Employee Handbook - Landmark Group India - PDF

EMPLOYEE HANDBOOK At Landmark India, we believe in sourcing and nurturing the right talent and ensuring a performance driven culture with continuous learning opportunities and a well-defined career path … TABLE OF CONTENTS CONTE...

EMPLOYEE HANDBOOK At Landmark India, we believe in sourcing and nurturing the right talent and ensuring a performance driven culture with continuous learning opportunities and a well-defined career path … TABLE OF CONTENTS CONTENTS PAGE NO COMPANY INFORMATION About the Organization, Core values 2–5 THE GENERAL GUIDELINES Attendance 7 Working Days & Hours of Work 7 Dress Code 8 KNOW YOUR COMPENSATION Salary Processing & Disbursement 10 Salary Advance 11 CORE BENEFITS Leave Policy 13 – 15 Landmark Medical Leave Bank Policy 16 – 17 Compensatory Off 18 Salary Reimbursement Guidelines 19 – 24 Relocation Policy 25 – 27 Short Term Transfer Policy 28 Long Service Awards 28 - 29 Off Sale Allowance 29 Grievance Policy 30 – 33 Prevention, Prohibition & Redressal of Sexual Harassment at workplace 34 – 40 Equal Employment Opportunity Policy 41 – 42 Performance Management System 43 – 44 Performance Linked Pay 44 – 47 Probation/ Confirmation 47 Separation Policy 48 – 51 DEFERRED BENEFITS Provident Fund 53 Gratuity 54 Group Mediclaim Policy 55 – 58 Group Personal Accident Policy 58 Group Term Life Policy 59 BUSINESS FACILITIES On Duty Local Conveyance 61 Domestic Travel Policy 66 Foreign Travel Policy 67 – 70 Deputation Policy 70 - 72 Late Night Stay Policy 72 Mobile Phone Policy 73 – 74 Laptop Loss Policy 74 – 75 LIFESTYLE BENEFITS Staff Discount Policy 77 Employee Gift 78 Creche Facility Policy 79 Car Lease, NPS and VPF Policy 80 – 81 Referral Policy 82 - 84 1 ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION Founded in 1973 in Bahrain, the Landmark Group has successfully grown into one of the largest and most successful retail organizations in the Middle East and India. An international, diversified retail and hospitality conglomerate that encourages entrepreneurship to consistently deliver exceptional value, the Group operates over 2400 outlets encompassing over 30 million square feet across the Middle East, North Africa and the Indian sub-continent. Landmark Group has a strong workforce of over 55,000 employees and provides a value-driven product range for the family through its retail concepts: Centrepoint, Babyshop, Splash, Shoe Mart, Lifestyle, Iconic, SportsOne, Max, Shoexpress, Home Centre, Home Box, Emax, and LandmarkShops.com. In addition to the brands developed in-house, the Group also holds the franchise rights for some of the world's leading fashion and footwear brands in the countries where it operates. The Group has also diversified in the leisure, food, hospitality and healthcare segments with Landmark Leisure, Balance Wellbeing 360, Citymax Hotels, Fitness First and Foodmark, the restaurant division, which operates the Group's own and franchise food outlets and iCARE Clinics, primary healthcare clinics for the family. For more information please visit, www.landmarkgroup.com RETAIL BRANDS - The Landmark Group provides value-driven product range for the entire family through a diverse portfolio of core retail brands: Hospitality Brands - The Landmark Group has also diversified into leisure, food and hotels segments under the division, Landmark Hospitality: 2 India Operations: In 1999, the Landmark Group entered India, to revolutionize retailing in the country. The group now operates more than 350 stores in India and employs more than 17,000 people in the following businesses: Lifestyle Lifestyle started its journey in India with the launch of its first Lifestyle store in Chennai in 1999. Positioned as a trendy, youthful and vibrant store, Lifestyle offers consumers the latest in fashion and lifestyle in an enjoyable shopping experience. Each Lifestyle brings together multiple concepts under one roof – Apparel, Footwear, Children’s Wear, Beauty & Accessories offering a convenient one-stop and a choice of leading national & international brands. Present across major metros in India, Lifestyle is rapidly expanding its footprint across the country. Learn more about Lifestyle Home Centre Home Centre is the Home Improvement Store under the Lifestyle brand, which offers customers a varied range of furnishings and homeware based on trendy themes that make it easy to beautify the house. A rapidly growing brand, Home Centre offers the best in home furniture and best in class service. Learn more about Home Centre Max Max India, a division of Lifestyle International (P) Ltd.,was established in the year 2006. It has pioneered the concept of ‘value fashion’ in the country, thereby offering the discerning shopper a vast choice with international fashion & quality. It offers apparel, footwear & accessories that are of the latest fashion trends at a great price, making it affordable to many. Max has its own label merchandise of in house designs and planned colour palettes for the season. Every season Max introduces a fresh collection of international designs specially customized to the Indian market. The brand adapts to the changing needs of the shopper every season and accordingly introduces new designs, silhouettes & fabrics. Learn more about Max Easybuy Easybuy is a value retail format started exclusively in India by Max Retail Division of Lifestyle International Pvt. Ltd. Easybuy started its journey in 2014 with its first store in Telangana. Each Easybuy store brings under one roof a wide range of clothing for the entire family. Specialized in mid and lower mid value retail format, Easybuy offers quality and affordability in men’s wear, ladies’ wear, kids’ wear, footwear and accessories. The Easybuy product range has over 1000 styles at reasonable prices and is positioned as a store that provides super styles at super prices. Learn more about Easybuy 3 Awards and Accolades Lifestyle International Pvt Ltd. was recognized as the 12th Best Large Workplace in Asia 2016 by Great Place to Work Institute Lifestyle International Pvt. Ltd was recognized as the No.1 Best Company to Work for in Retail in 2014 and 2015 by Great Place to Work Institute and Retailers Association of India Lifestyle International Pvt. Ltd was recognized as the No.10 Best Company to Work for across Industries in 2015 by Great Place to Work Institute Lifestyle International Pvt. Ltd was recognized as the Top 3 Best Companies to Work for in Retail in 2016 by the Great Place to Work Institute and Retailers Association of India Lifestyle International Pvt Ltd was recognized as the 21st Best Place to Work For in Asia in the 'Best Workplaces: 500+ employees' category by Great Place to Work Lifestyle International Pvt. Ltd was recognized for being the ‘Most Admired Retailer of the Year – Employee Practices at the Images Retail Awards 2016 Lifestyle International Pvt. Ltd was recognized for ‘Excellence in Employee Engagement’ at the 2nd Annual Business World HR Awards 2016 Lifestyle International Pvt. Ltd was recognized as the ‘Retail Employer of the Year’ at the CMO Asia Awards for Retail Excellence in 2016 Lifestyle International Pvt. Ltd was recognized as the ‘Most Admired Fashion Retailer of the Year – Employee Practices at the Images Fashion Awards 2016 Max was awarded the ‘Most Admired Fashion Retailer of the Year – Large Format Store Chain at the Images Fashion Awards 2016 Max was awards the ‘Most Admired Retailer of the Year – Fashion and Lifestyle’ at the Images Retail Awards 2016 Lifestyle was awarded The Best Department Store Category for Store Design, DLF Mall of India and The Best Window Display - Products & Collection for the Spring Garden VM Window Project for Lifestyle at In-store Asia 2016 Awards 4  Lifestyle received Most Admired Fashion Retail Destination of the Year at the Images Fashion Awards for five consecutive years 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012 & 2011 Home Centre awarded Most Admired Retailer of the Year, Home and Interiors Category at the Images Retail Awards 2016, 2015, 2014, 2010 & 2009 OUR CORE VALUES Passion for Excellence: We are committed to setting industry benchmarks - be it our product or practices. Our doctrine is to strive and maintain the lead in whatever we do, with strict adherence to quality and delivering value for money. Integrity in everything we do: Our business is driven by trust, strong ethics and mutual respect. Empowering people to strive and deliver: Our core strength is our employees. We believe in giving our personnel the opportunity and responsibility that are integral to their professional development and our Group’s success. Adapting to changing market and customer needs: We keep ourselves abreast with industry trends and dynamic consumer preferences. Our offerings keep evolving to address changing and discerning consumer needs. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE Creating exceptional value for all those whose lives we touch. To be recognized as an international, diversified retail conglomerate that encourages entrepreneurship and which consistently delivers exceptional value to our customers and business partners. We believe in delivering unmatched values- tangible and intangible-for all those whose lives we touch. 