India Leave Policy (V 1.

7)

India Leave Policy | C3 – Protected 0

 INDIA LEAVE POLICY (V 1.7)

Prepared By Reviewed by
Approved By

Satish Jeyaraman
Gayathri R Aravind Srinivasaraghavan
(101669)
Name
(572345) (107415)
Smriti Ahuja

(418161)

Date 5th May 2017 19th June, 2017

5th July, 2017

Version History

V 1.1 Annual review and process changes, if any, incorporated.

V 1.2 Changes incorporated in eligibility and approvals

Clarification on leave policy, eligibility and accrual during

onsite assignment
V 1.3
and on onsite payroll.
Introduction of Four months of Paid Maternity leave. Removal
of EML option
& No documentation requirements to apply for MLOP
V 1.4
MLOP can be availed for reasons of Child care after ML or
before ML if
medically warranted
Introduction of Child Adoption leave for Men
V 1.5
Introduction of ML entitlement for onsite returnees to India
Payroll
Extension of ML to 26 weeks as per the Maternity Amendment
Act, 2017
Extension of Adoption leave to 84 days for women associates
adopting a child
V 1.6
whose age is less than 3 months
Changes incorporated as part of the annual review.
Introduction of commissioning leave as per the Maternity
Benefit
(Amendment) Act, 2017
V 1.7
Amendment to LoP guidelines

India Leave Policy | C3 – Protected

1
Contents
1.
Overview ..........................................................................
.................................................................... 3

2.
Scope .............................................................................
....................................................................... 3

3.
Definitions .......................................................................
..................................................................... 3

4.
Eligibility .......................................................................
....................................................................... 3

5.
Approvals .........................................................................
.................................................................. 12

6.
Procedure..........................................................................
................................................................. 12

7. Responsibility
Matrix ............................................................................
............................................ 12

India Leave Policy | C3 – Protected

2
 LEAVE POLICY
1. Overview
1.1 The Leave policy enables associates to avail time off from work in
order to relax/recover from
illness, maternity, or for personal reasons.

1.2 The policy will be effective from 1st July, 2017

2. Scope
2.1 The policy applies to all associates including trainees on the payrolls
of Cognizant Technology
Solutions India Private Limited and its Indian affiliates.

Note: There will be no leave accrual when an associate is on LOP.

3. Definitions
3.1 Tubectomy is a permanent surgical method of birth control for women.

3.2 Commissioning mother is the biological mother who uses her egg to
create an embryo
planted in any other woman.

4. Eligibility
As part of Cognizant’s leave policy, associates on India payroll are entitled
to the following benefits:

4.1 National and Festival Holidays

Cognizant observes ten national holidays including festival holidays

each year. The 4 national
holidays are fixed and will be observed every year.

4.1.1 Republic Day

4.1.2 Independence Day

4.1.3 May Day

4.1.4 Gandhi Jayanthi

There are six regional holidays which are fixed for a year & may vary
from one location to other.

India Leave Policy | C3 – Protected

3
 These are decided every year by the Location leadership team, in
consultation with the
respective Center Heads and should be in line with the regional Govt.
notification.

Note: To view the holiday schedule for the year, navigate to Holiday
List in One Cognizant

4.2 Vacation Leave (VL)

4.2.1 Associates are entitled to twelve working days of paid

vacation leave, per year.

4.2.2 Associates are entitled to one day of Vacation leave in a

month, provided they are
in Cognizant India payroll (or) have joined the
organization, on or before 15 th of
every month

4.2.3 If an associate joins the organization on or before 15th of

a month, the respective
leave credit would happen during the first week of
subsequent month. For
example, if an associate has joined work on 13th of April,
the associates vacation
leave will be credited during first week of May

4.2.4 If the associate joins after the 15th of a month, there

would not be any leave credit
for that month. For example, if an associate has joined
work on April 16, the
associates will not be entitled to leave credit for the
month of April

4.2.5 On completion of three years with Cognizant, the associate

is entitled to seventeen
working days of paid vacation leave per year. This is
credited at 1.5 days of leave
every month except in January and December where it is one
day each.

4.2.6 General Information

4.2.6.1 Associates can accumulate up to 12 or 17 days of

vacation leave based
on their tenure at cognizant, in one calendar
year.

4.2.6.2 Any unused vacation leave in the current year can

be carried forward to
the subsequent calendar year only, after which the
leave lapses.

