employee hr policies rev 1

Overview

About the Manual

This manual is intended to provide you with information regarding the Company’s current Human Resources policies. These policies are guidelines and in no way represent a contractual commitment on the part of the Company, nor are they meant to affect the Company’s right or the employee’s right to terminate the employment relationship at any time nor are they exhaustive. It is also Company policy to comply with all applicable laws.

This is an internal document of ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Ltd. This is intended for restricted circulation within the company as determined by the management.

The policy & practices elaborated here are subject to change as felt appropriate by the management. No part contained herein is intended to create any legal or habitual right. Moreover the management interpretation of this document will be considered to be final & binding.

Since it is impossible to describe the full scope of the Company’s Human Resources program, we have attempted to include those conditions, which are referred to most frequently.

Exceptions / Amendments / Interpretations

The above rules are subject to modification, amendment and alterations by the management at any time without assigning any reasons or without giving any prior intimation to the executives. The interpretation of the above rules made by Head HR shall be final and the same shall be binding on all employees.

Revision No. : 1 of 36

Title Page

Employment 3

Working Norms 5

Leave Policy (Effective April 01, 2009) 9

Compensation & Benefit 12

Travel Entitlements 18

Relocation Policy 27

Deputation 29

Social Security 30

Insurance 33


Employment

Applicability

This policy manual shall apply to all employees of ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Ltd. It however excludes the foreign expatriates on secondments to India, with specific reference to any provision relating to compensation benefits & other terms and conditions of employment, agreed with such personnel.

Equal Employment Opportunity Policy

It is our policy at ICICI Lombard to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. The objective of the Company is to recruit, hire, train and enhance role into all job responsibilities the most qualified applicants without regard to marital status, gender, religion, belief, political opinion, culture, language, ethnic / social origin, age, disability, race, or sex. All such decisions are made by utilizing objective standards based on the individual’s qualification as they relate to the particular job requirement and to the furtherance of Equal Employment Opportunity. All other personnel decisions such as compensation, benefits, transfers, company sponsored training, assistance, social and recreation programs are also administered on an Equal Opportunity basis.

Employee Classification

Employees are classified as under:

Permanent

A ‘ permanent’ employee is a person who has been engaged on a regular basis and includes any person who has been confirmed in writing as a permanent employee.

Probationer

A ‘ Probationer’ is a person who is employed to fill a regular vacancy of a position and has not completed the stipulated probationary period applicable. On satisfactory completion of the probation period, the probationer’s service will be confirmed in writing.

Notice Period

Notice Period for all confirmed employees would be three months and for those on probation it would be fifteen days.


Employment of Relatives

In order to avoid conflict of interests it is the policy of the Company to discourage the employment of two or more persons who are related to each other.

If a marital relationship is formed between two members of staff and depending upon the inherent requirements of the position held by the employees concerned, one of the employees will need to be transferred to another job function or would be required to leave the organization, but under no circumstances will they be allowed to work for the same function and operate from the same office.

Desktop PC

All permanent employees, whose role requires them to be available at their office desk and whose job does not involve large field travel on a day to day basis, will be provided with a desktop PC at their workstation. Employees on field jobs, PCs are allotted on 1:3 ratio.

Laptop Allotment

Laptops are allotted strictly on a need basis to an individual. Wherever for technical and work related reason laptop is required, the same will be made available. Laptops will not be viewed as a perquisite or work level related automatic entitlement.

However, a work group / department or team of related functionaries may for the collective use of the group, be allotted a laptop to be shared and used by all members of the group


Working Norms

Employee code number

Each employee on joining will be given an employee unique code number. This number should be used for all official purposes.

Identity Card

All employees will be issued with an Identity Card and employees are expected to put on their Identity Cards whilst on duty.

Dress Code

All employees have to wear appropriate attire as required by the position and the function.

Attendance

All employees are expected to record their attendance electronically as per the existing systems

Employees proceeding on tour or outdoor duty should take approval on their attendance immediately after/before returning from outdoor duty by recording the same in the attendance system

Attendance / out door duty, which has not been recorded, will be treated as unauthorized absence.

Hours of work

We will be observing 5 days working a week. The office timings will :

Corporate office Monday to Friday 9:15 a.m. to 6:15 p.m.Branch offices Monday to Friday 9:15 a.m. to 6:15 p.m.

Employees in functions that have day to day handling of customer transactions may be required to work by beyond the stipulated work schedules owning to customer requirements. Customer facing departments would need to ensure adequate representation to service the customer. The supervisor would need to communicate in advance, in the event the team is expected to be available beyond the stipulated schedule. As responsible employees, we are expected to manage the work schedules and meet the business requirements.

Public Holidays

Public Holidays are the days on which the company provides employees time away from work in order to celebrate certain days of significance and remembrances based upon customs, history and local traditions common to a specific region. 10 Public Holidays during a calendar year are announced in advance that are applicable to the respective regions based on the Holiday list released by respective State Government.Revision No. : 1 of 36

Working beyond Office Hours

Working beyond office hours on weekend / Public Holidays may be unavoidable at times and as a responsible employee, one is expected to work late or work extra whenever required. In such circumstances, company will reimburse certain expenses as mentioned below:

For stay beyond 9:00 p.m. on any working day and 6:00 PM on any weekend / public holiday, the company will reimburse the actual conveyance expenses by auto rickshaw / taxi, public transport from office to residence. The Head of the Department / superior has the discretion to decide on the mode of travel. This facility will not be available wherever shift duties exist.

