Demand for Sabbatical leave to Women Officers & Employees of LIC

Today i.e. on 17.03.2012 NOINO wrote to ED(P) demanding sabbatical leave to women officers and employees of LIC of India. The letter is reproduced below:

17.03.2012

The Executive Director (Personnel),

LIC of India.

Dear Sir,

Re: Introduction of Sabbatical leave for women officers & employees in LIC

Vide letter ref. F.No.9/20/2011-IR dated the February 28^th, 2012 the Ministry of Finance, Govt of India has allowed to introduce Sabbatical Leave for all women employees in all Public Sector Banks (PSBs) on the following broad terms:-

    (i) Sabbatical Leave of up to 2 years shall be admissible to women employees of Public Sector Banks during their entire career;

    (ii) Sabbatical Leave shall be without Pay, Salary, Allowances and any consequential monetary and non-monetary benefits;

    (iii) The employee applying for leave should have put in a minimum of 5 years of service. Sabbatical Leave before completion of 5 years of service shall be sanctioned only in exceptional circumstances by the authority next above the leave sanctioning authority;

    (iv) The leave shall be taken for a period of at least 3 months at a time and the leave shall not be taken more than once in a year;

    (v) No increments will be earned during the Sabbatical Leave and the employee will rejoin at the same stage of pay as was existing at the time of her availing the Sabbatical Leave.

    (vi) Employees on Sabbatical Leave shall not be eligible to participate in any promotion exercises during the Sabbatical Leave period, even if otherwise eligible.

    (vii) Eligible and willing employees can request for Sabbatical Leave for any purpose like medical grounds, care of family members or children, higher studies, visit spouse etc.

    (viii) The employee shall not take up any employment / vocation / business /profession elsewhere during the Sabbatical Leave.

The Ministry has also instructed the PSBs to introduce the leave w.e.f. 01.04.2012.

    The women employees in LIC (as also elsewhere) are at different stages of their life & career. The logic behind introducing this concept is ostensibly to recognize the challenges that a working woman has to face both in her life & her career. This concept is acknowledging the need to provide relief to the working woman in managing the tightrope walk of both career & home.

      While we are not entirely in agreement with the riders that accompany this concept, we demand that the concept of Sabbatical Leave be introduced in LIC after discussions with the unions & suitable modifications on the basis of these discussions.

Yours faithfully,

Sd/-

Dr S B Sharan

WP, NOINO