The post 7 Things on Work Leaves To Discuss With HR In Job Interviews appeared first on Career Point Kenya.Click on the TITLE link for the original.
By Mark Namaswa,
Ever signed up for a job and realized that days off work fall short of your expectations? Or heard of a person that got denied the basic leave after working an entire 365 days? Well, you would probably regret not finding out about work leaves during the interview. However, here are some matters concerning work leaves that you should give a better thought.
According to Flora Otieno HR, Kenatco Taxis, it is imperative for someone to know a company’s terms regarding work leaves before coming on board. She says, “This is particularly important because some companies might not be comfortable offering leaves such as the maternity one. And this enquiry can sometimes start from the point the interviewer sees that a candidate is likely to require maternity leave in the next few months so it is advisable to get all the facts clear beforehand.”
“In normal working terms, there’s a minimum entitlement of 21 days of leave in a calendar year that all employees are entitled to,” Ms Otieno says. “Most employers give the minimum depending on the workplace while maternity leave according to the law attracts a three-month leave.”
Regarding leaves of absence, Ms. Otieno says there are no standards set by the law and different companies set up their internal policies on them. “Paternity leaves [for men] on the other hand get you 14 calendar days at ago but this is still open-ended. To the best of my knowledge, there is no set limit as to how many paternity leaves one should take in a year.”
This according to her poses a challenge in which someone can claim for more than one leave in a year citing polygamy. “It is poised to raise challenges say if someone claims to have more than one spouse and may ask for more than one paternity leave in a year,” she says.
“Most people forget to ask about compassionate leave,” points out Christine Munene, HR Technobrain Kenya Ltd. “And employers also have different interpretations of compassionate leave. Some consider it as an extension of days beyond the annual leave while others regard it as the number of days off given after the loss of immediate family members,” she explains. “However, the law is not clear on this type of leave hence the need for seeking clarification from the company you are likely to join,” she says.
Are there restrictions on asking for leave while on probation? “In my case I spell three consecutive months of employment before one is eligible for leave of any form,” says Ms Otieno. “The thing is that no employer wants to hire somebody who will go on paid leave the following month. Imagine if someone who is newly-employed goes on paid maternity leave for three months and at the end of it decides to go work for another company?” she poses. “The maximum probation period can extend to six months but not beyond that.”
“What I would like interviewees to know is that the law has taken into account most of the leaves such as the annual leave and maternity leave. However,” says Ms Otieno, “they should not rush into asking for leaves as this would paint a picture of a non-serious employee who is more interested in days away from work.”
In Ms. Munene’s opinion prospective employees should also find out the firm’s general policies regarding leaves. “They should find out if they can take the annual leave before the year expires or if the job involves travelling and they are away from home for extended periods, are they entitled to some days of or not?” she says. “Sometimes workers can put in extra hours into the night and this will also impact on their output during the day so it is also good to know. A serious HR on the other hand will have all these concerns factored in,” she says.
The post 7 Things on Work Leaves To Discuss With HR In Job Interviews appeared first on Career Point Kenya.Click on the TITLE link for the original.
0 comments:
Post a Comment