On exigencies, if the employees work beyond 9:00 PM (or 10:00 PM where canteen facilities are available) on any working day / on a weekend / Public Holidays, they will be eligible for a maximum of Rs.125/- for refreshments against submission of bills

Employees need to submit the claims through the expense management system.

Lunch Breaks

It is recommended that employees may take a 30 minutes lunch break.

Information Technology

Software Pirating and Security

Unauthorized copying of software or use of software, which has been copied without authorization, is expressly forbidden. This is a requirement of the Copyright Act.

It is the responsibility of Information Technology function and Supervisors to ensure that there are no unauthorized copies of the software used or kept on any ICICI Lombard computers, and staff will inform their Supervisor if they believe there may be unauthorized software in their branch or department.

The department, which acquires a software product, is responsible for its security. If software or hardware with resident software is transferred to another department, the new department should assume this responsibility. Any transfer of software or hardware must be informed to the local IT department Or Administration department.

Unauthorized accessing of any software or any action or negligence, which jeopardizes system security, will be subject to disciplinary action.

Unauthorized access to corporate systems can also result in prosecution and in immediate dismissal.


Shifting of Computer Equipment

Relocation to another desk or department is to be done by the IT Department only, following a written request from the departmental Head.

Disconnection of the cabling is also to be done by the IT Department; unauthorized tampering with cabling may result in other staff’s equipment losing connection to the central computer facility.

Under no circumstances will any staff member be allowed to remove any office equipment from the company premises without prior consent from the Functional Head or Human Resources Function.

Password Protection

Under no circumstances passwords be revealed to other staff members. In case employees are found sharing their password then necessary disciplinary action would be taken against such employees.

Passwords must be atleast 8 characters long and should have a combination of upper case, lowercase, numerals and punctuation characters.

Do not use any information about self (such as surname, family member names, vehicle brand/number, telephone number etc.) or a dictionary word as password.

Passwords should be changed atleast once in thirty days on a regular basis. Do not repeat/reuse the earlier password or any part thereof.

MS Mail

Company maintains electronic mail as a means of communication with employees, customers, vendors, consultants, business partners and other individuals and organizations associated with company’s business. Messages sent by electronic mail are formal communications and have the same importance as written communications.

Company’s electronic mail system and the information sent by or stored on those systems are owned by and are assets of company. It is each employee’s responsibility to make sure that use of these assets is proper and authorized. Company retains the right to access, review and disclose electronic mail messages at any time and for any reason to protect its interests.

Chain E-mail

Usage of Electronic mail throughout the Company allows for faster and more accurate sharing of information within the organization. Chain E-mails waste company resources such as telecommunications, computer disc storage and productive personnel time.


If an employee receives a “chain” Email he should delete it immediately. Forwarding a “chain” Email within the company is in strict violation of the Company’s I.T. Policy.

Safety & Security

No Smoking Policy

All Company offices will be “NO SMOKING” offices.

Injury on Duty

If an employee is injured during the course of employment, the person shall be sent for medical treatment immediately.

Medical expenses incurred on account of any injury while on duty will be borne by the company.

The company reserves the right to ascertain the cause & nature of the injury and will also be at liberty to appoint a medical doctor of its choice to decide the line of treatment etc. if felt necessary.

Depending on the severity of the case a Group Personal Accident claim must also be submitted to the concerned Insurance Company.

Security

All employees will be issued an Identity Card, giving them access to the office. It will be the responsibility of the employee to ensure that the card is maintained and carried safely.

The Identity Card is Company property and should an employee resign from the Company, it will be returned to the Human Resource on the last working day.

In case employee looses his/her Identity Card, he/she can apply for the same again and on the payment of Rs. 300 (without datacard) & Rs 1000 (with datacard) he / she will be issued a fresh card.


Leave Policy (Policy changed effective April 01, 2009) Leave Policy

All confirmed employees will be eligible for the following types of leave.

Privilege Leave (PL)

Accruals - In the beginning of every financial year, the privilege leave earned for the previous year is credited to the account of confirmed employees and displayed on-line. Maximum 30 days leave will be earned prorated on the number of days worked. Only confirmed employees are eligible for Privilege Leave.

Minimum leave to be availed - Every employee, who has completed one year in the service as on April 01, is required to avail of a minimum of 15 days of PL every year. If an employee does not avail of the required minimum 15 days in a year, the leave account will be debited for the same days at the end of the leave year.

Where the employee has not availed the minimum leave, his immediate supervisor will be held accountable. It is hereby notified that all supervisors are required to monitor the leave records of their subordinates. Refusal of leave by the supervisor without assigning reasons will be treated as against organizational norms. The employees cannot attend office while on leave.

For better leave planning and for supervisors to manage subordinates’ leave, it is recommended that Employee shall apply in advance for Privilege Leave and an advance approval is required for the same. A minimum notice of 15 days shall be required to be given by the employee.

Carry forward rules – Carry forward will take place only after minimum leave is adjusted for a year. The maximum accumulation / carry forward limit would be 60 days.

Employees who have an accumulated leave of more than 60 days as on April 01, 2009 would continue to carry forward subject to a maximum of 90 day for financial year 2010 and the same would be rationalized from April 01, 2010.

Leave encashment – Encashment of Privilege leave is not permitted. However, same can be adjusted against the shortfall in notice period at the sole discretion of the management.

Maternity Leave (ML)

All female employees who have spent 80 days in the company are entitled to paid leave-ML for 12 weeks. Weekly offs and holidays will be included while calculating this leave. This can be availed twice in a service period. Employees need to provide for adequate supporting accordingly. Sick leave or Privilege leave cannot be clubbed along with Maternity Leave.


