Gold Club members can avail leave either on birthday or any other day (known as Special Day) as per employee's choice, each anniversary year.
If the birthday falls on holiday/weekend, the day preceding or succeeding it can be taken as leave.
Gold club leave can be prefixed and suffixed to a weekly off/ holiday. Intervening weekly offs/holidays will not be treated as part of these leave.
No accumula on of Gold club leave is allowed.

b. Ten year anniversary (Ruby Club)

One me availing five (5) days bonus leave a2er becoming part of Ruby Club. This can be availed before comple ng their eleventh year of employment
Ruby Club members can avail leave both on birthday and any other day (known as Special Day) as per employee's choice each anniversary year.
If the birthday falls on holiday/weekend, the day preceding or succeeding it can be taken as leave.
Ruby club leave can be prefixed and suffixed to a weekly off/ holiday. Intervening weekly offs/holidays will not be treated as part of these leave.
No accumula on of Ruby club leave is allowed.

c. Fi2een year anniversary (Sapphire Club)

One me availing five (5) days bonus leave a2er comple ng Fi2een years of employment with Steria India. This can be availed before comple ng their sixteenth year of employment

3 of 6 9/18/2018 11:21 AM
Leave and Holiday Policy https://portal.corp.soprasteria/hr/HR_IN_ST/MyDaytoday/absencemana...

Team members can avail leave both on birthday and any other day (known as Special Day) as per employee's choice each anniversary year.
If the birthday falls on holiday/weekend, the day preceding or succeeding it can be taken as leave.
Bonus leave can be prefixed and suffixed to a weekly off/holiday. Intervening weekly offs/holidays will not be treated as part of these leave.
No accumula on of bonus leave is allowed.

d. Twenty year anniversary (Emerald Club)

One me availing five (5) days bonus leave a2er comple ng Twenty years of employment with Steria India. This can be availed before comple ng their twenty-first year of
employment
Team members can avail leave both on birthday and any other day (known as Special Day) as per employee's choice each anniversary year.
If the birthday falls on holiday/weekend, the day preceding or succeeding it can be taken as leave.
Bonus leave can be prefixed and suffixed to a weekly off/holiday. Intervening weekly offs/holidays will not be treated as part of these leave.
No accumula on of bonus leave is allowed.
1 day of special leave every year for the en re stay ahead with Steria India.

e. Twenty-fi2h year anniversary (Diamond Club)

One me availing five (5) days bonus leave a2er comple ng Twenty-five years of employment with Steria India. This can be availed before comple ng their twenty-sixth year of
employment
Team members can avail leave both on birthday and any other day (known as Special Day) as per employee's choice each anniversary year.
If the birthday falls on holiday/weekend, the day preceding or succeeding it can be taken as leave.
Bonus leave can be prefixed and suffixed to a weekly off/holiday. Intervening weekly offs/holidays will not be treated as part of these leave.
No accumula on of bonus leave is allowed.
1 day of special leave every year for the en re stay ahead with Steria India.

4.8. Types of Leave (Contractor staff)

a. Earned Leave

i. Maximum EL at the rate of 18 (eighteen) days for every twelve months of con nuous service. However, this is subject to Contractual Agreement signed during engagement with
Steria India and defined period of contract.

ii. The en tlement is accrued at the rate of 1.5 days per completed month of service.

iii. EL can be prefixed and suffixed to a weekly off/ holiday.

iv. EL requests should be made with reasonable no ce, wherever possible, and are subject to the prior approval of the Manager.

v. Each EL does not lapse at the end of each month but is carried forward and added to the remaining leave ll the termina on of contract.

vi. Accumulated ELs are subject to lapse at the end of calendar year or end of contract, whichever is earlier and will not be encashed or carried forward to next year.

vii. Advance ELs are not allowed. Any leave availed over and above the leave en tled to contractors as per the terms of the contract is considered as Leave without Pay; for which
salary will be deducted.

viii. While this leave policy is applicable at Steria India, Contractor staff would also be governed by the business requirements as mandated by the client.

ix. Few contractors may not be covered under this policy and the leave would be monitored and controlled by the respec ve areas of work / client / project they are aligned to.

