What if an indian employee is absent or sick for a long time?
What if an Indian employee is absent for a long time or becomes ill??
Indian employees can also drop out for various reasons. In the article more information and how to deal with it.
Sick days in India versus Germany: who pays??
If an employee in Germany falls ill, the employer must continue to pay the full salary for up to 6 weeks.
For smaller companies (less than 30 people) there is a simplified law where you pay into a continued pay insurance policy. The insurance takes over the salary already from one day of illness in an amount of maximum 80 percent.
Especially for small companies, this is a good arrangement, because they are not as well positioned financially as large companies.
So with the insurance you can reduce your risk.
After 6 weeks the health insurance takes over the salary, as far as the employee cannot work yet.
In India the regulations are different.
Here the law prescribes 12 paid sick days. This means that the employer has to pay for 12 days of sick leave. In addition, there are so-called LOP (Loss Of Pay) or in German payment failure.
However, most employers are very accommodating towards their Indian employees and give the possibility to credit the paid vacations (12 days) and the casual leaves (12 days). So the employee has more than a month of paid sick leave.
If this is not financially feasible, then one can also pay only the 12 sick days and offer the rest as LOP.
An overview of the types of vacation days:
What if the employee is absent for a longer period?
Several problems arise in case of long-term absence from work. One of them is that IT projects, which are accompanied by the developer, come to a standstill.
This is a big challenge. Especially with smaller teams where there are no fallback options.
Often the tasks are then not processed further. Which leads to loss of revenue and sometimes jeopardizes the project completely.
In these cases, e.g. absence of more than one month, the Indian employee should be offered to take time off, e.g. for two to three months. Optionally, you can offer that the web developer can then come back to the team. If one is not sure whether there are further tasks for the programmer in three months, then one can also communicate that at this time then an evaluation will take place whether one has further tasks or not.
How often does absenteeism occur?
In our experience, every tenth Indian employee is absent for a longer period of time in the first year. Also because many still can't quite cope with the new work structures.
However, most of them are absent for one to two weeks at the most. As mentioned earlier more likely in one in ten hires. For the others, sick days tend to be few and far between.
Is there a sick note from the doctor?
Yes, there is the possibility to get the sick days confirmed by a doctor in India. It is a note from the doctor with the signature and stamp.
How is the employee financially secured during this time??
Many, not all, have health insurance that at least covers the cost of hospitalization.
Salaries are actually paid by the employer only. If these fail, one uses saved up or gets support from the family (parents, siblings, extended relatives).
For this practical reason, family ties are stronger in India. Because one relies on each other in cases of illness and other cases.
Employers know that and try to support Indian employees as much as possible. As far as it is possible. Because the employee will be reluctant to ask the family (to avoid loss of face).
What are Casual Leave?
If the child gets sick or the parents, then you can use the so-called casual leave. D.h. for emergencies, which mostly revolve around the family, and in which one must participate or assist. Up to 12 of these paid casual leaves exist.
In Germany, you can usually take unpaid leave for such days. In India, however, you should grant these 12 paid casual leaves, because it is a standard.
What if the employee fails completely?
In this case, looking for a new employee who can serve as a replacement is actually the best way to go.
What are other typical reasons why an employee is absent?
Here are a few other reasons for which casual leave, or short term leave is taken:
- Family member passes away: The developer must attend the funeral.
- Relatives in the hospital: In India, it is almost obligatory to visit relatives in the hospital. Especially when it comes to serious cases. Important family degrees here are uncles, aunts, siblings, parents, father-in-law, mother-in-law, and the like.
- Child or wife/husband falls ill
- Important weddings: from the cousin, for example
There are certainly a few more reasons. But these are the most important.
What else is there to consider?
It is always good to support the programmer as much as possible in case of sick leave. The Indian employee will reward you later with more loyalty and trust. Because he/she knows that he/she can rely on the employer.
Conclusion
One in ten employees can be expected to be absent for a longer period (more than a week) in the first year. This is also because of the different working method you have at the new employer. Not everyone can cope with this immediately. Possibly one has worked differently in one's previous job.
One should not assume the worst for every work stoppage. Only in the fewest cases are these sick days utilized. Most of the time it is really an emergency.
Of course, it becomes problematic, for example, in the case of alcohol abuse and the like. However, we do not want to go into this in this article.
What are your experiences?