Attendance Management Policy: Reed Elsevier Shared Services (Philippines) Inc

Reed Elsevier Shared Services (Philippines) Inc.
ATTENDANCE MANAGEMENT POLICY
Attendance Management Policy - 10.23.2012
Page 1

Change History
Change Date
Description
Action By
September 5, 2012
First Draft
Rashelle Cejo
September 7, 2012
General Revisions
Core Mancomm
Members
Review and input of Core

ManComm Members
September 25, 2012
Additional Updates and Revisions
Operations
Management
October 17, 2012
Final Review with ManComm
ManComm and
Business Units
October 19, 2012
Meeting with Supervisors
October 23, 2012
Release to Employees
Operations
Management Supervisors
Rashelle Cejo
Review and input of

Operations Management
Team
Review and input of
ManComm and Business
Units
Final Review with PSS
Supervisors
REMARKS
(Reason for Change)
Page 2
Attendance Management Policy 2012

The policy stated herein is intended to supplement our Employee Handbook which was released last
October 2011.
Coverage: All Employees
Table of Contents:
1. Eight Hour Work Shift
2. Managing Schedules
3. Paid Time Off
a. Implementing Guidelines
b. Leave Application
c. Leave Approval/ Cancellation
d. Emergency Cases
e. Usage of PTO
4. Other Leave Entitlement
a. RE Cares Leave (2 days)
b. Bereavement Leave (5)
c. Maternity Leave (60/78)
d. Paternity Leave (7)
e. Parental/ Solo Parent Leave (7)
f. Special Leave Benefit for Women (60)
5. Disciplinary Action
6. Implementation
1. Eight Hour Work Shift

As a general rule, employees are required to work on a 40-hour per week or 8 hours a day with one (1)
hour meal break (non-compensable) and two (2) fifteen-minute paid break on a scheduled five-day work
week basis. An internal memo was released last August 6, 2012 to announce the move to an eight hour
work shift (regular work shifts will be 8 hours/day with total paid break/meal time of 1 hour/day). The
change is intended to support the growth of Philippine Shared Services (PSS), to align the company with
industry best practices, to enable PSS to support new work streams, to continue to deliver improved
productivity of the business and to support the work/life balance of employees.
2. Managing Schedules
All employees are required to come to work on their shift schedule. Prompt attendance is required of every
employee. Immediate Supervisor is responsible to track the tardiness of employee for attendance
management and for purposes of corrective action. With the current eight-hour work shift, an employee is
considered tardy for the day, if he / she reported to work 5 minutes after the start of his/her shift. However,
for payroll computation, deductions will start after fifteen minutes.
Employees are required to use the Time and Attendance System of the company (HIMS) in filing for their
attendance, paid time off, absences, holiday, under time, overtime etc. Failure to do so may be treated as
an absence and may affect payroll computation.
Off-setting of working hours should have the approval of Immediate Supervisor without prejudice to
business operations. Human Resource Department should be informed by using our Time and Attendance
System.
Overtime and under time is only allowed and approved by Immediate Supervisors if required by the
business. Overtime is in excess of the eight-hour work shift while under time is less than the required eight
Page 3

hours of work or leaving the place of work earlier than scheduled. An employee cannot offset under time
by rendering overtime work.
Flexible Work Schedule arrangement is only intended for specific roles or functions within the
organization and subject to the demands of the business. Employees who are on this shift are required to
render the eight hours of work. Immediate Supervisors should identify a shift schedule with specific hours
of coverage depending on business requirement and availability of work station.
Change of Rest Day is subject to the demands of the business, if there is no impact to production,
metrics, service level agreement etc. the Immediate Supervisor may allow provided it is made three days
before the scheduled rest day.
3. Paid Time Off