Casual cum Sick Leave (CSL)

All confirmed employees will be eligible for 15 days CSL during the financial year on pro-rata basis. This leave can be carried forward upto 10 days. Any leave beyond 2 days should be supported by Doctor’s certificate.

In the event an employee needs additional Sick Leave because of any critical illness, the same would be granted at the sole discretion of the management after adjusting all earned privilege leave, including future accrual for current year.

Adoption Leave (AL)

All female employees planning to adopt a child can claim upto a maximum of 30 days of leave if they have completed minimum of 2 years of continuous service. This can be availed once in a service period. This will be treated as leave with pay. Employees need to provide for adequate supporting accordingly.

Paternity Leave (PL)

All married male employees who have completed minimum of 1 year of continuous service are entitled to Paternity Leave. Paternity leave can be taken up to a maximum of 5 consecutive days anytime within the first month post the delivery of the child or adoption of a child. This can be availed twice in a service period. This will be treated as leave with pay.

Unauthorised Leave

If you remain absent unauthorized or overstay the period of leave originally granted or subsequently extended, for a period of 8 consecutive days or more, you shall lose lien on your appointment and would be deemed to have voluntarily abandoned your services. In such case your name will be struck off from the muster rolls.

General Leave Rules

Leave year is April to March.

Number of leave without pay availed during a leave year will be excluded while calculating the leave accrual for that particular year.

Privilege Leave is an earned leave and hence is not available in the first year of service or before confirmation.

Holidays and weekly off will be excluded for calculating the number of days for PL availed.

All employees are required to obtain prior approval before availing of any leave. Company has the sole discretion to reject leave applications on exigencies. On


emergencies when prior approval cannot be obtained it is incumbent upon the employees to inform and seek approval of such absence immediately on resuming office from his / her superior authority. Absence from duty without approval would be considered as leave without pay. The Company has the discretion to take appropriate action including stoppage of salary payment and / or termination of services in cases of unauthorized absenteeism for more than 5 days.

Employees are requested to use the on-line e-muster and Leave Management System for regularization of leave records. If attendance muster is not regularized within 15 days, such absence would be considered as leave without pay. Continuous non-updation of e-muster for 15 days in a month will lead to withholding of salary for that month. Continuous absenteeism more than eight days without intimation will be treated as absconding from duty and services of such employees will be removed from the rolls.

Employees on probation are not entitled to avail of any types of leave. In an emergency PL may be granted on a discretionary basis and the amount of leave will be maximum of 2.50 days for every completed month of service.

The Company has the right to decline, refuse or curtail the leave period as work exigencies may require.

In case of any employee leaving the organization, salary for leave availed in excess of the pro-rata entitlement till the date of leaving will be recovered in his / her full and final settlement of account.

Casual-cum-sick leave would credited at the beginning of the year. However, in the evenet an employees leaves the organization then pro-rata adjustment would be done.

An employee, who proceeds on leave and does not resume duties thereafter or submits his resignation or is treated as having voluntarily abandoned the service, will forfeit his right to leave and will lose lien on the job and the resignation may, at the Company's sole discretion, be accepted from his last working day in the Company, notwithstanding the leave granted earlier.

No leave, whatsoever, shall be allowed / availed during the notice period. In case any employee takes leave during notice period such leave will be treated as shortfall in notice period and the employee will have to pay compensation for such shortfall.

Incase any Employee leaves the organization, during probation, after availing leave , such leave will be treated as leave without pay and proportionate recovery would be done from the final settlement.

Application process

Employee shall fill in the online leave application, through CHRIS for the sanction of leave by his / her superior.


In case of casual leave, the employee shall inform his / her superior in advance or in exigent circumstances or sick leave, apply for leave within 7 days of availing the leave.


Compensation & Benefits

Pay Policy

The compensation policy of the Company will be to pay equitably for services rendered in a manner that attracts, motivates and retains competent employees while providing appropriate control of overall salary costs. This applies to all employees irrespective of their race, sex, age, national origin, color, religion, marital status or physical disability. It is the companies’ policy to link compensation with individual performance and market trends & practices. It is the company policy to strictly adhere to the local tax and other legal requirements.

Employees joining on or before the 20th of the month will receive their pro rated salary in the beginning of the next month.

Employees joining after 20th of the month will receive their pro rated salary for that month along with the salary of the subsequent month only.

Bank Account

ICICI Lombard has tied up with ICICI for zero-balance account facility. The forms for the Savings Account may be collected from HR representative. Once you have received the bank account number, the same must be communicated to the respective HR representative for bank transfer of salary. The banks in addition to salary disbursements also offer from time to time special schemes of personal loans, housing loans, and OD facilities.

As a policy the Company can issue first salary cheque in the event the new joinee is not able to open his / her bank account. After that no salary would be paid through cheque.

Pay Days

Salaries will be credited directly into employee’s corporate salary accounts on the last working day of each month.

If the last working day falls on a weekend or a Public Holiday, the salaries will be credited on a working day preceding the holiday.

Performance Review

All employees will be Appraised as per the companies Performance Appraisal system. The annual appraisal & assessment is linked to salary review & performance bonus payment as the context may be.

The individual performance objectives & parameters linked to the company’s business objectives will be agreed between the employee and the Supervisor at the beginning of the year. The achievement of objectives will be reviewed at the end of the year.Revision No. : 1 of 36

The Performance Appraisal process will also offer developmental feedback to employee & bring out training & development needs.