4.2.6.3 Associates cannot encash their vacation leave.

4.2.6.4 Associates must raise a request for leave through

the Enterprise Absence
Management System (EAMS) at least a week prior to
their vacation and
 obtain their Reporting Manager’s approval.

India Leave Policy | C3 – Protected

4
 4.3 Personal Leave (PL)

Associates can avail personal leave for unforeseen personal

emergencies. This also includes
any leave taken to celebrate festivals of faith that have not been
declared as a holiday by the
organization.

4.3.1 Associates are entitled for four working days of paid

personal leave, per year
which will be credited on January 1st, of every year

4.3.2 For associates who have joined the organization during the
year, leave credit will
be prorated, for every quarter.

4.3.3 For example, an associate joining work on 13th of April,

which falls in the first half
of Q2, will be entitled to overall 3 days of personal leave
during that calendar year.
An associate joining work on 2nd of June, which falls in
the second half of Q2, will
be entitled to overall 2 days of personal leave during that
calendar year.

4.3.4 The associate must raise a request for leave through the
EAMS at least a week
prior to their absence and obtain their Reporting Manager’s
approval, unless it is
an emergency.

4.3.5 The associate’s unused personal leave cannot be carried

forward and will get
lapsed on 31st December of the same year.

4.3.6 Associates cannot encash their personal leave.

4.4 Sick Leave (SL)

4.4.1 Associates are entitled for 0.5 days of sick leave in a

month, provided they are in
Cognizant India payroll (or) have joined the organization,
on or before 15th of every
month.

4.4.2 If an associate joins the organization on or before 15th of

a month, the respective
leave credit would happen during the first week of the
subsequent month. For
example, if an associate has joined on 13th Apr, the
associate’s sick leave
entitlement will be credited during first week of May.

4.4.3 If the associate joins after the 15th of a month, there

would not be any leave credit
for that month. For example, if an associate has joined
work on April 16, the
associates will not be entitled to leave credit for the
month of April
 4.4.4 Associates can accumulate up to 18 days (over three years)
of sick leave; anything
greater will lapse automatically.

India Leave Policy | C3 – Protected

5
 4.4.5 Associates cannot encash sick leave.

4.4.6 Associates must keep their Reporting Manager informed if

they are unable to
attend work due to any illness and must apply for sick
leave in EAMS on the day
they return to work.

4.4.7 Associates who have to undergo a planned hospitalization

must apply for sick
leave in the EAMS, prior to availing their leave. They are
strongly encouraged to
keep their Reporting Manager informed of the progress of
their health.

4.4.8 Cognizant reserves the right to ask its associate to

undergo a comprehensive
check-up by specified doctors, to ensure that associates
are fit to resume work.

4.5 Compensatory Off

4.5.1 Compensatory off refers to a day off taken against extra

work done due to project
requirements.

4.5.2 Associates need to record the days worked on a holiday or

weekend, which could
be a Saturday or Sunday (depending on their work week
schedule), in EAMS.

4.5.3 The reporting manager should approve the additional day(s)

worked, upon which
the associate becomes eligible to avail compensatory off
leave.

4.5.4 Associates can avail compensatory off leave upon manager’s

approval.

4.5.5 Associates can avail a maximum of three continuous

Compensatory off leave in a
single transaction

4.5.6 Compensatory off should be availed within 60 calendar days

from the day on which
they have worked; else their leave will get lapsed.

4.5.7 Associates should record the day on which they have worked
in the timesheet.

4.5.8 Associates cannot encash Compensatory off leave or combine

it with their vacation
or personal leave.

4.6 Maternity Leave (ML)

4.6.1 Eligibility: Women associates, who have been on the rolls

of Cognizant India or
its Indian affiliates for at least 80 calendar days, before
the expected date of
delivery can apply for maternity leave.

4.6.2 Associates are entitled to 182 days (26 weeks) of paid

maternity leave for the first
two surviving children

India Leave Policy | C3 – Protected

6
 4.6.3 Associates must submit their ML application eight weeks in
advance, through
EAMS and have it approved by their reporting manager. ML
start date should be
eight weeks preceding the expected date of delivery

4.6.4 Associates having more than two surviving children,

applying ML for the third child
or so on, shall be entitled to 84 days (12 weeks) of paid
maternity leave. Associates
should submit ML six weeks in advance in this case.

4.6.5 Maternity leave is inclusive of all intervening Saturdays,

Sundays and any other
holiday declared by the organization.