Paid Time off (PTO) days can be used for vacation, sick and emergency leave days.
Employees hired prior to January 1, 2013, are given twenty-four (24) days of Paid Time Off (PTO) for the
calendar year. Two (2) days of PTO are earned every month. Employees hired starting on January 1,
th
2013, will earn two (2) days PTO/month beginning on their fourth (4 ) month of employment during their
first year of service. During subsequent years of service, employees are given twenty-four (24) days of
PTO with two (2) days earned every month.
This Paid Time Off (PTO) program is intended to give you more control and flexibility. Instead of vacation,
sick or personal days, time off days given are combined into one Paid Time Off bank which you can use
at your discretion, as long as you coordinate with your immediate supervisor.
a. Implementing Guidelines
General Rule: All Paid Time Off should be filed in advance.
This can be used for vacation, sick, emergency, education etc or whenever an employee needs to
take time off.
Rationale: PTO/s are filed in advance to enable our Supervisors to plot the attendance
schedule, plan meeting of targets of the team and manage team attendance and metrics.
There is no need to state the reason of the leave if the leave is planned and approved in
advance.
b. Leave Application
All leaves should be filed in HIMs and approved by the Supervisor.
If the PTO is one-two days in duration, at least three working days in advance.
For Voice Teams, the minimum is five working days (one week) in advance since
workforce management is done in advance with business unit.
If the PTO is three-five days to one week in duration, at least two weeks in advance.
If the PTO is more than one week in duration, at least one month in advance.
Cancellation must be done one day before the leave date.
c. Leave Approval/ Cancellation
Leaves are approved by the Immediate Supervisor. If there are disputes, next higher
manager/director will be asked to approve. HR will be consulted if there is no resolution at
this level.
Leaves without prior approval will be treated as absence without official leave/
unauthorized leave and will be unpaid and appropriate disciplinary action will be given.
It is the discretion of the Immediate Supervisor to approve leave based on business
exigencies, timely application, leave credits availability, and other factors that will affect
Page 4
over all team attendance. If there are disputes, next higher manager/director will be asked
to approve. HR will be consulted if there is no resolution at this level.
Leave approval cancellation/ re-scheduling shall be done on or before the leave date.
d. Emergency Cases
Emergency Cases include immediate and urgent family issues or concerns, personal concerns, life
and death situations of immediate legal dependents. It also include absences due to unforeseen
events like fire, flood, typhoon, earthquake, or mass transportation strike directly affecting the
employee concerned is required to file it as emergency leave unless the company or the
government declares it. An employee who takes an Emergency leave, which is unscheduled,
should file the leave immediately upon returning to work
For emergency situation or for sickness of one-two days, PTO may be availed of with NO medical
certification required. For emergency cases or sickness that will last for three consecutive days or
more medical certification will be required to ensure that the employee is fit to work. Medical
certification should be from accredited HMO of the company. If there is no valid medical certificate,
the leave is considered unpaid and unauthorized and appropriate disciplinary action will be given.
Employees are requested to be in contact with the immediate supervisor while on prolonged leave.
e. Usage of PTO
Employees earn two (2) days of PTO every month and are encouraged to plan their leaves within
the year.
Advancing of leaves can be done if the employee has one year of tenure with the company but
should be discussed with Immediate Manager and get the approval of HR before availment.
Employees are allowed to file for PTO during Training or Certification, only for emergency or sick
leave reason due to the critical time in training. Exceptions to this should be approved and
discussed with Immediate Supervisor/Manager and HR.
Filing of Leaves during training or certification is highly discouraged. Employees are asked to
complete the training and/or certification before filing for leaves. Exceptions like emergency cases
or sickness should be discussed with HR and with Immediate Supervisor. If the absence/ leaves
during training or certification will affect the training/certification process, replacement of the
employee or transfer to another business unit will be discussed to avoid impact to Operations.
Leaves are non-convertible to cash. Leaves cannot be carried over to the following year unless the
business unit requires employees to be present during peak season or critical work days etc.
Under those circumstances an employee can extend the credits only up to March of the following
year subject to approval of Immediate Supervisor and HR.
4. Other Leave Entitlement
a. RE CARES Leave (2 days)
Employees are given up to two (2) days of RE Cares leave on top of the twenty four (24) days
given by the company for any volunteer, charitable work or initiative performed under the RE
Cares program. These leaves can be used all throughout the calendar year and must be
coordinated and approved by the Immediate Supervisor.
b. Bereavement Leave (5 days)
When a death occurs in an employees immediate family, all employees may take up to five (5)
days off with pay to attend the funeral or make funeral arrangements. Immediate family members
are defined as an employees spouse, parents, stepparents, siblings, children, stepchildren.
Page 5