Performance Bonus

Performance Bonuses are primarily dependent on the company’s overall financial results and are not an obligatory method of compensation. Performance bonus will be merit based and linked to the individual performance appraisal process & achievements.

Keeping in view the business goals, the design & structure of performance bonus system will be varied from time to time at the discretion of the management.

Salary Reviews

Salary reviews will normally be conducted annually and will be linked to the overall financial results of the company, individual performance assessments and the average compensation levels for similar job responsibilities in other comparable companies.

Compensation levels in other comparable organizations will be ascertained by conducting Salary surveys & other available methods.

Performance year for the purpose of compensation review will be April - March. The compensation changes will be implemented normally effective 1st April.

Any Salary or Benefits review including change in job responsibility will require a two level line approval and Human Resource concurrence. Salary budgets will be planned during the budgetary process & will require overall approval by Managing Director & Head of Management before being implemented.

Benefits

Company Leased Accommodation

The company provides company-leased accommodation for staff who wishes to avail of the facility. All rates including security deposit, monthly rentals and brokerage would be negotiated by the employee. Before finalizing the deal the employee should take the approval from HR. For this the company enters into a lease agreement with the landlord (the standard agreement formats are available on the Intranet - E forms) and makes the payment of the rent and the deposit in turn, the company does an upfront deduction of the rent and the cost of the deposit from the annual salary.

The staff member can identify the property, through a broker. The company pays for upto 1 month’s brokerage which is paid to the broker directly. Brokerage is paid once in a block of 3 years. The staff member has to pay a perquisite tax on the house as per tax laws. Revision No. : 1 of 36

Brokerage is payable only incase of outstation recruitment or company initiated transfers or any other case specifically agreed / approved by Head – Human Resources.


Process

The cheque towards security deposit will be issued directly in favour of the landlord by Accounts Department.

It shall be the responsibility of the employee to vacate the accommodation and ensure that the landlord refunds the security deposit to the Company on expiry of the agreement (unless renewed) or on termination of the Agreement. The Agreement shall be terminated on the cessation of the employee’s service with the Company.

Any other amount to be paid by the employee, other than rent shall be paid by the employee to the landlord.

The employee shall furnish a suitable guarantee-cum-undertaking for complying with the Lease & License policy of the Company.

Arrangements for letting out premises of the employees’ relatives would not fall within the purview of this Scheme.

Employees located outside Mumbai need to contact the respective Region / Branch offices for processing of their applications.

Medical Allowance

Medical reimbursement is paid to meet the medical expenses of the employee and his/her dependants:

Medical reimbursement up to Rs. 15,000 p.a. is non-taxable under Income Tax rules provided employee submits the bills/vouchers.

This is paid every month with salary and for tax rebate the claims have to be supported by bills.

Leave Travel Allowance

Eligibility

All confirmed employees of the company are eligible for Leave Travel Assistance (LTA).

Guidelines

LTA is to be used by the staff member for self & family, once in a year. Family members include spouse, and dependent children or dependent parents. Children above the age of 21 cease to be eligible for this benefit.

LTA is eligible only for a confirmed employee.


LTA is tax exempt only for 2 times in a block of 4 years, as per the current Income Tax rules. The block of 4 years is currently is January 2006 to December 2009.

To be eligible for LTA, the staff member should avail of minimum 4 days privilege leave.

Pro-rata accrual in the case of resignation and retirement is permitted.

Accrual: every financial year

Accumulation: Upto 2 years including the current year.

Procedure

LTA can be claimed availing tax benefits or on taxable basis

(A) To avail tax benefit an employee will be required to:

Avail 4 working days of vacation leave. Forward a Leave Fair Concession Statement (Available on intranet), duly

authorized by his Supervisor, to the HR Department within seven days of completion of travel / vacation.

Furnish proof of travel, viz. a copy of the ticket etc. along with the Expense Statement. In case of air travel, original air ticket will have to be attached.

(B) To avail LTA on a taxable basis, employee will be required to forward his claim in the Taxable LTA Form (Annexure LTA-3).

Taxability of LTA

Income Tax payable on LFC, if any, shall be paid by the employee and shall be deductible at source. HR Department shall verify the taxability of LTA and deduct tax as applicable.

LTA is exempt from Income Tax under Section 10(5) of the Income Tax Act, 1961, subject to the following conditions: -

The exemption shall be available in respect of two journeys in a block of 4 calendar years. The current block of 4 years is from 2006 to 2009 and the next block will be from 2010 to 2013.

Where such Travel Assistance is not availed during a block of 4 calendar years, amount can be availed of in the first year of immediately succeeding block of 4 calendar years e.g. 2002 for the block of 1998 to 2001.

The amount exempted under Section 10(5) in respect of LTA for himself and his family (spouse, dependent children, parents, brothers and sisters) in connection with his proceeding on leave to any place in India, shall be the amount actually incurred on the performance of such travel subject to the following limits, namely:


Where the journey is performed by air, an amount not exceeding the economy (Y) class fare by the shortest route to the place of destination.

Where the journey or part thereof is performed by rail, an amount not exceeding the air-conditioned second-class fare by the shortest route to the place of destination.

Where the place of origin of journey and part thereof are not connected by rail and the journey is performed between such places, the amount eligible for exemption shall be:

(a) Where recognized public transport system exists, an amount not exceeding the 1st class or deluxe class fare, as the case may be, on such transport fare by the shortest route to the place of destination.