4.9 Leave for interns

Maximum EL at the rate of 12 (twelve) days for every twelve months of con nuous service. However, this is subject to le5er of internship signed during engagement with Steria India
and defined period of internship.
The en tlement is accrued at the rate of 1 day per completed month of service.
Con nuous ELs subject to balance in account can be availed by interns. However, this will require a prior approval from the Manager.
EL can be prefixed and suffixed to a weekly off/ holiday.
EL requests should be made with reasonable no ce, wherever possible, and are subject to the prior approval of the Manager.
Each EL does not lapse at the end of each month but is carried forward and added to the remaining leave ll the termina on of internship period.
Accumulated ELs are subject to lapse at the end of calendar year or end of internship, whichever is earlier and will not be encashed or carried forward to next year.
Advance ELs are not allowed. Any leave availed over and above the leave en tled to contractors as per the terms of the contract is considered as Leave without Pay; for which salary
will be deducted.

4.10 UK Compensatory Leave

This is applicable for projects where employees are opera ng from India; however, have been required by the client to follow their UK holiday calendar.
Can be claimed only in case the UK holiday calendar has lesser number of public/na onal holidays compared to that of Steria India calendar (10 in number).
The difference of holidays between Steria India calendar and UK specific holiday calendar can be availed by employees by applying under UK Compensatory Off type; sta ng the
reason as country compensatory leave.
This can be claimed on any of the Indian fes val dates or any normal working day.
It is mandatory for employees of such projects to be mapped to the Country holiday calendar on PeopleSo2 to follow their country holiday calendar.

4.11 Leave without Pay

In case employee does not have sufficient leave balance, however requires to apply leave, Leave without Pay can be availed with prior approval from manager. LWP has pre or post sanc ons and

4 of 6 9/18/2018 11:21 AM
Leave and Holiday Policy https://portal.corp.soprasteria/hr/HR_IN_ST/MyDaytoday/absencemana...

thus is an authorized leave.

The team member will not be paid the salary for the period availed as LWP.
Allowances and other benefits including bonus, etc. (if any) will reduce propor onately for the period of LWP. The days in-between the last day worked ll the last day before
re-joining will be the number of days a team member (regular on-roll, partner staff) has been on LWP for all calcula ons.
Any prefix or suffix to weekly offs and holidays will not be treated as LWP. However, intervening holidays and weekly offs will be treated as LWP taken.
LWP can be availed in the proba on period. In case of long leave, proba on period might get extended.
A team member cannot apply for a con nuous LWP for more than a fortnight, and has to request manager / HR Business Partner for applying such leave.
No earned leave would be credited for a con nuous LWP of equal to 1 month or more.

4.12 Out of Office

A team member (regular on-roll, partner staff) can apply for leave under 'Out of Office' category, for the following reasons:

A5ending external trainings/seminars/mee ngs/offsites.

Working at client site.
Working from external premise (wherever applicable & approved by Manager).

4.13 Unu lized leave

Team members (regular on-roll) are allowed to carry forward to the following year the unu lized por on of their ELs. The maximum leave balance at the end of the year, which a
team member can have including previous years balance, is 45 days. Any accumula on beyond 45 will be encashed automa cally.
However, leave types like CL, ML, PatL, AL, MaL, LSL, TO and OoO cannot be carried forward to the following year.

4.14 Unauthorized leave

Any UL taken will be construed as a serious act of misconduct and is liable to a5ract disciplinary ac on including termina on of service, with the concerned team member (regular
on-roll, partner staff) having no right to any no ce period or salary in lieu thereof required to be given by the company as per the terms of appointment.
All ULs will be with no pay and hence is unpaid leave.
In case a UL exceeds 5 days on grounds of medical condi on (with/without exhaus on of CL/EL balance); a team member is required to submit all relevant medical documents and
reports. This is a mandatory process, without which it can lead to disciplinary ac ons as deemed fit by the organiza on.

