Public Holidays:  Double The Pay For Some

By Simrit

A typical BPO executive works for 5 days, and has two days off (this could be two consecutive days or it could be a Monday and a Friday). They also get a holiday whenever there is one on at the client place. This could mean 4th of July, the last Thursday in November or 25th Dec is off, on the other hand this means that having to work on one or more National holidays is a sure shot possibility.

Although an added incentive is promised to the executives, this bait looks attractive initially,  but wanes out thanks to the burn out faced by them. Lack of sufficient holidays has emerged as the most critical contributor to high stress levels at Indian BPOs in the DQ-IDC E-Sat survey, 2005.

Unless they are compensated for this additional day of work, the executives wouldn’t think twice before thinking about leaving the company, and for the employer nothing matters more than controlling attrition and making sure the employees are satisfied.

Different companies follow different procedure to handle these situations.

Infosys has a written rule that an executive who works on a national holiday gets a compensatory off and one day’s pay as against the one day off he is entitled to, if he works an extra day (besides the 5 working days).

HCL BPO follows a similar policy but they have an option where by the executive can choose the compensation – it’s either double the day’s pay or a day off and one day’s pay.

Slashsupport’s executives get to take home double the day’s pay (if one day’s pay is Rs 500, they get Rs 1000 for working on a National holiday)

Not only do such policies bring a smile on the executives face, but it also ensures that if needed he will be there taking calls the next time he has to work on a National holiday or any extra day for that matter… .  Sadly, some BPOs still treat working on public holidays the same as a normal working day.