(b) (Where no recognized public transport system exists, an amount equivalent to the air-conditioned second-class rail fare, for the distance of the journey by the shortest route, as if the journey had been performed by rail.

Encashment of LTA:

Encashment of LTA can be claimed at the end of each year or can be carried forward for one year. Tax exemption will be allowed as per Income Tax Rules.

Recovery

If an employee who has claimed LTA for the full financial year leaves the organization during the financial year, the pro-rated amount for the unsaved period will have to be paid back by employee.


Annexure LTA-3

TAXABLE LEAVE TRAVEL ASSISTANCE FORM

Head HRHR Department

Dear Sir,

Kindly arrange to pay LTA of Rs. _________________ due to me on a taxable basis for the year ________________.

Sincerely,

_____________________________(Signature of employee)

Name: ______________________

Employee Code: ______________________Date: ______________________


Local Travel Policy

Objective

To establish clear guidelines for Local conveyance usage and reimbursement of con-veyance expenses for local travel on Company work.

Reimbursement of Local Conveyance (Public Transport)

Expenses of employees traveling for official purpose within the city, shall be reimbursed on actual if they use public transport, auto rickshaw, taxi or local train first class fare, whichever is applicable. In the major metros, it is desirable to make judicious use of public transport. The company will reimburse taxi, auto and first class local train fare, whichever applicable. Company will not reimburse conveyance from residence to the first point and also from the last point to residence.

Reimbursement of Local Conveyance (Personal Vehicle)

Employees using their personal vehicle for official business will be reimbursed expenses for the use of their vehicle for official work at the following rates.

Car - Rs. 6 per kilometerTwo-wheeler - Rs. 3 per kilometer

Additionally, parking charges will be reimbursed.

Note: Official travel excludes the journey from the residence to any place of regular work and vice versa.

Practicing safety on roads : We care for the employees and advocate for preven-tion strategies as they travel for work and otherwise to reduce incidence of acci-dents on roads. We expect employees to practice safe driving and adhere to the rules laid down. Additionally it is compulsory to practice the following:

Wear helmets if riding on two wheelers Wear seat belts if traveling in a car

We are authorizing the managers to monitor and continuous breach of this policy would tantamount to breach of discipline.

Travel Expenses Reimbursement Rates

Travel to location outside City municipal limits

Travel for longer distances beyond city Municipal limits for business will be done by public transport / shared taxis plying between major cities.

Use of own vehicles is disallowed for outstation trips.

Process


Employee can claim local expenses borne by them through expense management system. Business Travel Policy

An employee going on a business tour may claim reimbursement of expenses incurred by him / her in accordance with prior sanction under the prescribed rules. The policy is not applicable for a pre-sanctioned, continuous stay of 15 days or more in which case “Deputation Policy “will become applicable.

Eligibility / Entitlements

Grades Air TrainManagement Team Economy Class II Tier AC / III Tier AC/ AC chair

carEmployee in Zonal / Regional Role Economy Class II Tier AC / III Tier AC/ AC chair

carEmployees Managing locations / department or Area role

Economy Class II Tier AC / III Tier AC/ AC chair car

Others Economy Class II Tier AC / III Tier AC/ AC chair car

For travel between cities within a distance of 250 kms or for overnight travel, it is advised that employees travel by 2nd AC / luxury bus / shared AC cab only.

Some e.g. : Mumbai to Pune, Mumbai to Ahmedabad, Mumbai to Goa, Pune to Goa, Hyderabad to Bangalore, Bangalore to Chennai, Chennai to Coimbatore, Coimbatore to Cochin, Bangalore to Mangalore, Hyderabad to Vishakapatnam, Jamshedpur to Ranchi, Kolkatta to Ranch, Kolkatta to Bhubaneshwar, Jamshedpur to Patna, Jamshedpur to Raipur, Delhi to Ludhiana, Delhi to Chandigarh, Ludhiana to Chandigarh, Delhi to Lucknow, Lucknow to Kanpur, Indore to Bhopal etc.

For tour from branch headquarters to another location, with no intermediate visits enroute, the employee shall use Air/Train or Deluxe / AC bus.

Where ever a day journey is possible and feasible, employees should look to returning to their base town on the same day.

Head of Functions and Head of Departments are accountable for monitoring the individual travel and entertainment expenses of all their subordinates in the department.

Non-permissible expenses during visit / tour

High priced rooms such as club/ deluxe rooms (other than specified rooms) not permissible.

Use of amenities such as health club, gift shops, sauna, steam bath, etc… Toiletries and other personal items Laundry expenses for a stay less than 2 nights. Membership fees to register for any reward programme


Expenses on cigarettes and alcoholic beverages.


Stay eligibility

Employees must plan their travel such as to avoid overnight stay unless absolutely essential.

Employees should check for availability of Guest House before traveling and plan tour based on availability unless absolutely essential.

In case Guest house is not available then employees must stay in the hotel prescribed by the company.

In case of non-availability of rooms in the recommended hotel or if the city does not have a recommended hotel, the stay eligibility will be as per the table mentioned below.

In case of employees traveling together for tours / conferences / training, Functional Heads are entitled to stay on single occupancy basis and all others should avail on a twin sharing basis.

Where an employee stays in a hotel while on tour, incidental expenses (i.e. tips) upto Rs.50/- can be claimed.

Employees can make telephone calls of reasonable duration to residence once in a day. However they should use this facility judiciously. Employees during their stay in hotel should avoid STD / ISD calls from the room unless critical / unavoidable.