5 The General Guidelines 6 ATTENDANCE Employees attendance is through Geo-tagging in Ramco mobile app. The app will show only employee respective base locations as Geo tagged area, and will automatically set the time in. Employees are requested to time-in and similarly time-out during the log out. Based on the total number of hours attendance will be updated in people apps. Any shortfall or absent or missed punch needs to be regularized and approved by reporting manager on or before 20th of every month. This attendance details will be considered for payroll processing & salary disbursement. Employees in corporate office and regional office can work from home for a maximum of 3 days per month with a prior approval by the manager. Work from home leave request to be submitted though people apps and approved in advance by the Supervisors. We expect the process shall be used with due responsibility by all employees. However, any case of any misutilization of the policy may attract disciplinary action. a. First incident – Verbal Counselling b. Second Incident – Written warning recorded in employee file. c. Third Incident- disciplinary action / Exit. WORKING DAYS, HOURS OF WORK & OFFS The total working hours for store & warehouse employees is 48 hours per week. For Corporate and Regional Offices 40 hours per week. For Corporate office and Regional Offices all Saturdays and Sundays are off. The store employees work in shifts. Weekly offs for staff in Stores varies. Personal time is permitted within reasonable limits (4 hours per month which can be taken twice in a month with maximum 2 hours at a stretch only). Employee shall keep the Head of Department & HR informed in case they wish to leave the workplace for personal work. Missed punches regularization is permitted for 3 times in a month wherever employee has missed morning / evening or both punches. Please refer to the table below for working hours in office and the Loss Of Pay (LOP) if the attendance is not regularized. Hours Worked Attendance taken into consideration LOP if not regularised 0 to 3.59 Hrs Absent Full day LOP 4 to 7.59 Hrs Half Day Half Day LOP Note: 8.30 Hrs will be considered as Full day 7 FLEXI TIME POLICY Objective This policy and the related procedures have been designed to promote a healthy work-life balance for our employees while offering employees the flexibility to start and finish work within the time bands. The objective of the flexible working policy is to help increase efficiency and improve employees’ quality of life while benefiting the organizations as well as themselves. We are committed to support work-life balance for our employees and welcome the contribution that the use of flexitime working arrangements can make in this regard. Eligibility Criteria Flexitime arrangements will be made available to all employees. They will be given a Flexible Time Band at the beginning and end of the day while maintaining a standard work time. It is expected that staff will work and operate flexitime schemes within their departments in a fair and harmonious manner. Employees, as per eligibility, may however choose to retain their current working arrangements, rather than enter the flexitime scheme. Standard Working Days & Flexible Working Time For Corporate office and Regional Offices all Saturdays and Sundays are off. Employees can commence work between 8:30am to 10am and depart between 5pm to 6:30pm after completing 8.5 hours at the office. The core working hours shall be 10AM to 5PM. Working hours may be divided into bands of flexitime. Unless away from work for some specific reason (annual leave, illness etc.,) employees as per eligibility may start and finish work at their discretion during flexible time bands while being present during core time bands. NOTE: The work timing will have to be 8.5 hours in a stretch. However, based on the business requirement, your Manager can ask you to be present in the office other than your opted flexi working time. Core working time is the primary part of the working day when presence at work is mandatory. These are the periods when all employees are required to be present to ensure that office will be staffed properly. DRESS CODE All employees can wear smart casuals from Monday to Saturday. Smart casual shall include Jeans & T Shirts (Please note: Sandals & Shorts are not allowed on all days). 8 KNOW YOUR COMPENSATION 9 SALARY PROCESSING & DISBURSEMENT POLICY Objective Ensure on time payment of salary to all employees. Eligibility This policy is applicable to all employees working in the organization. Details of Policy Salary processing is done for each month based on attendance up to the 20 th day of that particular month. Leave adjustments and overtime payments will be based on the period between 21 st day of the previous month to 20th day of the current month In terms of reimbursement components (eligible as per the grade) the actual cost (receipts/bills) needs to be self-attested by employee and uploaded on people apps on or before 19th of every month. In case, an employee desires to take reimbursement component as Special Pay, they can do so at the beginning of the financial year or at the time of joining. The net salary will be credited to their individual savings bank account on the last working day of the month and employees can access their salary slip on People Apps. Mode of operation The employees are requested to fill their bank details in People Apps on their day of joining. Employees wish to open an account can fill the account opening form available with HR. The HR department will facilitate for opening of account with the approved banks. Salary Processing 1. Payable period: 1st to 30th of every month. 2. Payment Date: Last working day of each month. If the Last working day falls on a Bank Holiday, then salary will be paid on the previous day. 3. Payment mode: Through bank transfer (Cheque for new joiners incase if the Account is not activated). 10 SALARY ADVANCE POLICY Objective To assist our permanent employees in circumstances where in monetary assistance is required. Eligibility All employees who have completed the probation period and are on permanent rolls of the organization. Details of Policy It is the Organization’s policy that salary advance shall not ordinarily be considered. Exceptions to the policy are defined below: A) For Medical Emergencies In case of medical emergencies, an employee can be paid salary advance up to a maximum of 75% of their last drawn gross salary and the same will be recovered from their salary within the next two months from which the advance is taken. For medical emergency advance can be availed for Self & Family (members as updated under Group Mediclaim policy). B) For Higher Education Employees to further enhance their professional qualifications and to meet the training objectives of developing and strengthening the knowledge, skills, abilities as well as respond to organizations long term needs shall be offered salary advance towards tuition fee up to a maximum of 75% of their last drawn gross salary and the same shall be recovered from their salary within the next two months from which the advance is taken. Mode of Operation Employees shall request for salary advance through People Apps. The request has to be approved by the immediate superior and by the concerned HOD / VP for regions and forwarded to the H.R. department for processing at least 2 days ahead of the actual requirement. In case of advance for higher education, proof of admission and the tuition fee has to be submitted along with the salary advance requisition form. Note: Salary advance is subject to applicable taxes. 11 12 LEAVE POLICY & PROCEDURE LEAVE POLICY 1. Objective This policy aims at illustrating the leave policy of the Company. 2. Coverage This policy comes into effect from 1st January 2016 and supersedes all existing leave related policies of Lifestyle International Private Limited (Company) 3. Leave Entitlement in a calendar year Employees of the Company are entitled to 30 days of leave as under: Type of leave Max. Nos. Earned Leave 18 Casual / Sick Leave 12 Employees joining during the year will be entitled to the above leave on prorated basis. Earned Leave: This leave will be credited to the employees’ account @ 1.5 days per month. Normally, Earned Leave cannot be availed for a continuous period of more than 15 days including weekly offs & holidays. Exceptions to this will require the prior approval of Skip Level Manager. Annual Leave should be planned well in advance and applied for at least 15 days in advance Casual / Sick Leave: All employees will be eligible for a maximum of 12 days of Casual / Sick leave. This leave will be credited to the employees’ account @ 1 day per month. Casual leave can be availed for matters of emergency or personal nature for which prior planning cannot be done. 4. Clubbing of leave: Earned leave and sick/ casual leave can be clubbed. 5. Sandwiching of leave (Suffixing and Prefixing) with intervening holiday(s) or weekly off-days. There is no sandwiching when employee availing leave on days immediately preceding AND succeeding weekly off or holidays. 3. Leave Carry Forward: Any un-availed Earned Leave in a year can be carried forward to the next year. The maximum Earned leave that can be accumulated is 45 days (wef 01st Jan 2022). Note: For the Calendar year 2021, upto 45 days ELs have been carried forward. 13 Sick/ Casual leave that is not availed at the end of the year will lapse and cannot be carried forward. 4. Leave Encashment: Accumulated Earned leave can be encashed only at the time of separation or retirement. Leave encashment will be calculated at the time of retirement/ separation as the case may be on the following basis; 4.1 Applicable for Spar – Max Hypermarket- For employees who have joined on or before 31st Dec 2016 - The leave encashment will be paid on “Gross Salary” For employees who have joined on or after 01st Jan 2017 – The leave encashment will be paid on “Basic Salary” 4.2 Applicable for Other OU’s- For employees who have joined on or before 31st Dec 2010 - The leave encashment will be paid on “Gross Salary” For employees who have joined on or after 01st Jan 2011 – The leave encashment will be paid on “Basic Salary” 5. Advance Leave: Advance Leave can be granted to employees under the following circumstances. An employee who has no leave credit to his account can request for ‘Advance Leave’ and may be granted such leave at the discretion of his reporting manager. The maximum advance leave that can be granted cannot exceed the leave (sick/casual leave) that he can earn during the rest of that calendar year. 6. Maternity Leave: Female employees who have worked in the Company for not less than 80 days in the 12 months preceding the date of her expected delivery are entitled for 26 weeks of paid Maternity that can be availed prior to and post delivery. Upon a request for extension from the employee the Company may consider granting Earned/casual/ sick leave/ Leave without pay up to a maximum of 15 days. To provide more flexibility for our new mothers, following additional benefits are provided - Corporate/ Regional office employees are eligible maximum of 10 days of Work from Home option per month for up to 6 six months post maternity leave completion. Store/Warehouse employees can avail six hours of work (exclusive of breaks) for up to six months post Maternity Leave completion. All other benefits and periods of Maternity Leave shall be available to all the female employees as per provisions of Maternity Benefit Act & ESI Act and Rules, Notifications/ directions of competent authorities, made there under from time to time. Benefits of ESIC-Maternity Leave:- All female employees falling under ESIC will be eligible for maternity leave under ESIC scheme Full Wages - Maximum of 26 weeks of which not more than 8 weeks should precede the expected date of delivery. 