4.6.6 Associates are eligible for 30 days of paid extended

maternity leave. However,
Extended Maternity Leave (EML) is not a privileged leave
under Maternity Act.
Associates who wish to avail EML should submit a
certificate from a certified
medical practitioner detailing on the following

4.6.6.1 Active line of treatment

4.6.6.2 Reason to be on extended leave citing the cause of

illness

4.6.6.3 Tentative period to be on extended leave (end date

of leave)

Note:

 Approval of EML is at the discretion of the organization,

after scrutinizing the
documents submitted by the associate.

 In case of concealment of facts / false claim stating

unwarranted illness / reason
for extended leave is not in line with the active line of
treatment / forged
documents, necessary action would be taken as per the
clauses stated in the
Misconduct and Disciplinary action Policy

4.6.7 At Cognizant, associates can further avail leave of up to

six calendar months (180
calendar days) of Maternity Loss of pay (MLoP)

4.6.8 MLoP can be availed in parts, either before or after ML,

provided the total duration
of MLoP does not exceed 6 calendar months

4.6.9 Associates must submit the medical certificate issued by a

doctor indicating the
expected date of delivery, for availing the ML (or) for
availing the MLoP before ML
 4.6.10 Associates should exhaust the available vacation, sick and
personal leave
balance, before applying for MLoP.

India Leave Policy | C3 – Protected

7
 4.6.11 Associates can avail all the leave types (ML, VL, PL,
SL, MLoP), on account of
maternity, as per their need, on a continuous basis,
without any breaks or working
day in between.

ML scenario
Leave Entitlement

Associates applying for ML for the first two surviving  182 days of paid
ML
children
 30 days of paid
EML (in case of medical emergency)
 180 days of MLoP
 (ML + EML +
Available vacation/sick/personal Leave +
MLoP) shall not
exceed 365 days

Associates applying for ML for the third surviving child  84 days of paid
ML
and so on
 30 days of paid
EML (in case of medical emergency)
 180 days of MLoP
 (ML + Available
vacation/sick/personal Leave +
MLoP) shall not
exceed 365 days

* Cognizant reserve the rights to collect relevant documents if warranted.

4.7 Miscarriage Leave: On submitting a medical certificate, associates
are entitled to six weeks
of paid leave immediately from the date of the miscarriage.

4.8 Tubectomy: Women associates are entitled for two weeks of paid
leave immediately from the
date of surgery on submitting the medical certificate in EAM.
Tubectomy leave cannot be
availed while on Maternity leave and/or MLOP.

4.9 Commissioning Leave:

4.9.1 Women associates commissioning a child are eligible

for 84 days (12 weeks) of
commissioning leave.

4.9.2 The following are the documents to be submitted to

avail commissioning leave

 Birth certificate of the child possessing the

name of the commissioning mother

mother
 Discharge summary from the hospital at the time
of birth of the child

4.10 Child Adoption Leave:

 4.10.1 All Associates are entitled to six weeks (42 calendar
days) of leave from the date
of legal adoption of the child.

India Leave Policy | C3 – Protected

8
 4.10.2 Women associates adopting a child whose age is less than 3
months are entitled
to 84 days of paid adoption leave.

4.10.3 Documents required to avail the benefit:

 Legal adoption certificate (or)

 Application form filed in the court + Certificate

from the agency confirming the
adoption

4.11 Loss of Pay (LOP): Can be availed only after exhausting all the
available leave (VL, SL, PL).

Any unauthorized leave is considered as LOP leave, and is to be

initiated by the Reporting
Manager. LOP cannot be adjusted against future leave accruals and
cannot be reversed.

4.11.1 LOP approval matrix:

Duration Approvals
Reason for availing LoP

Up to 30 days HCM supervisor Any

personal reason
of LOP

LOP ranging BU/SBU head (D+) Any

personal reason
31 – 90 days and BU TM (SM+)

LOP ranging BU/SBU head (AVP+) Only for

critical illness (Self)
91 – 180 days and BU TM (SM+)

4.11.2 Approval of LoP shall be at the discretion of the business

unit

4.11.3 Associates availing LoP for more than 30 days can be moved
to the Corporate
Deployable Pool (CDP Leave Project) only on grounds of
medical reasons for self,
post validation of necessary documents by the CDP team.

4.11.4 Associates requesting for LoP more than 90 days for critical
illness, should provide
valid medical documents. The same shall be validated by the
HR Shared Services
team / CDP team, before approval of the leave.