Responsibility Levels

Class of City

Recommended Room Tariff per day

Food / refreshments upto a maximum of

Fixed allowance (Applicable – Incase an employee makes his own arrangement for stay) no other change will be entertained

Management Team All Actuals as per

list Actuals 2000/- per dayEmployee in Zonal / Regional Role

A Class 3500/- 750/- 1500/- per dayOther Cities 2500/- 600/- 1200/- per day

Employees Managing locations / department / Area Role

A Class 2500/- 500/- 1000/- per day

Other Cities 2000/- 400/- 800/- per day

OthersA Class 2000/- 300/- 800/- per dayOther Cities 1500/- 200/- 500/- per day

(A Class cities include Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Calcutta, Pune, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad)


Airport Conveyance

Employees can avail private taxi for airport drop and pick-up before 5.00 am and after 11.00 p.m. and similarly employees can avail of the following facility between 5.00 am to 11.00 p.m. for airport drop and pickup

Management Team / Employee in National / Zonal / Regional Role

Private taxi

Others Metered taxis / Auto rickshaw / Prepaid taxis

Booking procedure

Prior Travel:

The employee concerned shall

Fill in the requisition / cancellation forms (in duplicates) Indicate the correct cost center code on these forms Have the forms approved by the concerned business / regional head. Send the duplicate to the travel booking agency/internal travel desk. In the event of cancellation prior to the travel, the tickets should be immediately

returned to the travel agent for the issue of credit note.

After Travel All foreign advances should be settled in foreign currency with in a week of

return. The complete purpose of the trip must be mentioned in the travel statement. All business travel statements must be supported by an original receipt with the

exception of reasonable expenses towards hiring of local taxis. Charge slips should be attached to the bills if paid through credit cards. All expense statements must be submitted with the settlement form within 7

days from travel. All company paid tickets must be accounted for attaching the ticket jacket and

boarding passes. All unused tickets must be returned and employees must ensure that the credit

note is accounted for. Details must be provided in case of entertainment expenses.

Business meals and entertainment

All Business meals and entertainment need the approval of the department head.

Business Meals

The company reimburses for reasonable meal costs rather than providing a meal allowances while on tour for company business. For this reason, the employee is


responsible for using discretion in keeping meal costs in line with acceptable business practices.

Business Entertainment

Entertainment expenses incurred in entertaining customers and business associates are reimbursable provided the expenses is on bonafide business discussions or building business partnerships / relationships. While claiming the reimbursement, the employee should mention the name of the guest entertained along with the reason for entertaining. Employees expecting to spend more than Rs.500/- on entertainment should seek prior approval from the Function Head / Regional Head

Group Meals

Meals involving more than one employee requires the highest – ranking employee present to pay for the meal charges. The practice of a junior employee paying for a meal and having a more senior employee present at the meal, approve the expense report is not allowable

In-City Travel

Employees at all levels should use metered taxis for point-to-point travel and the same would be reimbursed at actuals under local conveyance expenses in the expense account.

In case of in-city travel covering multi – locations or visit of important clients, employees can hire private taxis but only after prior sanction.

Outstation Visits

For tour form branch headquarters and involving visits to a number of towns in a day, private taxi may be hired. However, for tour from branch headquarters to another location, with no intermediate visit enroute, the employee should use Air/Train or Deluxe/AC bus.

Policy Compliance

An employee undertaking a business tour may claim reimbursement of expenses incurred by him in accordance with the prescribed rules.

The business rules apply to short business trips upto a fortnight. If an employee is required to be on tour for a period exceeding more than a fortnight, prior sanction is required. The employee would then be governed under the extended tour policy.

These rules have been framed keeping in mind as many touring situations as possible. Ordinarily no deviations will be permitted.

It is incumbent on employee to plan the travel sufficiently in advance so as to avoid stay outside approved hotel/ beyond the limits permissible.Revision No. : 1 of 36

Should exigencies of work or the circumstances result in the employee-specified limits, such excess expenditure must be specified in a separate explanatory note along with the tour expense statement and sanctioned by the functional head.

Reporting Expenses

All expenses are to be recorded in an expense statement in the applicable sections as directed by the form. Each expense statement requires a business purpose or multiple purposes can be documented on a single expense statement. Claims need to be submitted within 7 days of travel.

If an employee uses personal vehicle for business purposes the details should be explained in the expense statement. The calculation of the mileage reimbursement must be clearly documented on the expense statement.

Supervisor Responsibilities

Supervisors are accountable for monitoring the individual travel and entertainment spending of all their reportees in the department each manager has responsibility for reviewing and approving expense statements & reports to ensure travel entertainment expenditures are proper, reasonable and supported by appropriate documentation. This responsibility includes not only allowing any no-reimbursable or inappropriate expenses outlined by this policy.

International Travel

All foreign travel needs to be approved by the Function Head and also by Managing Director prior to the travel.

Employees in all grades are required to travel by economy class.

Employees on international tour / travel are entitled for $ 200 per day as daily allowance (all inclusive).

Employees on international tour / travel are entitled for $ 75 per day as daily allowance when stay arrangements have been made either by the company or a third party (all inclusive).

No daily allowance will be paid for the time spent during the journey.

Other expenses

Expenses incurred for obtaining visa, taking out overseas medical insurance policy and other necessary expenses will be reimbursed on actual basis.

On completion of journey, employees should submit travel bills within 7 days with appropriate tickets, hotel bills, taxi bills etc. through e-settlements. In Regions/


Branch Offices where the e-settlement is not available, employees are requested to submit the bills to their respective Regional/Branch Offices.