6 weeks in case of miscarriage and additional 1 month for sickness arising out of pregnancy, premature birth of a child condition. Payment of contribution for at least 70 days immediately preceding one or two contribution periods. Employee can choose to avail ESIC Maternity Benefit in her bank account weekly / monthly / Bi monthly. 14 7. Paternity Leave Male employees in all Grades may be granted Paternity leave for maximum of 5 days for a maximum of 2 children. The leave should be taken within 30 days from the date of birth of child. 8. Child Adoption Leave Employees are entitled for Child Adoption Leave as per prevailing law for adoption in India. Female employees are entitled to avail up to 30 days of Child Adoption Leave (i.e. 4 weeks inclusive of week offs and Holiday) with full pay from the actual date of adoption. Male employees can avail Paternity Leave up to 3 days in such cases. For availing this leave, a copy of the adoption documents needs to be submitted to the respective HR in advance for authorization by reporting Manager. 9. Bereavement Leave Employees can avail Bereavement Leave up to 3 days, in case of demise of any of the close family members (i.e. Parents, Parents-In-Law, Spouse or Children). This leave is over and above the entitled Earned Leave & Casual / Sick leave per year and is applicable for all employees. 10. Leave without Pay In general, employees are discouraged from taking leave over and above the specified entitlements. If under any extenuating circumstances an employee goes on leave, without specific leave entitlement or advance leave being available, the entire period of such absence from service (including weekly offs & holidays in between) will be treated as ‘Leave without Pay’, subject to specific approval by the Functional Head on reasonable cause being shown. Employee will not receive any salary during such period of ‘Leave without Pay’ and salary for the said period will be deducted on the basis of gross salary per month/ no. of days of month. Such absence from service, if not approved by the Functional Head as “Leave without Pay”, will be treated as unauthorized absence from service. In such cases, company reserves the right to initiate disciplinary action as it may deem fit. No employee shall be granted ‘Leave without Pay’ for a period exceeding 3 months from the date of ailment and any special requests in the contrary needs to be approved by the President – Group HR. 11. Operating Procedure Grant of leave is a matter of discretion of the management. An employee who desires to go on leave shall apply leave and obtain approval thereof from the approving authority through People Apps and then proceed on leave. Leave on emergency situations shall be obtained through phones/e-mails and immediately upon return to duty, the said leave shall be entered in People Apps and approved by the authority. In the case of Maternity Leave, an employee will be required to submit a provisional leave application to the reporting authority. The Company will provisionally sanction the leave. After delivery the employee is required to submit the final leave application on People Apps. All leaves to be availed /availed in a calendar month shall be applied for and be approved on or before 23rd of every month for the smooth dispersal of the salary. Any leaves not approved shall be deemed as unauthorized absence and result in Loss of Pay (LOP) for the employee for the leave period. There will be a maximum of 60 days grace period for LOP (Loss of Pay) revocation. Any request for revocation of LOP, which is beyond the Grace period shall not be entertained. Note: For the Calendar year 2021, upto 45 days ELs to be carried. 15 LANDMARK MEDICAL LEAVE BANK POLICY 1. Objective To help employees who do not have leave balance to meet their self, immediate family medical exigencies. 2. Effective date 2.1. This policy is effective from 01st Jan 2018. 3. Eligibility 3.1. This policy is applicable to full time regular and company contract employees. 3.2. Employees with NO leave balance (including advance leave) leading to LOP. 4. Credit and Entitlement 4.1. Landmark Group will maintain a Leave Bank 4.2. The number of days of leave to be credited to leave bank for each year will be decided by the committee of CEO of businesses, Director Finance & President – Group HR at the beginning of each calendar year. 4.3. Unutilized leave in the leave bank will lapse at the end of calendar year. 4.4. A maximum of 60 days Leave will be granted for Self-Critical Illness / hospitalization. 4.5. Maximum of 10 days leave in case of hospitalization/ critical illness of immediate family (Spouse & Children). 5. Procedure and approval 5.1. The employee needs to apply Critical illness leave (Leave Bank-Medical Self) in people apps and upload the supporting medical documents 5.2. Supervisor to validate the medical documents and approve the leave request. 5.3. Post approval, request will be routed to Benefit Manager workflow in people apps, Benefits manager in consultation with Insurer may approve the leave 5.4. Post Benefits manager approval, finally the leave request needs to be approved the HR Head (HR Manager) in people apps 5.5. Grant of Leave under this policy is not to be treated as entitlement and will be entirely at the discretion of the HR Head 6. General Exclusions 6.1. The leave drawn from the leave Bank cannot be encashed. 6.2. The leaves cannot be applied for the Maternity / paternity reasons. 6.3. Elective procedures. 6.4. An illness or injury incurred while committing an illegal act. 6.5. Any illness or hospitalization due to Self injury. 6.6. Procedure not covered under Mediclaim. 6.7. The list is not exhaustive and only representative. The Management reserves the right to amend/ modify / withdraw the policy any time. 16  Annexure Critical illnesses: 1. Heart Attack 2. Cancer 3. Kidney Failure 4. Blindness 5. Paralysis 6. Parkinson’s Disease 7. Brain Tumor 8. Stroke 9. Surgery to Coronary Arteries 10. Aorta Surgery 11. Heart Valve Replacement 12. Coma 13. Multiple Scleroses 14. Major Burns 15. Major Organ Transplant – Kidney, Liver, Lungs, Pancreas, Small Bowel Transplant and Bone Marrow 16. Major Accident during the course of employment with severe disability. 17 COMPENSATORY OFF POLICY 1. Objective This policy aims at providing compensatory off for employees if they are required to work on their weekly off or Holidays. 2. Coverage This policy is effective from 1st December 2016 and applicable to the below listed category of employees. a. All employees in Grade A5 and below b. All employees across grades in Retail Operations based out of Stores and Warehouses c. All other employees from A6 to M3 not exceeding one day per month. 3. Guidelines 3.1 The compensatory off can be availed by an eligible employee in lieu of a working on a Weekly off or on a declared holiday. The employee should have worked for 8 hours to be eligible for a full day compensatory off. 3.2 Compensatory off should be availed within 60 days from the date of being eligible or else it will get lapsed. For example if an employee works on 15th August, 2012 the compensatory off in lieu of the day should be availed on or before 14th October, 2012. 3.3 Compensatory offs are non-encashable. 3.4 Compensatory offs cannot be clubbed together with other types(EL/CL/SL) of leave but can be prefixed or suffixed with weekly offs or public holidays. At any point of time an employee cannot avail compensatory off for more than 2 days at a stretch. 4. Operating Procedure 4.1 The employee needs to apply for the Comp off in People Apps and take approval from Reporting Manager before proceeding on leave. 4.2 The application needs to be done in the “Apply for Leave” Module in People Apps by selecting the type of leave as Compensatory Off. The date in lieu of which the comp off is being applied should be updated in the “Comments” section. In case of comp-off application only one day can be applied in one application and multiple days cannot be applied together. 18 SALARY REIMBURSEMENT POLICY Employees in Grade A5 & above can allocate the special allowance component from the salary break up under the below head as applicable for the grades and submit the reimbursement declaration form online in People Apps on or before payroll cutoff 20th. Once declared the allocated amount will be removed from the special allowance and will be paid only on receipt of original bills. Claim Procedure - Employees opting for the reimbursement are requested to self-attest the individual claims and upload in Ramco people apps on or before payroll cut off 20th. FOOD Coupons (Zaggle/Pluxee card) Employees opting for Food Coupons in the reimbursement declaration form, needs to approach the HR/Payroll team for the activation of the Zaggle/Pluxee Card. Upon submission of the KYC documents and application form, Zaggle/Pluxee card can be collected from payroll team/Respective HR Spocs. Post payroll closure, Meal Vouchers of Rs. 2500 will be loaded in the Zaggle/Pluxee and employees can use the amount at any outlets for purchase of Food & Beverages items only. GIFT CARD VOUCHER Gift card vouchers (Rs. 4999/-) are allocated twice in the year i.e Sep paid in Oct (Rs. 2500) and Mar paid in Apr (Rs. 2500) in the Zaggle/Pluxee under the Gift Vouchers, wherein employees can enjoy the seamless shopping experience in both food and non-food categories at any Zaggle/Pluxee accepted outlets. CONVEYANCE (FUEL & MAINTENANCE) Employee must own a car in his/her name, under this component employee can claim the fuel bill, repair and maintenance bills, insurance payments. The bill shall be in employee's name. The reimbursement shall be on accrual basis. Bills to be produced in originals either once in a year or monthly. Grade Fuel & Maintenance M5 Up to Rs. 21,600/- Up to Rs. 21,600/- M4 to M4-A Up to Rs. 21,600/- M3 to M3-A Up to Rs. 21,600/- M2 to M2-A Up to Rs. 21,600/- M1 to M1-A A6-2 to A6-1 Up to Rs. 21,600/- 19 EMPLOYEE LAPTOP /TABLET / DESKTOP FOR PERSONAL USE Objective: To enable the employees to acquire Laptop / Tablet / Desktop for carrying out any work / learning using broadband from home. This document serves to provide the necessary guidance as a policy governing the procurement, use and entitlement of these items. Applicability: Employees in Grades M3 and above, effective from 1st April 2015. Entitlement: The entitlement under this policy is applicable as follows: Limit Depreciation (As per IT rules) Minimum Maximum Grade Items Period Period M4 & 125000 50% on cost under reducing balance Above Laptop/ Tab method for each completed year during 12 24 Desktop 100000 which such asset was put to use months