4.11.5 The cumulative number of days of LoP (even if availed in

breaks) in a calendar
year shall not exceed 90 days for any personal reason or
180 days in case of
 critical illness.

India Leave Policy | C3 – Protected

9
 4.11.6 Associates shall not be eligible to avail LoP for more than
90 days for any personal
reason or 180 in case of critical illness, at any point in
time, irrespective of calendar
years

4.11.7 Associates availing more than 90 days of LoP in the last

quarter of the year, i.e.
Q4 (Oct-Dec), shall wait for 3 months until next
application of LoP

4.12 Associates Travelling on International Assignments with Payroll

Transfer from / to India

4.12.1 The associates’ leave entitlement will be governed by the

leave policy / guidelines
of respective geographies, where the associate is deputed
to. These will be in
addition to any other entitlements specifically mentioned
in the assignment letter
or related Statement of Benefits or Employee handbook. The
leave entitlement will
be prorated for the duration of their stay in the deputed
country.

4.12.2 The associates cannot use their accumulated India leave

while on International
assignments and vice versa.

4.12.3 Leave accrual in India will be suspended effective the start

date of International
assignment and will restart once the assignment ends and
the associate returns
to India.

4.12.4 Vacation and Personal Leave: Associates can use all their
available vacation
and personal leave balance, either before the assignment
start date or only after
they return back to India and are on India payroll,
provided that these leave have
not lapsed as per the carry forward guidelines of this
policy.

o Vacation Leave can be carried forward for a period

of one calendar year,
after which the leave will get lapsed.

o Personal Leave will get lapsed by December 31st of

the same year

4.12.5 Sick Leave: The accrual of sick leave will stop for the
assignment duration. Sick
leave balance up to a maximum of 18 days will be retained
till the associate returns
to India and can be availed by the associates once they
return.

4.12.6 Maternity Leave:

 Maternity leave can be availed as per the eligibility
criteria mentioned above, only
if the associate is active on India payroll.

o Associates travelling from an onsite geography to

India payroll are entitled
to avail the differential paid Maternity leave in
India. For example, an

India Leave Policy | C3 – Protected

10
 associate who had availed 45 days of paid
maternity leave in the onsite
geography, on returning to India payroll can
avail the differential paid
maternity leave which is 137 days (182 days – 45
days) in India.

o Associates who have availed unpaid maternity

leave in the onsite
geography, on travelling to India are entitled to
182 days of paid maternity
leave. However, the number of days of unpaid
leave availed in the onsite
geography will be reconciled with MLOP in India.
For example, an associate
who had availed 45 days of unpaid maternity leave
in the onsite geography,
on returning to India payroll can avail the 182
days of Maternity Leave and
135 days (180 days – 45 days) of MLOP in India

o Associates who have availed paid leave (Vacation

leave, personal leave or
sick leave) in the onsite geography for the
purpose of maternity, on returning
to India payroll are entitled 182 days of
maternity leave in India. For example,
an associate who had availed 10 days of vacation
leave for the purpose of
maternity in the onsite geography, on returning
to India payroll can avail 182
days of paid maternity leave in India since no
maternity leave was availed in
the onsite geography.

Note:

 Associates should submit the proof of ML

availed in the onsite geography,
as per the tracking system followed either by
the respective TMs or Shared
Services team in that geography.

 Associates travelling from an onsite geography

to India payroll are eligible
to avail paid maternity leave in India within 3
months from the date of
delivery.

4.12.7 Compensatory off Leave: Leave under this category earned in

India needs to be
availed in India itself within 60 calendar days from the
day during which the
associate has worked irrespective of the current location
of the associate.

For more information click FAQs and visit the Leave policy ‘Personal life
event’ on Navigator
 Click here for FAQs

India Leave Policy | C3 – Protected

11
5. Approvals
5.1 Reporting Manager: Approve leave requests submitted by the associate in
EAMS.

5.2 HRSS - All types of ML including Tubectomy, miscarriage and adoption

leave will be finally
approved by the HRSS team post supervisor approval in the system.

6. Procedure
6.1 All associates must submit their leave requests through EAMS and have
the leave approved
by their Reporting Manager.

6.2 Medical certificates where ever required, have to be submitted.

7. Responsibility Matrix
7.1 Associate: Timely submission of leave application through EAMS.

7.2 Reporting Manager: Approve leave submitted by the associate.

India Leave Policy | C3 – Protected

12