Employees are requested to submit a death certificate at least one month after the death of the
immediate family member for certification purposes.
c. Maternity Leave: Normal, Miscarriage and Caesarean (60 and 78 days)

The Social Security System (SSS) entitles eligible pregnant regular employee to a maternity leave
of sixty (60) days for both normal delivery/miscarriage and 78 days for Cesarean delivery. The
employee must file her maternity leave using HIMs and accomplish the SSS Maternity Notification
Form not later than six (6) months before expected delivery date. Upon return from maternity
leave, the employee must submit all documents required for the SSS Maternity Reimbursement
including a Maternity notification received by SSS six (6) months prior to maternity leave. The SSS
Maternity Reimbursement will be advanced to the employee upon submission of complete
documents required by SSS.
Eligible Employees regular employees are given one (1) month full pay as part of their maternity
benefit in addition to the SSS maternity benefit.
d. Paternity Leave (7 days)
Employees who are expectant fathers, legally married and regular employees are entitled to avail
of seven-day paternity leave within the first four deliveries of his legitimate wife with whom he is
cohabiting.
Employees are required to submit a certified true copy of birth certificate to HR Department within
10 days of paternity leave. Paternity Leaves should be filed in HIMs.
Please note that leaves may be taken consecutively or may be done separately. It may also be
taken before, during or after the childbirth provided these are not availed of later than sixty (60)
after the date of said delivery. If changes on the schedule occur, the supervisor or manager should
be notified at least one (1) month in advance of such changes.
e. Parental/ Solo Parent Leave (7 days)

Under Republic Act 8972, parental Leave is defined as leave benefits granted to a solo parent to
enable him/ her to perform parental duties and responsibilities where physical presence is
required.
A solo parent employee shall be entitled to the parental leave under the following conditions:
i. He/she has rendered at least one (1) year of service, whether continuous or broken;
ii. He/she has notified his/her employer that he/she will avail himself/herself of it, within a
reasonable period of time; and
iii. He/she has presented to his/her employer a Solo Parent Identification Card, which may
be obtained from the DSWD office of the city or municipality where he/she resides.
iv. Employee needs to submit the copy of the Solo Parent Identification card as issued by
the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD). The Solo Parent
Identification Card is necessary for the availment of benefits under Republic Act No.
8972. Such identification card shall be valid for only one (1) year, but may be renewed
subject to a new assessment and evaluation by the DSWD.
The seven working day parental leave is non-cumulative. In the event that the parental leave is
not availed of, said leave cannot be converted to cash.
To ensure continuity of work while employee is on leave, leaves for two (2) days or less should be
filed seven (7) calendar days before the scheduled leave date. Leaves of three (3) days or more
Page 6