months M3 & M3-A Guidelines & Process of Availing the Entitlement: The employee will be required to declare his / her entitlement utilization in full or part and depreciation period as per policy once every two years. The employee may choose the depreciation period of either 12 months period or 24 months and declare it accordingly. The Employee can request for Laptop/Tab/Desktop either through Landmark IT team or purchase on own subject to billed on company’s name with company GST number. Income Tax: The Laptop /Tab / Desktop shall be given as an asset to the employee for his/her use and treated as perquisites based on the applicable provisions under the Income Tax Act, 1961. The Laptop/Tab/desktop shall remain in the books of the company till the time of transfer to the employee upon completion of the usage period prescribed above. The taxable value of this perquisite shall be calculated as below: At the end of 12/24 months, the Laptop/Tab/ Desktop shall be transferred to the employee at zero value. The employee shall bear the tax on perquisites value (i.e. the difference between cost of the asset and transfer value) reduced by depreciation calculated at the rate of 50% per annum on reducing balance for each completed year during which the asset was put to use. The depreciation benefit shall be extended to the employee at the time of transfer of Laptop/Tab/desktop only when the employee has completed a minimum of one year from the date of purchase. If an employee resigns within 20 one year of date of purchase, then income tax shall be applicable on the purchase value without any depreciation benefit. Yearly Perquisite Perquisite Value at the time of sale of Assets Item Value to the Employee Laptop /Tab/Desktop Nil 50% of the cost of asset (After 12 months) Laptop/Tab /Desktop Nil 25% of the cost of asset (After 24 months) The employee is expected to take good care of the assets and keep them in good working condition. In case an employee wishes to insure these items, it may be done at his/her personal cost. Few Examples as below: Scenario 1: Laptop declaration Rs. 1,00,000/- Purchase value is Rs. 52,000/- and bill dated 01-June 15. Date of separation – 31-May-16 Since the employee has completed 12 months from the date of purchase, The Laptop will be transferred to employee @ Nil Value. Scenario 2: Laptop declaration Rs. 1,20,000/- Purchase value is Rs. 52,000/- and bill dated 01-June 15. Date of separation – 31-Dec-15 Since the employee has not completed 12 months from the date of purchase, The Laptop will be transferred to employee on 31-Dec-15 @ Nil Value. The amount of Rs.38000/- will be paid to Employee Therefore Rs.38000/- shall be treated as Perquisite value and taxed as per income tax slab applicable. Scenario 3: Laptop declaration Rs. 60,000/- Purchase value is Rs. 52,000/- and bill dated 01-June 15. Date of separation – 31-Dec-15 Since the employee has not completed 12 months from the date of purchase, The Laptop will be transferred to employee on 31-Dec-15 @ Nil Value. The amount of Rs. 7000/- will be recovered from Employee Therefore, Rs. 7000/- shall be treated as Perquisite value and taxed as per income tax slab applicable. 21 TELEPHONE, BOARD-BAND, HANDSET MOBILE PHONE Objective: To take care of communication needs for business & exigencies. Applicability: Employees in Grade A6 and above effective from 1 st April 2008 Entitlements: Grade Handset Limit M6 Up to Rs. 160,000/- M4 to M5 Up to Rs. 150,000/- M3 to M3-A Up to Rs. 120,000/- A6-2 to M2-A Up to Rs. 1,10,000/- Guidelines: Employees may claim the reimbursement towards the purchase of one handset from the company once every year or can produce the phone or broad band bills monthly. In the event an employee opts for a handset of a higher value, reimbursement shall be up to the grade entitlement. The grade entitlement limit includes all taxes and other charges. The bill shall be in employee's name. The reimbursement shall be on accrual basis. In case the employee has not purchased the handset by the end of the year the balance amount shall be paid as Special Pay. Any such payments would be subject to appropriate tax deduction at source under the provisions of the Income Tax Act, 1961. Procedure: Eligible employees may purchase any model of GSM handset directly from the market from authorized dealers as per grade entitlement. To claim reimbursement, the employee may upload the Original Bill from the dealer on people apps. Income Tax: The taxability in the hands of the employee is computed based on provisions under the Income Tax Act, 1961 and the Income Tax Rules, 1962 along with other notifications/circulars/other clarifications issued by the Revenue department from time to time. Any changes/amendments in the legislation subsequent to the date of this policy document would automatically change the taxability in the hands of the employee. 22 LEAVE TRAVEL ALLOWANCE Objective This policy extends to all the employees in A5 to M6 who are provided with LTA as a component in their compensation and benefits. Purpose This policy aims at enabling the employees to avail vacation and spend time with the family in long distance places. This also aims at providing income tax relief to the employees once in the span of 2 consecutive financial years. Coverage Limit The leave travel allowance shall be fixed at 8.33% of the total annual basic salary of the employee or 2 lakhs whichever is lower. Example 1: If the annual basic salary is Rs. 3,00,000/- then the LTA payable per annum is Rs. 24,990/-. Process LTA can be availed anytime during the financial year i.e. April to March. Functional heads are requested to plan the LTA of their respective functional members in such a way that leave is staggered throughout the year, avoiding too many requests towards year end. A minimum of 3 days Annual Leave/Casual Leave has to be availed for availing LTA benefit. Travel expenses alone can be claimed for self and family for Tax benefits. Advance LTA can be claimed for that particular financial year in any month and if anyone leaves/separates in between the financial year, then the excess amount already paid shall be proportionately deducted in the final settlement. On return from leave the employee shall upload the travel bills such as Air, Train and Bus to payroll for tax exemption. Taxi bills are not considered for LTA claim. LTA tax relief is provided twice in a block of 4 years. Any un-availed LTA amount shall be paid to the employee along with March month salary after deducting Income Tax. Responsibility Since, all LTA bills are subject to Income tax the employee shall take due care in submitting the bills and any non-compliance issue shall be their individual responsibility. Any employee who desires to claim LTA on monthly basis as a taxable component may change his CTC structure in People Apps at the beginning of the financial year or at the time of joining. NOTE: 1) Family normally is defined as follows: For married people: Wife, Children, Dependent parents, Dependent brother below 18 years and sister below 21 years if they are Unmarried. For Unmarried people: Dependent parents, dependent brother below 18 years and dependent sister below 21 years if they are Unmarried. If parents, brother or sister are employed then they will not be considered as dependents. Dependency should be proved. In any case, Grandparents and In-Laws are not defined as Family. 2) The travel bills to be submitted includes Air ticket, Train ticket (Ist Class travel is permissible) and bus tickets. 23 CAR LEASE REIMBURSEMENT GUIDELINE Objective: To provide employees reimbursement on driver’s salary, fuel and maintenance as per the car lease guidelines. Eligibility: All employees in Grade M1 & Above who are availing car lease. Grades Drivers Salary Fuel & Maintenance M5 & M6 400000 448000 M4 to M4-A 390000 392000 M3 to M3-A 320000 294000 M2 to M2-A 320000 280000 M1 to M1-A 240000 210000 Mode of Operation : Employees may upload their reimbursement bills as per their eligibility for the current month which will be processed along with the salary as a reimbursement component. PROFESSIONAL COURSES ALLOWANCE Objective : Employees are entitled to claim the tuition fees for the professional course enrolled during his/her course of employment with us. Eligibility: All employees in Grade A6-2 & Above. Guidelines : The amount should be spent with an educational or research institution. The education/training/research course that is undertaken should relate to the role of the employee in the Organization. Seminars etc from private service providers is not permissible. It should be undertaken from an educational or research institution. No restrictions on the number of courses. Foreign courses also permissible. Amount cannot be utilized to meet related expenses (books etc.) The documents should be obtained in a manner where employer will be able to substantiate that the course was undertaken by the employer, the amount of expenses actually incurred by him, and the said documents will have details of the course to prove that the same is relevant to the employment / professional development of the employee. If in foreign currency, the copies of bank statement / credit card statement for computing INR cost of payments made in foreign currency can be obtained. Entitlements: Grade Professional Course Allowance M5-A & M6 Up to Rs. 200,000/- M4-A to M5 Up to Rs. 150,000/- M3 to M4 Up to Rs. 100,000/- M1 to M2-A Up to Rs. 75,000/- A6-2 to A6-1 Up to Rs. 50,000/- 24 RELOCATION POLICY Objective To assist the Employees who have to relocate during recruitment / transfer from their town of posting. Eligibility All employees who relocate from their place of posting while joining the company or when transferred. Brokerage for House All eligible employees will be extended assistance in the initial search for the residential accommodation. The Company will pay up-to one month rent as brokerage (on production of brokerage bill) and expenses on registration of lease deed. Travel Expenses Employees will get travel expenses for relocation of self and family as per travel policy. If married, family includes self, spouse and children. If unmarried, family includes self and dependent parents. Packing and Moving Employees in all grades are eligible for Packing and Moving expenses of their Household goods up to maximum of one Truck load of goods. This will also include Insurance of household items under transition. Employees in M1 and above grades are eligible for moving the expenses of car leased from company, i.e employee will be allowed to move the car back to the base location at the