Dear All,
Advice from Senior required on the below case.
An employee working for an IT software company in Bangalore for past 4 yrs. The TL and the HR have issued the employee a PIP.
Query
1.Can the PIP be issued to an employee for a duration of less than a month?
2.Can a PIP be issued directly without prior warnings?
3.During a PIP what is the role of the TL ? Should the TL provide training and coaching?
4.Can other team members help/coach the employee who has been issued PIP?
5.Is there any labour law pertaining to this in Karnataka?
Awaiting your reply mariam.neetha@gmail.com
Regards
Mary
From India, Bangalore
2Advice from Senior required on the below case.
An employee working for an IT software company in Bangalore for past 4 yrs. The TL and the HR have issued the employee a PIP.
Query
1.Can the PIP be issued to an employee for a duration of less than a month?
2.Can a PIP be issued directly without prior warnings?
3.During a PIP what is the role of the TL ? Should the TL provide training and coaching?
4.Can other team members help/coach the employee who has been issued PIP?
5.Is there any labour law pertaining to this in Karnataka?
Awaiting your reply mariam.neetha@gmail.com
Regards
Mary
From India, Bangalore
Dear Mary,
Paragraph-wise replies to your query are as below:
1.Can the PIP be issued to an employee for a duration of less than a month?
Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) follows after below normal ratings in Performance Appraisal (PA) or Performance Review (PR). Organisations do not wish to terminate employees because of poor performance hence PIP comes in picture.
2.Can a PIP be issued directly without prior warnings?
Ratings in PA is the cause of PIP. In some organisations PA system is absolutely transparent. The assessee or appraisee comes to know immediately what is the rating and what would be the outcome for that rating.
3.During a PIP what is the role of the TL ? Should the TL provide training and coaching?
Ideally yes because performance of team member is performance of team member. Therefore, TL should invest his/her time in training and coaching.
4.Can other team members help/coach the employee who has been issued PIP?
Yes voluntarily they can do so.
5.Is there any labour law pertaining to this in Karnataka?
Labour laws has nothing do with the internal administration of the company. Labour laws deal with broad subjects like absenteeism, discipline or indiscipline, working hours, principles of natural justice.
Dinesh V Divekar
Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance.
From India, Bangalore
Paragraph-wise replies to your query are as below:
1.Can the PIP be issued to an employee for a duration of less than a month?
Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) follows after below normal ratings in Performance Appraisal (PA) or Performance Review (PR). Organisations do not wish to terminate employees because of poor performance hence PIP comes in picture.
2.Can a PIP be issued directly without prior warnings?
Ratings in PA is the cause of PIP. In some organisations PA system is absolutely transparent. The assessee or appraisee comes to know immediately what is the rating and what would be the outcome for that rating.
3.During a PIP what is the role of the TL ? Should the TL provide training and coaching?
Ideally yes because performance of team member is performance of team member. Therefore, TL should invest his/her time in training and coaching.
4.Can other team members help/coach the employee who has been issued PIP?
Yes voluntarily they can do so.
5.Is there any labour law pertaining to this in Karnataka?
Labour laws has nothing do with the internal administration of the company. Labour laws deal with broad subjects like absenteeism, discipline or indiscipline, working hours, principles of natural justice.
Dinesh V Divekar
Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance.
From India, Bangalore
Thank You Dinesh.
I have heard all my HR managers mention that we should give 3 chances for an employee to show his performance improvement and this has to be documented. Documentation is important as he can go file a case against the company.
Is this true?
Regards
Mary
From India, Bangalore
I have heard all my HR managers mention that we should give 3 chances for an employee to show his performance improvement and this has to be documented. Documentation is important as he can go file a case against the company.
Is this true?
Regards
Mary
From India, Bangalore
Dear Mary,
Number of chances depend on PA or PR cycle. If it is quarterly, then three chances are ok but if it is half-yearly then two chances are more than sufficient. Once you put employee under PIP, intimation to employee for the reasons of PIP are important. When the employee's performance is still not improved then you give a warning letter and let PIP continue. In the warning letter, mention what organisation had taken efforts to improve his performance i.e. number of hours invested in training or coaching etc.
Before termination, it is highly recommended to conduct the domestic enquiry. If in the enquiry employee's disinclination is proved then management may terminate the employee or take any other action like demotion, withholding increment etc.
If the domestic enquiry is conducted and if it is proved that enquiry was not vitiated, then courts generally do not interfere because principles of natural justice are followed.
Ok...
Dinesh V Divekar
From India, Bangalore
Number of chances depend on PA or PR cycle. If it is quarterly, then three chances are ok but if it is half-yearly then two chances are more than sufficient. Once you put employee under PIP, intimation to employee for the reasons of PIP are important. When the employee's performance is still not improved then you give a warning letter and let PIP continue. In the warning letter, mention what organisation had taken efforts to improve his performance i.e. number of hours invested in training or coaching etc.
Before termination, it is highly recommended to conduct the domestic enquiry. If in the enquiry employee's disinclination is proved then management may terminate the employee or take any other action like demotion, withholding increment etc.
