Does the HR department in your company fulfill its recognition as a service-oriented one? Are you being offered very few sick leaves or none at all? Is this taking a toll on your health and your capacity to work efficiently?
While many Bangaloreans would be able to associate themselves with such an unfortunate position, Americans are being recommended to stay home if they are sick. With the widespread awareness of H1N1 and other contagious diseases, DNA spoke to HR departments to get an insight into the current situation.
Manu Srinivasan, head of HR, Genesis, talks of the leniency employees are given in respect to the number of sick leaves: “The employees are given a total of 24 sick leaves in a year.”
She stresses on the fact that this has always been the system followed and is not influenced by the situation in America. “We do not force the sick to come to work as this aggravates their condition and decreases their productivity at the workplace,” she adds.
At Infosys, all employees are eligible for earned leave. Leaves are credited to every employee at the beginning of every quarter, on an ongoing basis.
“Depending on the job band of the employees, they are eligible for 20 or 15 days of earned leave,” says an Infosys spokesperson. As for women employees, they are entitled to 84 days maternity leave.
Chandan AS, manager of the HR department of Urban Brands, says, “All employees are given sick leave of two days per month which comes up to 24 days a year. Also, a maternity leave of 12 weeks is given for women. It is paid sick leave where everything entitled to them, is provided.”
General practitioners were asked if they had any working men or women coming in sick and being recommended to take leave from work. Dr Deepak Ramchandan, Wockhardt hospital, says he has not observed anything out of the ordinary and so does Dr Rajesh Bajaj, Bajaj Clinic.
Dr Bajaj suggests everyone who is travelling and unwell, to get to their desired destination and take a week’s rest. If a runny nose or any other flu symptoms are present, then screening for any disease must be done immediately. This will enable not only the working crowd, but also others to keep from falling ill.
Other doctors, including Dr Shariq Rafeeq, Acura Day Care Clinic, Acura Hospital, are of a different opinion regarding the subject. He says, “There has been an increase in the number of patients who are working.”
Most of his patients complain saying that due to the recession, they are unable to take sick leaves.
The situation is already bad and companies in Bangalore feel that offering sick leaves will only aggravate it. However, it must be kept in mind that if an employee’s health is not the first preference, then their working capacities and efficiency will decline and eventually result in the same.