cost of Company. In case of separation within one year from date of movement of vehicle to the base location, amount will be recovered in full. Stay during Relocation Employees may stay in the Guest house / Hotel (only if we do not have Guest house in that city) for up to 15 days. In addition to this, for the subsequent 1 week, the company will pay only 50% of the cost of accommodation on approval of the President – Group HR. Beyond which the employee will have to pay the complete cost. Under relocation policy employees are eligible for 75% of Daily Allowance as per Travel Policy eligibility applicable to their Grade up to 15 days to take care of all other expenses. If the employee is relocating with family, the Daily allowance shall be twice that is paid when employee moves alone. Food expenses at the Guest House need to be settled directly by the Employees. Employee transferred to different location on IJP can avail advance against Hotel accommodation and Daily allowance to the extent of their stay in the Hotel. This advance to be validated and approved by the respective Business / Regional HR while processing. Relocation Leave To enable smoother relocation, an employee can avail two days of relocation leave at the time of transfer or joining from a different city. 25 Lease & Rent Deposit For employees in Grade above M3, the company shall enter into a lease agreement or pay to the employee an amount equal to a maximum of 10 months rent or Maximum limit shown in the below table which ever is lower and recover the same over a 10 month period from the employee’s salary as per limits defined below (Any tax liability on account of leased accommodation may be payable by the employee). Grade Maximum Limit for Rent Deposit M6 5,00,000 M5 3,50,000 M4 2,50,000 M3 1,50,000 Rent Deposit For employees in Grade M2 & below, the Company shall pay to the employee an amount equal to a maximum of 10 months’ rent and recover the same over a 10 month period from the employee’s salary. The advance limits are defined as below. The Employees shall execute letters / undertakings as the Company may desire, in respect of the repayment of the security deposit being provided by the Company. The Company shall not enter into lease agreement with the landlord for the residential purpose and the employees shall directly enter into lease arrangement. Employee will need to give a copy of Lease agreement as soon as the agreement is signed. Grade Maximum Amount M2 1,20,000 M1 75,000 A6 60,000 A5 & A4 50,000 Note: Rent deposit is subject to applicable tax Employees’ Vehicle Road Tax: Employees in Grades M2 (M1 in the case of Retail Operations) and above are eligible to claim the road tax / interstate re-registration fees in accordance with the Motor Vehicle rules applicable as per the norms of the transferred state. The payment will be made to the concerned authority of RTO against the demand notice or reimbursed upon the receipt of tax paid. This is applicable only for new joinees when they join or relocation of existing employees from a different location. In the event an employee claims the Life Time four wheeler road tax / re-registration charges, he / she needs to stay in the same location for a minimum period of 1 year. If the employee gets transferred to a new location before one year upon his / her request, the amount paid will be recovered as follows: 26  Completion of months Amount payable < 6 months 100% of the road tax / re-registration charges 6 - 11 months 50% of the road tax / re-registration charges The above is not applicable if company transfers the employee to a different location due to the Organizational requirements. School Capitation fees for Employees’ Ward: All employees are eligible to claim the expenses towards meeting the school capitation fees for their ward, when there is a transfer from one location to other due to the organizational need. This is applicable also for new joinees when they join from a different location. The payment will be made directly to the respective school upon the demand notice of admission from the school. The eligibility of capitation fees would be as follows: The maximum limit in case of only child would be Rs.50,000/- or actuals whichever is less. The maximum limit for two children would be Rs.35000/- each or actuals whichever is less. Please note that if the employee has opted for a maximum amount of Rs.50,000/- for one child, he/she will not become eligible to claim for the second child. Mode of Operation Packing and moving The Packing and moving will be done through the company with which it has a logistics agreement. All employees through their Local HR. House Search The Admin team shall assist the newly recruited / transferred employee in finding a suitable house either through an agent or through its own sources. Admin to tie up / get into an agreement with brokers on standard terms of 1 month brokerage. Employees may use these brokers. Rent Advance/Deposit: Upon identification of the house, the eligible employee shall make a formal request for Advance payable for accommodation lease through Peopleapps. All cases outside the policy must be approved by the Executive Director on the recommendation of HR. Relocation Claim Employees should submit their bills for Relocation claim as per their eligibility to the Corporate Compensation & Benefits team, within 1 month from the date of relocation. Employees getting transferred on self request will not be eligible for any relocation claim. 27 Recovery: If an employee leaves the service of the company within 1 year of joining/transfer, the company shall deduct a sum equivalent to 100% of this relocation expenses from the employee. This is not applicable if the company asks him/her to leave. Relocation benefits to be provided only if it is company initiated transfer. All claims to be verified by respective HR Spoc. SHORT TERM TRANSFER POLICY Deputations beyond 30 days will be treated as Short term transfers. Stay during Short term transfers: Employees may stay in the Guest house. All employees are eligible for 50% of Daily Allowance as per eligibility under Travel Policy, beyond 30 days, applicable to their Grade. Food expenses will need to be settled directly by the Employees. LONG SERVICE AWARDS Objective: The purpose of this policy is to recognize the service and contribution of long serving employees in Lifestyle. Eligibility: The policy applies to all permanent employees of the company who have completed 5 / 10 / 15 / 20 & 25 years of continuous service in the organization. Long service award: The long service award will be given to employees completing minimum of 5 years tenure in the Organization. Tenure Grade Amount Type of Award 5 Years All grade 7000 10 Years All grade 15000 Gift voucher 15 Years M2-A & Below 25000 15 Years M3 & M3-A 75000 15 Years M4 & Above 100000 20 Years M2-A & Below 35000 20 Years M3 & M3-A 100000 Gift voucher / Travel Reimbursement 20 Years M4 & Above 150000 25 Years M2-A & Below 50000 25 Years M3 & M3-A 150000 25 Years M4 & Above 200000 28 Employees will have to submit the travel related bills and the amount will be reimbursed in the consequent payroll. Taxes as applicable will be deducted. All awardees will be presented Appreciation Certificate signed by the Managing / Executive Director and the Chief People Officer. Mode of Operation: The list of employees who would be eligible for the award shall be sent by the respective Regional HR to the Corporate HR by 10th of every month. The corporate HR will prepare the certificates and shall issue it to the locations. The GV’s shall be processed through Payroll. The long service awards shall be presented at a ceremony held on a monthly / bi-monthly basis. This will normally be held in the end of the month and may be presided over by the Business / Territory Heads. Exceptional Circumstances: Where because of separation an individual who is eligible for the long service award while employed by the company, but ceases to be employed by the date of the long service award ceremony, the award shall be presented purely on management’s discretion. OFF SALE ALLOWANCE Objective To partially compensate and motivate the CSRs who have to spend long hours and manage huge crowds from morning till evening during the Off Sale period. Eligibility All floor staff placed in grade R6 & below on duty in the retail showroom and the Warehouse staff [W6 grade & below] deputed in the store during the Off Sale. Details of Policy During the Off Sale period usually held twice a year in the months of February and September, the eligible employees shall be given Rs. 130/ - as an Off Sale allowance. Mode of Operation The shift timings during an Off Sale is between 09:30 hrs & 22:00 hrs. To be eligible for the allowance, the floor staff who work through the complete shift Rs. 30/- [As food allowance] is paid on a daily basis, while the remaining Rs. 100/- per day of attendance is paid to the eligible employees at the end of the Off Sale period. The Store HR is responsible for the disbursement of the same. 29 GRIEVANCE POLICY Objective: At Landmark Group India, we strive to create a workplace where every employee feels valued and is treated fairly with respect and dignity. The Employee Grievance Redressal Policy has been established to address employee concerns effectively and in a timely fashion to foster harmonious working relationships within the Organization. Scope & Definition: This Policy is applicable to: All Employees on Company rolls, direct contract rolls and Interns Staff engaged through third party contractors and partners working on our premises including Brand staff and Franchisee employees A Grievance shall be defined as a concern or issue raised by an Employee/Staff to a Supervisor or Human Resources about a workplace situation, policy or decision that is perceived to be unfair, discriminatory, or contrary to organizational policies or working conditions Grievance may arise from: Behaviors that are perceived as unfair or unjust Dispute with peers/ supervisor Discrimination, workplace harassment and bullying * Health and Safety issues at workplace Issues related to employment conditions/ policy/ pay benefit guidelines Landmark Group recognizes that every employee concern is different, and the above is only an indicative list. Employees and Supervisors are encouraged to make an initial effort to resolve the Grievance amicably. Where informal discussions fail to resolve the issue fairly and constructively, the aggrieved employee can raise the Grievance as defined in the Grievance Redressal guidelines * Note: Grievances pertaining to Sexual