If the domestic enquiry is conducted and if it is proved that enquiry was not vitiated, then courts generally do not interfere because principles of natural justice are followed.
Ok...
Dinesh V Divekar
From India, Bangalore
Thank you again.
The PA is annual and the PR is quarterly. There has not been any warning letters at all.
Here's a little more detail:
The TL has been bullying the employee by publicly belittling the employee for minor errors and micromanaging the employee. The tl also has been avoiding to give tasks and responsibility to the employee and has been discriminating against the employee.
The TL has also been asking the other team members to 'stay away' and to not help the employee with any doubts. The TL has also been asking other colleagues to keep an eye out for the employee and to tell her when she is not around.
The employee has informed the TL's manager and the HR about the bullying and they have not counselled the TL. Besides the TL has been retaliating against the employee ever since she came to know that the employee has spoken to her Manager and the HR.
The TL has openly expressed her annoyance that her Manager has appreciated the employee for his previous work/projects.
The TL has herself performed poorly several times and given below par work for clients while the TL has been 'picking' on the employee for even the smallest errors.
The employee's last performance rating was 'fully met'.
The PIP was given on the 25th of June and while the PIP clearly stated that the duration was for 30 days, the employee was told 2 days ago that the last date of the PIP is on the 16th july. The PIP was given in a word document without the company logo and states 'Came late for meeting..' as one of the problem areas.
My questions:
Can a PIP be given in a word document without the company logo as against a PDF in the company letterhead.
Can the employee be terminated on the last day of the PIP (July 16th)
Can the employee seek a severence pay? The employee has been working with the company for more than 4 years now. If yes, how is the severence pay calculated?
What are the legal options that the employee has?
Sorry for the many questions and thank you so much for your invaluable answers.
From India, Bangalore
The PA is annual and the PR is quarterly. There has not been any warning letters at all.
Here's a little more detail:
The TL has been bullying the employee by publicly belittling the employee for minor errors and micromanaging the employee. The tl also has been avoiding to give tasks and responsibility to the employee and has been discriminating against the employee.
The TL has also been asking the other team members to 'stay away' and to not help the employee with any doubts. The TL has also been asking other colleagues to keep an eye out for the employee and to tell her when she is not around.
The employee has informed the TL's manager and the HR about the bullying and they have not counselled the TL. Besides the TL has been retaliating against the employee ever since she came to know that the employee has spoken to her Manager and the HR.
The TL has openly expressed her annoyance that her Manager has appreciated the employee for his previous work/projects.
The TL has herself performed poorly several times and given below par work for clients while the TL has been 'picking' on the employee for even the smallest errors.
The employee's last performance rating was 'fully met'.
The PIP was given on the 25th of June and while the PIP clearly stated that the duration was for 30 days, the employee was told 2 days ago that the last date of the PIP is on the 16th july. The PIP was given in a word document without the company logo and states 'Came late for meeting..' as one of the problem areas.
My questions:
Can a PIP be given in a word document without the company logo as against a PDF in the company letterhead.
Can the employee be terminated on the last day of the PIP (July 16th)
Can the employee seek a severence pay? The employee has been working with the company for more than 4 years now. If yes, how is the severence pay calculated?
What are the legal options that the employee has?
Sorry for the many questions and thank you so much for your invaluable answers.
From India, Bangalore
Dear Mary,
I do not know what type of industry yours is but let me believe it is something like IT or BPO.
The trouble with the new industries is that they have abandoned good old Personnel Management but did not adopt completely HR Management. The problems that you have mentioned could be solved either with perfect Personnel Management or HR management. You are neither here nor there.
Replies to your questions are as below:
Can a PIP be given in a word document without the company logo as against a PDF in the company letterhead.
In addition to word document, if the e-mail is sent to the employee then it is valid as per law.
Can the employee be terminated on the last day of the PIP (July 16th).
Termination without conducting domestic enquiry in illegal. PIP has no merit from legal standpoint.
Can the employee seek a severence pay? The employee has been working with the company for more than 4 years now. If yes, how is the severence pay calculated?
If the employee is terminated, let him ask for the severance pay.
What are the legal options that the employee has?
Click here to read reply to my previous post. You can click here also to read one more reply.
Dinesh V Divekar
From India, Bangalore
I do not know what type of industry yours is but let me believe it is something like IT or BPO.
The trouble with the new industries is that they have abandoned good old Personnel Management but did not adopt completely HR Management. The problems that you have mentioned could be solved either with perfect Personnel Management or HR management. You are neither here nor there.
Replies to your questions are as below:
Can a PIP be given in a word document without the company logo as against a PDF in the company letterhead.
In addition to word document, if the e-mail is sent to the employee then it is valid as per law.
Can the employee be terminated on the last day of the PIP (July 16th).
Termination without conducting domestic enquiry in illegal. PIP has no merit from legal standpoint.
Can the employee seek a severence pay? The employee has been working with the company for more than 4 years now. If yes, how is the severence pay calculated?
If the employee is terminated, let him ask for the severance pay.
What are the legal options that the employee has?
Click here to read reply to my previous post. You can click here also to read one more reply.
Dinesh V Divekar
From India, Bangalore
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Performance Improvement Plan.doc