General

Employees going for outstation duties will bear these principles in mind :

Official tour shall not coincide with leave or personal work except with prior sanction of Head of Department.

Arrival / Departure at destination stations shall be arranged so that weekly / public holidays i.e. idle days are avoided as far as possible.

All official miscellaneous / incidental expenses such as telephone calls, photocopying, facsimile charges etc. while on tour shall be reimbursed at actuals subject to submission of proper bills and authorisation.

No employee shall authorize his own traveling expenses.

Mobile Phone Policy

General Rules

SIM cards shall be made available to employees provided the same is recommended by the immediate superior and approved by the business / functional head.

The employee must write a note clearly stating the need of a cell phone along with a justification for its usage to the regional / functional head and route it through his immediate superior for an approval.

Limits for reimbursement

Grade Sales / CS / Admn Other FunctionsManagement Team / Employees in Na-tional Role 2500

Employee in Zonal / Regional Role 1750 1500Employees Managing locations / depart-ment / Area Role 1000 700Others (Need Based) 700 500

No employee would be paid any amount over and above the entitlement except in cases involving travel abroad.


Payment of bills to mobile company / agency

Where company has a corporate tie-up the bills would be paid directly by the company to the respective mobile company / agency. Thus, reimbursement of mobile expenses is not applicable for employees at these locations.

Employees at locations other than stated above will have to directly make the payments to the mobile company / agency and later claim from the company.

Reimbursement procedure

All employees will get the reimbursement from Corporate Office at Mumbai. . Employees should check the monthly bills to see whether it is within the

prescribed limit, as well as for personal calls, if any. If the current monthly bill amount (excluding personal calls, if any) exceeds the

prescribed limit, approval from the Department Head is necessary, else only eligible amount will be reimbursed.

After making the necessary payment (before due date) the employees should send the following to the Corporate Office for reimbursement:

Original receipt of payment / Personal credit card payment slip / photo copy of the cheque for the amount paid (equivalent to the current monthly charges i.e. for both official and personal calls),

o The covering statement with supporting (itemized calls details) o The above two (a and b) should be dispatched by all Employees together

from the respective locations instead of sending by individual employee. Reimbursement will be based on current monthly charges (official calls).

Previous balances will not be considered or carried forward. Late payment charges, if any, will not be borne by the company. Photo copies of bills / statement will not be processed. Employees have the options of converting their existing mobile number under

the corporate plan. However, once converted under corporate plan then they would not be allowed to retain the same number in the even of a separation from the company.

No employee would be allowed to retain the corporate number on separation from the company.

Visiting Cards

An online Visiting Card application form available on iNsight is required to be submitted by concerned employee. The request for visiting card shall be verified by Human Resources and sent for further processing to Administration department. The visiting card application form is required to be filled and sent to the Administration Department through hard copy. The copy shall be forwarded to the Administration team after checking the relevant details. The Administration team shall process the printing of the visiting cards and ensure that the cards reach the employee concerned. The turnaround time is 3 days from the date of requisition till the issue of the cards.


Visiting Cards shall carry only the designation as announced in the market designation note unless otherwise signed as an exception by Head HR

Visiting Cards shall carry the logo of the Company as stipulated under the policy The layout of the card and fonts shall be as per company policy. Personal e-mail addresses shall not be permitted on visiting cards.

Telephone Reimbursement

For Functional Heads, one Telephone (residential landline / mobile) reimbursement can be claimed upto Rs. 3,500 per month. Bill must be in the name of the staff member or confirmed that bill relates to his / her usage including STD / ISD.

(For clarification please refer an Income Tax ready reckoner)


Relocation Policy

Objective

When an employee is required to relocate from one city to another (at the time of joining or on transfer) at the company’s request, the company will provide for reim-bursing all direct expenses incurred by the employee on account of the relocation.

This will exclude twin cities which are large but adjacent to each other and for all practical purposes are considered one city and all such cases where relocation takes place on the request of the employee.

Relocation Allowance

A sum equivalent of one months base pay is payable to an employee as setting - in allowance. This allowance is paid to assist the employee to meet all the incidental expenses incurred in vacating a house and moving to set up a new house in a new location. To give the employee the benefit of the entire amount, the company will gross up the eligible amount based on the tax slab employee will fall into so that the employee receives one month’s basic salary in hand. This amount is payable through payroll.

New joinees are not entitled for this allowance.

In case the employee leaves the company before completion of 6 months from mov-ing in to the new location the entire amount paid will be recovered from him / her.

Shipment of Personal Goods

The cost of shipment by surface transport of personal and household effects of the employee including personal car will be borne by the company.

Administration / Branch Service department to maintain a list of authorized packers and employees will use these Packers and Movers for this purpose. If for some reason, this is not possible, the employee needs to obtain three independent quotations and administration department to close one of them.

Expenses

The company will bear the cost of first trip with family before the actual posting is made. Family for this purpose will include employee, spouse and dependent children below 21 years.

When relocated, the company will allow the employee to stay in the Guest House/company approved hotel upto 15 days in order to allow employee to find a suitable accommodation in the new area.


Travel

The travel entitlement of employee along with family shall be

Distance Mode of TravelUpto 1000 KMs 2nd AC Above 1000 KMs Air – Economy Class

Employee should plan their travel so as to use the Apex fare facility.