Harassment at Workplace shall be resolved under the Prevention of Sexual Harassment at Workplace Policy Grievance Redressal : General Guidelines Landmark Group India shall treat all Grievances seriously and with fairness and with utmost confidentiality The Organization is committed to protecting the employee against any retaliation or repercussions on account of reporting the grievance in good faith 30  The disclosure of the grievance shall be restricted to the necessary departments/persons unless multiple businesses/departments are involved where it shall be necessary to divulge the grievance to resolve it effectively All concerned parties shall uphold confidentiality and not engage in discussions on the grievance with colleagues to avoid breach of confidentiality/influence OR interference in grievance redressal Human Resources of the respective location - Store/Warehouse/Region/Corporate shall be responsible for grievance Redressal and accountable for providing prompt remedial action in a timebound manner in accordance with the following guidelines: Grievance Filing : The aggrieved employee shall submit the grievance to HR Partner (Store/Cluster HR, HRBP) or Supervisor within 10 working days once becoming es aware of the grievance. The Grievance shall be submitted by email/ in writing containing all relevant details of the issue. This will enable the organization to redress the grievance effectively. The Grievance shall mention the Official Name, Employee ID, Business Unit, Work location, Mobile Number and/or Email ID to contact during the investigation. Where Grievance is against the Supervisor/ HR Partner, the employee shall submit the grievance directly to Skip Manager / HR Lead Where Grievance is received anonymous, HR shall try to contact the initiator of the Grievance and initiate redressal only once relevant details are received. Grievance Acknowledgement : HR Partner shall send an acknowledgement by email/ in writing within 3 working days from the date of receipt. The Supervisor and HR Partner or their Managers, as may be the case, shall review the grievance thoroughly and gather all relevant information and initiate a timely investigation. Grievance Redressal : The Grievance Redressal shall follow the Redressal Escalation matrix (Annexure 1) as defined The Grievances Redressal shall be conducted in person via Virtual meeting within reasonable timelines from the acknowledgement date HR Partner /Supervisor shall strive to resolve the grievance within 15 calendar days. Where the redressal timelines exceed 15 calendar days, HR Partner (Store/Cluster HR, HRBP) shall keep the concerned parties informed For Staff engaged through third-party contractors and partners working on our premises including brand staff/ Franchisee employees, Landmark Group HR partner shall inform the concerned third-party HR or Supervisor, as applicable. Landmark Group HR may involve in the investigation and share Redressal recommendations with the concerned third-party HR OR Supervisor for further actioning 31  Where the aggrieved employee skips the escalation matrix and raises the Grievance directly to Listening helpdesk/Senior Leaders/Management, the recipient shall direct the Grievance to appropriate Level for redressal Where HR partner becomes aware of any serious grievance through this process which may imminently have a large impact on the employee/colleagues/organization, they shall immediately bring it to the notice of Business HR Head for a quick redressal/action. Listening Helpdesk : The Listening Helpdesk is an online grievance mechanism to appeal on concerns/issues that are unresolved at Level - 1 The aggrieved employee shall email to the Helpdesk with details of original grievance, resolution provided by Level 1 and the reason for escalation. Grievances received by the Listening Helpdesk - [email protected] shall be addressed by a Redressal Committee constituted by the Business HR Head based on the demographics, the nature and gravity of grievance Note: Where the aggrieved employee is a woman and the constituted Redressal committee comprises of only male members, the Business HR Head shall try to nominate a female employee to be part of the committee wherever possible Corporate HRBP Lead/ Retail HR Lead shall be responsible to work along with the Grievance Committee to ensure that the investigation is completed within 15 calendar days. Where the redressal timelines exceed 15 calendar days, the HR Lead shall keep the concerned parties informed. The Grievance redressal and conclusion made by the committee shall be final and binding and Management shall take necessary corrective actions based on the recommendations of the grievance Redressal committee. Incident Reporting and Record Keeping Human Resources shall maintain records of the grievance redressal process confidentially and secure in a central repository at Business Level in the prescribed format The Grievance Incident Reports and Incident Register shall be maintained in a manner that it accessible by the Business HR Head/Management as may be required The online document shall contain high-level summary data: The number of grievances lodged in the Financial Year by Business Unit the nature of each grievance (whether regarding an administrative decision, employee conduct, workplace harassment or a human rights matter) name of the employee who raised grievance and against whom whether the grievance was resolved at Level 1, Level 2,etc 32 Process Flow : Annexure 1: Grievance Redressal Matrix : Redressal Grievance Filing Grievance Redressal Levels Supervisor and HR Partner (Store/Cluster HR, HRBP) Supervisor/Skip Level Manager and Level - 1 Note - Where the grievance is against Supervisor HR Partner /HR Partner, grievance can be raised to Skip Manager/ HR Lead Listening Help Desk - [email protected] The Senior HR Leader shall Level - 2 constitute a Redressal committee A senior HR Leader shall be made aware of the based on the nature and gravity of grievances received by Helpdesk within 3 working grievance days 33 PREVENTION, PROHIBITION AND REDRESSAL OF SEXUAL HARASSMENT AT WORKPLACE 1. Objective a) To ensure that Lifestyle International Pvt. Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as The Company) implements the policy in letter and spirit by undertaking all necessary and reasonable steps to provide a safe and non- discriminatory work environment to ensure right of equality and right of life and liberty with dignity for its employees. In keeping with this, the Company is committed to provide and promote a place of work that is free from sexual harassment, intimidation or exploitation and abide by all applicable laws of land in this regard. The Company is clearly outlining and actively discouraging any conduct/actions / behaviors which may affect the safety and dignity of any employee and may lead to direct/indirect harassment of any employee at workplace. b) The objective of this Policy is to prevent and deter acts of sexual harassment by or against Employees and to lay down the procedures for resolution or prosecution of complaints of sexual harassment by or against Employees as per The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 and the Supreme Court guidelines. c) The Company adopts a zero-tolerance policy against any such conduct that violates the guidelines set by the law. d) This policy shall come into effect from the date of signatures and shall supersede the earlier policy. 2. Guiding Principles a) Respect the dignity of employees at workplace b) Endeavour to instill and develop a transparent and equal-opportunity culture at workplace c) Provide a safe working environment free from sexual harassment d) Prohibit any conduct which may lead to sexual harassment at workplace e) Provide a redressal mechanism to put forward any grievances of sexual harassment and deal with them effectively, immediately and with due regard to confidentiality. f) Educate and create awareness of the Policy amongst the employees and others to whom it applies 3. Definition a) Sexual harassment at workplace is includes any one or more of the following unwelcomed acts or behavior (whether directly or by implication), such as; i) Unwelcome physical contact or advances including, touching, patting, pinching, stroking, kissing, hugging, fondling or inappropriate touching; ii) A demand or request for sexual favours; iii) Sexually coloured remarks or jokes; iv) Showing pornography; v) Any other unwelcome physical, verbal, or non-verbal conduct of sexual nature. vi) Implied or explicit promise of preferential treatment in her employment: or vii) Implied or explicit threat of detrimental treatment in her/his employment, if demands are not 34  met: or viii) Implied or explicit threat about her/his present or future employment status; or ix) Interference with her/his work or creating an intimidating or offensive or hostile work environment for her/him x) Humiliating treatment likely to affect her/his health or safety The following acts or omissions would also be considered sexual harassment and come under the purview of this policy. (Illustrative and not exhaustive): i) Eve-teasing, Leering, Stalking ii) Sexually colored jokes, innuendos and taunts causing or likely to cause awkwardness or embarrassment iii) Gender based insults or sexist remarks iv) Unwelcome sexual overtone in any manner such as over telephone (obnoxious telephone calls), text messages, e-mails or on social media. v) Displaying pornographic or other offensive or derogatory pictures, cartoons, pamphlets etc. vi) Forcible physical touch or molestation vii) Physical confinement against one's will and any other act likely to violate one's privacy. b) ‘Employee’ means Any person (irrespective of gender) employed at the workplace for any work on regular, temporary, ad hoc, or daily wage basis, either directly, or through an agent, including a contractor, with or without the knowledge of the Company. whether the terms of employment are express or implied, and includes a co-worker, contract worker, probationer, trainee, apprentice or called by any other such name. It also includes any visitor on the Company premises To, clarify, this Policy shall be applicable to all permanent, temporary, casual, consultants, contract (either directly or through an agent including a contractor), probationers including visitors if any. c) ‘Employer’ for this policy means any person responsible for the management, supervision, and control of the work place. 