should be filed a month before the scheduled leave. Leave without prior notice could be declined
at the discretion of the manager or supervisor and may be considered as leave without pay.
Qualifications of Solo Parent under the law:
A woman who gives birth as a result of rape and other crimes against chastity even without final conviction of
the offender, provided that the mother keeps and raises the child
Parent left solo or alone with the responsibility of parenthood due to the death of spouse.
Parent left solo or alone with the responsibility of parenthood while the spouse is detained or is serving
sentence for a criminal conviction of at least one (1) year;
Parent left solo or alone with the responsibility of parenthood due to physical and/or mental incapacity of
spouse as certified by a public medical practitioner;
Parent left solo or alone with the responsibility of parenthood due to legal separation or de facto separation
from spouse for at least one (1) year, as long as he/she is entrusted with the custody of the children;
Parent left solo or alone with the responsibility of parenthood due to declaration of nullity or annulment of
marriage as decreed by a court or by a church as long as he/she is entrusted with the custody of the children;
Parent left solo or alone with the responsibility of parenthood due to abandonment of spouse for at least one
(1) year;
Unmarried mother/father who has preferred to keep and rear her/his child/children instead of having others
care for them or give them up to a welfare institution;
Any other person who solely provides parental care and support to a child or children;
Any family member who assumes the responsibility of head of family as a result of death, abandonment,
disappearance or prolonged absence of the parents or solo parent.
f. Special Leave Benefit for Women (60 days)

Under Republic Act 9710, otherwise known as The Magna Carta of Women, a woman employee
shall be entitled to a special leave benefit of two (2) months with full pay based on her gross monthly
compensation following surgery caused by gynecological disorders provided that the employee has
rendered continuous aggregate employment service of at least six (6) months for the last 12 months.
This leave is non-cumulative and non-convertible to cash.
Gynecological disorders refer to disorders that would require surgical procedures such as dilatation
and curettage and those involving female reproductive organs such as vagina, cervix, uterus, fallopian
tubes, ovaries, breast, adnexa and pelvic floor. Gynecological surgeries shall also include
hysterectomy, ovariectomy and mastectomy.
The employee shall file her application for leave with her employer within a reasonable period of time
from the expected date of surgery, or within such period as may be provided by company rules and
regulations or by collective bargaining agreement (CBA). Prior application is not necessary in cases
requiring emergency surgical procedure. However, the employee must notify the employer verbally or
in writing within reasonable period of time, and after the surgery or recuperating period, she must
immediately file her application using the prescribed form.
Special leave benefits shall be granted after the employee has undergone surgery. The employer,
however, has the option to pay the employee before or during the surgery.
Page 7
5. Disciplinary Action:
Attendance / Unauthorized Undertime/ Job Abandonment
First Offense: 1 day unauthorized/ unapproved leave
Second Offense: repetition of first offense within the period of two months
Third Offense: repetition of the offense within the period of three months
Fourth Offense: repetition of the offense within the period of four months
Fifth Offense: repetition of the offense within the period of six months
AWOL
Absence Without Official Leave (AWOL): in excess of three consecutive
working days without communication subject to Return To Work Order
Notice (Termination Proceeding begins)
Second Offense of AWOL: 3 days
Tardiness
First Offense: Tardiness of five (5) minutes beyond shift schedule
Second Offense: Excessive Tardiness: three (3) instances/occurrences but
not more than sixty (60) minutes per month
Third Offense: Excessive Tardiness: repetition of the offense within the
period of one (1) month
Fourth Offense: repetition of the offense within the period of two (2) months
Fifth Offense: repetition of the offense within the period of three (3) months
Written warning
1 day suspension
3 days suspension
5 days suspension
Termination
RTO / Suspension if
there is
communication within
rd
3 day if not,
RTO /Termination
Proceeding
Termination
Verbal warning
Written warning
1 day suspension
3 days suspension
PDP Process Begins/
Non-conformance
leads to Termination
Note:
Please refer to RESSPI Employee Handbook for offenses involving other attendance matters like
malingering or feigning sickness, loitering, sleeping while on duty, over breaks etc.
6. Implementation
Progressive Disciplinary Action will apply to all cases of violations enumerated herein. Operations
Management and HR shall exercise its best judgment in any case to lighten or impose a heavier
penalty as may be warranted by the circumstances of each case. Due process shall be observed in all
cases.
Effective Date of Implementation: November 1, 2012.
Page 8

Attendance Management Policy: Reed Elsevier Shared Services (Philippines) Inc

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Attendance Management Policy: Reed Elsevier Shared Services (Philippines) Inc

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Reed Elsevier Shared Services (Philippines) Inc.