Deputation Policy

Philosophy

There are circumstances when employees are required to be posted at locations/cities other than their place of normal posting (Headquarters) for a long period to complete certain projects / assignments. Since the employee is going to come back to his / her permanent place of posting,

Coverage

This policy is applicable to all pre-sanctioned tours of more than 14 days.

Deputation Allowance

The Deputation Allowance would be paid on the strength of proper supportings to be provided by the employee, towards food, laundry, purchase of other personal items, etc. as indicated below

Call of City Own Arrangement Company provide only Lodging facility

Company provide Lodging and Boarding

facilityA Class City Rs. 600/- per day Rs. 300/- per day Rs. 150/- per dayOthers Rs. 400/- per day Rs. 200/- per day Rs. 100/- per day

Visit to Head Quarter

The employee will be entitled to visit his family at Head Quarter/ town once in 120 days for a for 5 days the travel eligibility for this purpose will be as per the normal travel entitlements.

Tax

Since the Deputation Allowance is being paid in the form of reimbursement, the same will not attract any Income Tax. However, the interpretation regarding tax purposes would be done by the Accounts department.


Social Security

Employee Provident Fund & Family Pension Fund

Provident Fund is one of the mandatory schemes established by the Government of India to provide social security to the service class. It is a scheme, which has bearing on the employee and the staff member and provides security to the staff member and / or his dependants on retirement or liability or death.

Each staff member from his date of joining becomes a member of the Provident Fund scheme that is administered through Regional Provident Fund Commissioner Office, Mumbai.

Contribution

The staff member shall contribute 12% of their Base salary to the provident fund. The contribution will be made by deducting the amount from the monthly salary. The Company also makes a contribution equivalent to 12% of the base Salary of the staff member. The contributions of employee and employer towards PF and FPF are as under

Base payPF FPF

Employee’s Contribution

Employer’s Contribution

Employee’s Contribution

Employer’s Contribution

Up Rs. 6500/- @ 12% @ 3.67% Nil @ 8.33%Above Rs. 6500/- @ 12% @ 12% less Rs.

541/- Nil Rs. 541/-

At the end of the year, interest at a rate fixed by the PF Commissioner within the limits prescribed by law, if any on the subject, shall be added to the individual staff member accounts. The interest on the statutory contribution is tax-free.

Voluntary Contribution

In addition to the rate of contribution specified, a staff member may voluntarily contribute a further sum, which shall be a fixed percentage of salary. In such cases the members will be allowed to alter their rate of voluntary contribution only once in a year.

Staff members who wish to contribute VPF have to give a letter addressed to the Trustees of PF Fund, stating therein the percentage or absolute amount of VPF and from which subsequent month should the VPF be deducted.

Nomination

Every staff member shall have the right to nominate some person of their choice to receive the payment on the behalf in the event of staff member's death.

In case of change in the nomination, the staff member should inform the HR department and fill in fresh nomination forms. For example in case of any staff Revision No. : 1 of 36

member getting married he /she may want to change the nomination to make his/her spouse the beneficiary.

Transfer of fund from previous employer

Staff members joining laterally can transfer their provident fund to the ICICI Lombard General Insurance PF Trust by filling in Form 13 (available with HRD). For this you need to know from your previous employer the details of the provident fund, the name and address of the Trust/ RPFC Commissioner.

Withdrawal

The staff member can withdraw from the PF fund for the following provided he satisfies the conditions mentioned:

For purchase/construction of a House, provided the staff member has completed 5 years of continuous service. Quantum of withdrawal is equivalent to full amount standing to the credit of the staff member.

For Higher Education, Marriage and Hospitalization provided the member has completed 7 years of continuous service. The eligible amount to be withdrawn is 50% of staff member’s contribution including interest thereon.

The staff member can withdraw the provident fund on resignation. For such withdrawal the request to withdraw can be made only if the staff member proves that he does not wish to take up any service for 2 months from his date of separation or if he plans to go abroad for more than 3 months. In the earlier case, the request for withdrawal can be made only 2 months after separation. Payment will be immediate in the latter case.

In case the staff member takes up new employment, he has to transfer the provident fund to the new employer by putting a request to the new employer.

Gratuity

Gratuity envisages provision of a retirement benefit to the employees who have rendered a minimum of 5 years of service with employer.

Every employee irrespective of the salary limits is covered under Gratuity Scheme.

Gratuity is payable at the time of separation (only after 5 years of continuous service), superannuation, death or disablement due to accident or disease.

The amount of gratuity payable to an employee who is entitled for such payment, will be done as follows:

Length of Service BenefitMore than 5 years but less than 10 years

15 days * last drawn Base salary* no. of completed years of service

More than 10 years 30 days * last drawn Base salary* no. of completed years of service

The last drawn base salary is considered at the time of payment of Gratuity.Revision No. : 1 of 36

For the purpose of calculating gratuity, period of service greater than 6 months will be considered as equivalent to one year and less than 6 months will not be counted.

No gratuity is payable for less than 5 years service except as per the terms of Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972.


Insurance

The company has the following medical/hospitalisation/accident insurance schemes to take care of the unforeseen expenditures.

Group Personal Accident Scheme Group Mediclaim & Hospitalisation Group Term Life Insurance Scheme

Group Mediclaim & Hospitalisation Scheme

All employees and their dependents, including spouse, two dependent children up to 21 years of age and dependent parents, upto the age of 65 years, are eligible for hospitalization benefit. The quantum of coverage is Rs 2,00,000/- for the whole family during the financial year. The insurance cover would include pregnancy. Pre-existing pregnancies will not be covered. For further details on coverage, please contact the Administration Department.


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