'Management" herein includes the person or Board or Committee responsible for formulation and administration of policies. d) Workplace: Workplace for this policy includes but not limited to: All Store, Office, Warehouse, Processing Centre, or any other work premises, where business is conducted All company-related activities performed at any other site away from the company’s premises Any location (hotels, office transport, residence, social functions, company sponsored events, private parties with office colleagues etc.) where the conduct or comments may have an adverse impact on workplace relations. 4. Coverage This policy applies to all employees across the Company including its Visitors to the work place 35 5. Version Control The President – Group Human Resources of the Company shall be the custodian of this policy. Any revisions to the existing policy will require approval of the Group President – Group HR. 6. Constitution of Sexual Harassment Redressal Committee A. Considering organizational spread and complexity the company, one or more committees called the internal complaints committee shall be established by the company for administrating the policy. The internal compliance committee (ICC) will be constituted in accordance with the Act and shall subject to the provisions of the Act, consisting of at least the following members as nominated by the company time to time. a) A Presiding Officer, who shall be a woman employed at a senior level at workplace (should be at least M1 and above) b) Minimum 2 members from amongst the employees c) 1 member from a non-governmental organization or association committed to the cause of the of women or a person familiar with the issues relating to sexual harassment. Provided, at-least one-half of the total members of the internal complaints committee will be female. B. The Presiding Officer and every member of the ICC shall NOT hold office for any period not exceeding three (3) years from the date of their nomination. C. The Company may reconstitute the internal complaints committee at any time as per requirement. Any addition in the committee members will need to be signed off by the Managing Director or Director of the organization. A communication should be sent to all employees on the same. D. The Internal complaints committee may form administrative guidelines from time to time for its functioning and procedures for investing a complaint, and shall be guided by principles of natural justice and applicable law or court rulings if any, E. The internal complaints committee will meet and inquire into complaints, as and when it receives a complaint and during such periodicity as it deems necessary to discharge its functions under policy F. The Quorum for any such inquiry/ meeting of internal complaints committee shall be at-least Three (3) members personally present including the PO. G. The internal complaints committee may seek any expert advice either internally and rely on internal audit teams of the company or external consultants and experts as deemed necessary H. The Committee will work towards creating an atmosphere promoting equality, non-discrimination, and gender justice. It will promote and facilitate measures to ensure there is no hostile environment towards employees at workplace. It will also monitor and review the implementation and effectiveness of sexual harassment policy. I. The Qualification and constitution of the committee is in conformance with the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013. 36 7. Redressal process i) It is the obligation of all employees to report sexual harassment experienced by them personally. ii) Where the Complainant is unable to make a complaint on account of her physical or mental incapacity or death or otherwise, her legal heir or such other person as may be prescribed by him/ her may make a compliant under this section. iii) Employees raising a complaint must be committed to talking about the issue truthfully. The organization will make efforts to ensure all complaints of sexual harassment are investigated and resolved promptly iv) The concerned employee shall give the complaint in writing to the Committee Member/ HOD/ HR or any other colleague, giving details of the incident(s) within a period of three months from its occurrence. v) An employee can also send a complaint by email to the POSH committee email id [email protected] vi) To the extent possible, the Complainant should keep a record of incidents (dates, times, locations, possible witness, detail of incidents, SMS, call records, your response). It is not mandatory to have a record of events to file a complaint, but a record can strengthen the case and helps remembering the details over time, especially when the complaint is not filed immediately. vii) The employee may seek assistance from his/her Superior, HR Business Partner or any other employee in lodging the complaint. viii) If the complaint is unable to write the Complaint on his/her own, his/ her oral complaint shall be reduced in writing by the HR-Business Partner or such other person as may be authorized by him/ her and the same shall be authenticated by the complainant under his/her dated signature or thumb impression as the case may be. ix) The ICC member/Presiding Officer, who receives the complaint, will make a record of the same in the POSH Complaint Register/ File and acknowledge receipt of the complaint in writing or via e-mail to the complainant. x) The complaint should include the contact details of the complainant / victim such as name, address, contact number, department etc. In both the cases above, the written complaint/email must provide the details of the incident together with the name/s of, the alleged harasser/s and the victim/s as available. xi) No anonymous complaints can be entertained by ICC. The policy encourages individuals to put their names to the allegations as anonymous complaints will not be investigated 8. Procedure to be followed by the Internal Committee The committee shall enquire into the complaint of sexual harassment following procedures in conformity with the principles of natural justice and confidentiality. a) While the complaint must be filed by a Complainant in writing, within a period of three months from the date of occurrence of last incident of sexual harassment, the ICC may extend the said time limits by a further period of maximum 3 months, by recording the reasons for such extension and reasonable circumstances which prevented the complainant to make a complaint within 3 months. 37 b) Conciliatory Resolution of the Complaint: The committee may, at the request of the Complainant before initiating an inquiry take steps to settle the matter between the Complainant and the Respondent through a process of conciliation. c) Notice of Enquiry and Communication to the Complainant and the Respondent: The committee will issue a notice of enquiry consisting of date, location, and time of the enquiry. The venue of the enquiry should take into consideration the convenience and security of the complainant. d) Closure of complaint which does not under the purview of Sexual Harassment: In the event that complaint does not fall under purview of Sexual Harassment or the complaint does not mean an offence of sexual harassment or no prima-facie case of Sexual Harassment is made out during preliminary inquiry/ meeting of the Committee, the same would be dropped after recording the reasons for the same in the minutes of committee meeting. e) Enquiry Process: The Internal Committee (IC), will complete the enquiry into the charges levelled against the Respondent by following principles of natural justice. Both the parties will be heard and permitted to lead their evidences and present their respective witnesses and cross examine the witnesses presented by the other party, so as to give opportunity to prove or defend their stand. f) Answering Sensitive Questions: The committee shall inform the complainant/s that she may give her answers to questions of a sensitive nature in writing at the enquiry proceedings during cross examination. g) Restriction on Evidence: The committee shall not permit any evidence or examination based on the Complainant’s character, personal life, conduct, personal and sexual history, unless the same is directly related to the complaint. General character assassination is strictly prohibited, unless the same conduct is directly related to the incident/ complaint. h) Right to summon additional witnesses and evidences: The Committee may call any person to appear before the Committee as a witness, if it is of the opinion that it shall be in the interest of justice. i) Recording of the Proceedings: All proceedings of the Committee shall be recorded in writing. The record of the proceedings and the statement of witnesses shall be endorsed by the persons concerned in token of authenticity thereof. j) Non-retaliation by the Respondent: The Respondent will be informed that a complaint has been filed against him/her and no unfair acts of retaliation or unethical action to influence or affect the independent inquiry by the Committee will be tolerated. k) Confidentiality and Secrecy: The members of the Committee, the Complainant, the Respondent, and the witnesses shall maintain confidentiality about the proceedings in which they were involved. l) Ex-Parte Enquiry: The Committee shall have the right to go ahead and conduct enquiry proceedings ex- parte and decide on its recommendation on the complaint in absence of the Respondent, if the Respondent fails to present himself for inquiry before the enquiry Committee, without any reasonable grounds, for three consecutive hearings convened by the enquiry Committee. m) Interim Relief during Pendency of Enquiry: During the pendency of an inquiry, on a written request made by the Complainant, the IC may recommend to the employer to take interim measures to; a) Transfer the Complainant or the Respondent to any other workplace; or b) Grant leave to the Complainant up to a period of three months; or c) Grant such other relief to the Complainant as may be prescribed. 38 9. Timelines All enquiries by the Committee shall be completed within 90 days of receipt of the Complaint. The Committee shall strive to complete the enquiry in the shortest possible time, but not exceeding three months from the date on which the Committee receives the complaint. 