The concept of exceptions and their handling (in Ramco HCM) was introduced in the first part of this blog. We now go on to examine exceptions in more detail. This is important as exceptional events have both business and operational impact. When analyzed carefully, they can explain business outcomes better than what normal data can.
Exceptions may be classified in various ways. In this blog, I will be talking about a set of experiential exceptions. The reader must note that this discussion is not exhaustive.
Granting special permissions: There are exceptions to every situation which the company would want to encourage and develop and as a result a company may have to grant special permissions to these exceptions. Considering an example, recruits from certain sources (say premiere educational institutions) may be exempt from probation, i.e. the recruits receive a confirmed appointment contract after selection. It may be because sometimes businesses work with certain educational institutions on business projects. Students play a role in these projects, providing them with the necessary exposure to recruit them directly. Coupled with a history of successes from such sources, recruiters may confidently waive new recruits from a mandatory probation program that involves training, apprenticeship and finally confirmation. From the organizations perspective, it enables quicker on-boarding and hence lower time to market for the organization.
Other examples could be that, investments into government bonds reduce the tax burdens on the employee. These are called tax ‘exempt’ investment options. Savings vary based on the amount invested by the employee. Employees with disabilities may be exempt from certain business tasks such as performing business mandated over time duties. Senior management may be exempt from accounting for their time, hour on hour.
This class of exceptions may be viewed as managerial or employee ‘dispensation’, targeted at improving the operational leverage for the organization or savings for the employees, as the case may be. Ramco HCM’s recruiting process permits direct confirmation of these “exempt” candidates. There are self-service facilities through which employees may declare their investments in tax exempt instruments, thus automating tax crediting.
Deviations as exceptions: These are deviations from the stated HR policy. Considering an example, an organization’s HR policy allows employees leave under various categories such as medical, maternity, vacation etc... An employee may be eligible for 20 days of medical leave. In an emergency, when the number of leaves has to be exceeded, organizations may allow the employee to “draw” leaves from other types such as annual or vacation leave. Under exceptional circumstances, even when other leave types are exhausted, the organization may grant the time off, signaling a deviation from policy.
Ramco HCM, through a concept of “posting rules”, allows employees to draw time off from several leave types at the same time, until all balance leaves are exhausted. It also permits the entry of time off through (without loss of pay) when such time is granted.
