So, how does one do a new mom’s appraisal?
The impact that maternity leave has on an employee’s performance rating is often a matter of concern. While there are some companies that do not offer any discretionary bonus to women on maternity leave since they are not working during that period, many corporates do have mechanisms in place to ensure that employees going on maternity leave are protected in terms of their entitlement to discretionary or performance-related bonuses.
The most common measure that companies seem to have adopted is to freeze the employee’s performance ratings during the period of leave, with the net effect being that the employee is considered to be working during the leave period. Another practice is to use the same rating employees had received in the previous appraisal period.
Some firms fix a minimum threshold bonus amount, or entirely exclude the duration of maternity leave, and only consider the earlier period for which the employee has worked to determine the bonus, says the report titled Maternity Benefits and Facilitating Return to Work by Nasscom and Trilegal.
Jagjit Singh, chief people officer, PwC India, says his company has a Retain your Rating policy in place that is applicable to all employees and expectant mothers.
It allows high performers to retain their previous year’s performance rating.