4.15 Leave during no ce period

In normal circumstances, team member is expected to serve the complete no ce period without any leaves during the no ce period.
In unavoidable circumstances, team member can avail a maximum of 3 days Casual and/or Earned Leave in a calendar month.
Beyond this, if an employee needs to avail more than the specified number of leaves men oned above, the same has to be discussed & agreed with manager. These have to be very
excep onal / unavoidable circumstances. Organisa on reserves the right to extend your no ce period appropriately.
Paternity and Marriage Leave can be availed during no ce period with an op on of extending the no ce period as required and approved by the Manager.
Leave without pay can be availed during no ce period with an op on of extending the no ce period as required and approved by the Manager
Out of Office can be availed.
Long Service Leave cannot be availed.
Adop on Leave both maternity and paternity cannot be availed during the no ce period.

4.16 Transferees

Employees on Secondment are advised to take minimum leave during their onsite assignment. However, in case any employee requires any leave during the assignment the same
would be driven by the following condi ons:
Employees can avail Earned and Casual leave at any me whilst in the UK, subject to providing no ce of at least double the amount of days requested (e.g. Earned leave of one week
would require two weeks' no ce) and with prior approval of the onsite Assignment manager/ India Line Manager.
Employees shall follow the Public holidays of the host loca on
Maternity Leave can be availed as per the current eligibility criteria
No other leave category can be availed by the employees whilst on Secondment
For further details of the en tlements, please refer to the ‘Annual leave (Indian Employee working in the UK)’
Employees on Deputa on will be governed by the leave and holiday policy of the assignment loca on.
Outstanding EL in India will be kept on hold while on deputa on. EL will start accruing once employee returns to India rolls.
The EL shall be encashed at the me of separa on from UK according to the last balance and eligibility criteria.

4.17 Leave encashment

Earned Leave beyond the accumula on limits (beyond 45 days) and on separa on if not on grounds of indiscipline or moral turpitude or termina on, will be encashed. The
encashment formula (for EL beyond accumula on) will be as follows:

Current Basic Salary/22 x Number of days of EL beyond accumula on.

Earned Leave less than 45 days can be encashed (at year end) as well upon discre on exercised by the employees. This requires prior informa on to be shared with HRES / Payroll
team.
No other leave type can be encashed.

5. Public Holidays

5 of 6 9/18/2018 11:21 AM
Leave and Holiday Policy https://portal.corp.soprasteria/hr/HR_IN_ST/MyDaytoday/absencemana...

There are 10 fixed holidays as per the Steria India calendar a team member (regular on-roll, partner staff) is en tled to, out of which 8 will be common across ci es and 2 are specific
to the loca on.

6. Annexure

a. Form B – click here to view.

b. Holiday Calendar – Please click here to view.

7. Related Policies

Interna onal Travel Policy

Domestic Travel Policy

Exit Policy

Shi2 and Weekend Allowance Policy

Reward and Recogni on Policy

8. FAQs

9. Excep on

Any excep on to the policy will be reviewed by Management.

10. Disclaimer

Steria India's Absolute Right to Alter or Abolish the Policy

The Management has the right to review, modify and rescind this policy at any given point of me.

11. Further Sources of Informa on

QRG_PeopleSoft - OTL recon_Manager Self Service.pdf

QRG_PeopleSoft - OTL recon_Employee Self Service.pdf

ESS- Leave Encashment Policy.pdf

12. Revision History

Version Release date Written by Reviewed by Approved by

2.3 1-Jan-2016 India HR Shiny Rajan Samir Prakash

Ninth Release: Post integration revision

2.4 1-Jul-2016 India HR Shiny Rajan Samir Prakash

Tenth Release: Incorporation of nomenclature change in Long Service Recognition and introduction of additional clause in section 4.7.d.(vi) & 4.7.e (vi)

2.5 28-Apr-2017 India HR Shiny Rajan Samir Prakash

Eleventh Release: Change in Maternity Benefit clause as per revised act, Adoption maternity leave incorporated under maternity benefit clause, Maternity benefit in case
of surrogacy introduced.

2.6 26-Jul-2017 India HR Shiny Rajan Samir Prakash

Twelfth Release: Clause of Time-off removed, to be in line with revised shift allowance policy

2.7 1-Sep-2018 India HR Akanksha Yadav Vimmi Chachra

Thirteenth Release: Change in clause 4.7 for long service recognition leaves

Sopra Steria Website Legal notices

Sopra Steria Blog Contacts
Sopra Steria Group © 2018

6 of 6 9/18/2018 11:21 AM