10. Submission of Findings of the Committee a) On the completion of an inquiry, the Internal Committee shall provide a written report of its findings to the Managing Director/Employer, within a period of ten days from the date of completion of the inquiry and such report should also be made available to the concerned parties under acknowledgement. b) The inquiry report shall specify the details of the charge(s) against the defendant, the statements made, and evidence presented in the enquiry and a discussion of the reasons upon which the findings arrived at by the Committee. c) If the Committee finds no merit in the complaint, it shall record its reasons for its conclusions and recommend that no action is required to be taken in the matter. d) In the event that the Committee finds the defendant guilty of sexual harassment, it shall recommend justifiable and equitable disciplinary action /punishment against the Defendant, which may include any or more of the following; i) To take action as a misconduct in accordance with provisions of service rules or standing order, wherever applicable. ii) In case where no service rules are available, it shall recommend the nature of disciplinary action to be taken taking into consideration the gravity of the offence of which he has been found guilty and the impact on the complainant. iii) In case the defendant was any contract/ agency worker or vendor or consultant or some such person, the forfeiture of such contract and award of penalty, apart from any other legal remedy as applicable to the facts and circumstances of the subjected complaint. e) However, if the Committee arrives at a conclusion that the allegation against the respondent is malicious or the complainant has made a false complaint with an malicious intent or the complainant has intentionally produced any forged or misleading documents, it may recommend appropriate disciplinary action to be taken against the complainant in accordance with the provisions of the service rules, or if no service rules are available, in consideration of the gravity of malicious intent. Malicious intent on part of the complainant can be established only after an inquiry. A mere inability to substantiate a complaint or provide adequate proof must not be inferred as a malicious complaint. f) The final report must be signed by the Presiding Office on behalf of the Committee. 39 11. Guidelines for Disciplinary Action The ICC will frame Inquiry Guidelines from time to time as per the Policy for conducting the Inquiry of complaints of sexual harassment and to give recommendations on disciplinary action / punishment, in case the defendant is found guilty. The penalties listed below are not exhaustive & indicative only. a) Minor Punishment i) Warning Letter ii) Impact on performance appraisal iii) Transfer to any other company / business location iv) Debarring from supervisory duties b) Major Punishment i) Withholding or stoppage or delay of increments/promotion ii) Demotion iii) Discharge from services iv) Dismissal with forfeiture of Gratuity, etc. v) ICC can recommend support to take criminal action against the accused. vi) Any other punishment that ICC may deem appropriate at that time. 12. Anti-Retaliation Policy The organization recognizes that the decision to report a sexual harassment can be a difficult one to make, not least because of the fear of reprisal from those responsible for the malpractice or from the superiors. The organization will not tolerate any kind of retaliation and will make efforts to ensure that anyone raising a sexual harassment compliant and employees who cooperate with the investigation are not retaliated against. 40 EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPURTUNITY POLICY Objective Landmark Group India prohibits discrimination and harassment of any kind to our employees and applicants for employment based on race, religion, nationality, ethnicity, color, gender, age, citizenship, sexual orientation, marital status, or any disability. We commit to providing equal opportunities to all our employees and all employment decisions are based only on valid job requirements and the skillset of the applicants. Scope This Policy applies to all the business entities of Landmark Group India and aims to promote transparency and accountability in providing equal employment opportunities and reflects our commitment to build a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace. The Equal Employment Opportunity Policy (EEO) is applicable to all employees and job applicants and applies to all aspects of the relationship between Landmark Group India and its employees, including, but not restricted to: Employment Recruitment Performance Appraisals Training and Development Employee Lifecycle processes Working conditions Wages and salary administration Application of policies This EEO policy is subject to the provisions of applicable laws, including the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 2016 and The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY STATEMENT "We are an equal opportunity employer, and are committed to provide equal opportunities to our employees and all qualified applicants shall receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, nationality, ethnicity, color, gender, age, citizenship, sexual orientation, marital status or any disability” Dissemination and implementation of Policy Human Resources Department of the business entities of Landmark Group India shall be responsible for the dissemination of this policy. Business Heads, Leaders, Managers, and Supervisors are responsible for 41 implementing equal employment practices within each department. The HR department is responsible for overall compliance and shall maintain personnel records in compliance with applicable laws and regulations. Landmark Group India administers our EEO policy fairly and consistently by ensuring that the EEO policy is assimilated in all HR processes included above but not limited. Human Resources Department shall ensure that communication regarding EEO is made visible to employees and reinforced periodically. Grievances Redressal Any person having any grievance regarding this content of the policy, or its implementation can report the same by raising a complaint* as per the Grievance Redressal Policy. The reported incident shall be investigated as per the defined guidelines. *Grievances pertaining to Sexual Harassment at Workplace shall be resolved under the Prevention of Sexual Harassment at Workplace Policy Remedies Violations of this policy, regardless of whether an actual law has been violated, shall not be tolerated. Landmark Group India shall promptly, thoroughly, and fairly investigate every issue that is brought to its attention in this area and shall take disciplinary action, when appropriate, up to and including termination of employment 42 PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM “Performance-driven culture is the Key to Organizational Success” – Gartner Performance management and appraisals process focuses on aligning the workforce, building competencies, improving employee performance & development and driving better business results. Performance management system consists of 3 stages- 1st stage – KRA Setting/Mid Year feedback 2nd stage – Performance Review 3rd stage – Rewards Performance Appraisal Period: Cut off date Performance Increment Business Units for Period Effective Date Eligibility Lifestyle/ Homecentre/ Max/ Easybuy/ Apr – Mar 1st April 30th Sep Group/Spar/ KK/Web team–Ind/ LMG Consulting/DLL-India/Babyshop LOIPL (Data Labs / LM Digital / Neom) July – June 1st Oct 31st Dec Leisure India July – June 1st Oct 31st Dec Eligibility: The employees should be on rolls of the company and not serving notice period as on date of the increment effective date to receive increment. Probation extended employees are also not eligible for the appraisal. Payment shall be calculated on pro rata basis from the date of joining. Eligibility is subject to change as per Management decision. Employees who have joined on or after 01st October will be eligible for the compensation review in subsequent year April only. KRA Setting (Goals) Goal setting exercise is a collaborative process between the employee and reporting manager. It specifies the kind of performance that are desired from the individual and aligning those with the organization goals. Mutually agreed goals is then uploaded in the Peopleapps, which is reviewed and approved by the reporting managers. 43 Performance Review Performance appraisal is a feedback system that involves direct evaluation of individual performance by a reporting manager. Performance of the individual is measured against the goals defined and rated accordingly in People apps. Rating Scale Description: Rating 5 – Far Exceeds Expectations (FEE) Rating 4 – Exceeds Expectations (EE) Rating 3 – Meets Expectations (ME) Rating 2 – Mostly Meets Expectations (MME) Rating 1 – Below Expectations (BE) Basis self-appraisal rating and organizations performance, individual is suitably rewarded along with the April or May Salary and letter will be issued through People apps. PERFORMANCE LINKED PAY POLICY Objective This policy brochure has been prepared to acquaint you with the basic elements of the Performance Linked Pay for employees at Lifestyle, Max, Easy Buy, Home Centre, Babyshop, Group, Spar, Citymax, LOIPL and LMG Consulting. It provides an overview of the philosophy and principles of Performance Linked Pay computation criterion and how PLP is related to job performance. TABLE OF CONTENTS: 1. Eligibility 2. PLP Payout 3. Company Criterion 4. Individual Performance Criterion 5. Prerequisites for PLP Payout 1. Eligibility All employees on the rolls of the company – Lifestyle, Max, Easy Buy, Home Centre, Spar, Citymax, LMG Consulting & LOIPL. BU Performance Period Payout Lifestyle/ Homecentre/ Max/ Easybuy/ Group/Spar/ Apr – Mar Jun KK/Web team–Ind/ LMG Consulting/DLL-India/Babyshop LOIPL (Data Labs / LM Digital / Neom) July – June Oct Leisure India July – June Oct 44 2. Performance Linked Pay (PLP) Payout (Illustration) 2.1 All employees who have joined on or before 31st Mar are eligible for Performance Linked Payout. Payment shall be calculated on a pro rata basis from the date of joining. 2.2 Effective FY 2022-23 onwards, in order to be eligible for PLP payout, you should not be on notice period as on 31st March. 2.3 Performance linked Pay payout shall be based on performance of the employee and the company for the respective Financial Year. Individual Performance shall be measured by the Manager as per the rating. 3. Company Criterion Company PLP Criteria & Weightage: Criterion Weightage Sales 40% PBT 60% Company PLP Eligibility Pool: Business Performance PLP Pool 0% - 88.99% Not eligible for PLP 89% - 94.99% 80% of eligibility 95% & above As per actual %, capped at a maximum of 125% E.g.: As per actual % implies that if the Businesses have reached 98% performance, the pool