POLICY REGARDING PROMOTIONS OF SUPERVISORS

1.  OBJECTIVES:
1.  The objective of the Promotion Policy for the employees in the supervisory category is to:

• Provide, keeping in view the organizational requirements, adequate growth opportunity consistent with merit and suitability.
• To lay down clear and unambiguous principles to regulate promotion of supervisors to higher levels.
• To ensure uniformity, consistency and fairness in the promotion of company supervisors.

2.  SCOPE & COVERAGE:
1.  This Statement of Company Policy will be applicable to all employees in supervisory category borne on the regular rolls of SJVNL.

2.  The Policy Statement will not be applicable to supervisors who are appointed for a limited tenure, superannuated persons reappointed in the Company's service and to other supervisors appointed on a purely casual or temporary basis.

3.  Supervisors in whose cases a clause in the terms of initial appointment explicitly provides for eligibility for consideration for promotion after completion of a specified period of service in the grade in which the supervisor initially joins the Corporation will be excluded from the purview of this policy statement.

4.  Supervisors who are on deputation to SJVNL or who retain lien on the service of the parent organization will not be covered by this policy statement.

5.  HPSEB employees working on deputation basis in SJVNL shall also not be covered by this policy statement.

6.  Supervisor on deputation to other PSUs/Autonomous Bodies/Government shall be entitled for proforma promotion in SJVNL. The promotion will be effective only after the Supervisor reverts back to SJVNL.

3.  GENERAL PRINCIPLES:
3.1 Promotion of supervisors to positions in next higher grades will be on the basis of seniority, merit, efficiency, grade service, suitability and vacancies. The appointing authority may consider aggregation of grades from S1 to S3/S4 level at its discretion for the purpose of assessing vacancies.

3.2 The promotions of employees from supervisory to executive category shall be considered from S3 to E1 grade, subject to the employees possessing the prescribed qualification/ job specifications for the executive post.

3.2.1 Supervisor who does not possess the prescribed qualification (but possessing highest qualification as per Job Specification for Supervisors) shall be considered for promotion from S3 to E1 grade in addition to Para 3.2, if individual gives an undertaking that he/she shall acquire prescribed qualification or will pass the departmental examination within six years of promotion failing which promotion beyond E2 level will not be considered.

3.2.1.1 For the purpose of para 3.2 and 3.2.1 prescribed qualification shall be as under:

Full time courses from recognized institutes/universities will be considered only if study leave is taken and classes for the entire period are attended. Three years part time diploma will be considered if evening classes are attended in recognized institute located in the place of posting. MBA(Three years) from ‘Indira Gandhi National Open University’ will also be considered.

3.2.2 33% vacancies shall be reserved in the E1/E2/E3 cluster for promotion from Supervisory cadre to E1 as stipulated in Para 3.2 & 3.2.1.

3.2.3 In respect of supervisor not possessing the prescribed qualifications for promotion to executive cadre, they will be required to qualify departmental examination as prescribed by SJVNL for this purpose. For being eligible to appear in the departmental examination, the employees in the supervisory category will be required to have put in at least two years of service in S3 grade/level. The Competent Authority to approve the syllabus, examination body and method of examination etc. will be CMD.

Corporate HRM Division will issue notification for holding of departmental examinations, keeping in view the vacancy position and number of Supervisors eligible to appear in the departmental examination in each function/level. The departmental examination will be centrally administered by Corporate HRM Division.

Note: Once an employee secures qualifying marks in a paper(s) is not further required to appear in the same paper(s). Employee is required to appear only in the left-out paper(s) in the subsequent departmental examination. However employee should qualify in all papers taken together in a maximum of four attempts.

3.2.4 Supervisor not possessing graduate degree will be considered for stagnation promotion to S2 level after putting 7 years service at S1 level. No supervisor will be promoted beyond S2 level unless he passes graduate degree.

3.3 The supervisors will be considered twice in year i.e. w.e.f.1st January and 1st of July every year.

3.4 The probation of a Supervisor on promotion shall commence from the date of promotion.

4.  ELIGIBILITY PERIOD:
1.  In view of the fact that merit, efficiency and suitability can be meaningfully determined on the basis of assessment of performance and potential over a reasonable period, there shall be a minimum period of service in a grade, to be called the "Eligibility Period" and only those supervisor who complete the minimum period so prescribed will be eligible for consideration for promotion to the next higher grade.

2.  The eligibility period shall be as under:

3.  Management will have the power to increase or decrease the Eligibility Period based on requirements, vacancy position etc.

5.  STANDARD DATES FOR PROMOTION:
1.  To enable promotions being effected in a planned and rational manner and to ensure that anomalies and unavoidable widening of inter-se differences are kept down to the minimum, promotion of supervisors to available vacancies will normally be made effective from standard date/dates.

2.  While determining the eligibility period, the seniority weightage granted to a supervisor, as laid down in the terms of appointment, will be taken into account.

3.  Supervisors who are found fit for promotion will be considered for promotion effective from the standard dates, as mentioned below:

1. Supervisors who complete the eligibility period as on 1st January shall be considered for promotion from 1st January; and
2. Supervisors who complete the eligibility period as on 1st July shall be considered for promotion from 1st July.
3. A Supervisor who has been considered by DPC and is not found suitable for promotion will become due to be considered from next year from the date arrived at as per sub para (a) & (b) above i.e. One full year will be added to his eligibility date each time he/she is dropped by DPC.
4. Supervisors who were not promoted due to non availability of vacancies will be considered by DPC from immediate next standard date. However, candidates will have to compete with the new batch and merit shall be drawn by the DPC by considering the factors as envisaged herein.

6.  PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL:
6.1 The Performance Appraisal System in operation for the Supervisors of the company, as modified from time to time, will generally provide the basis for determination of merit, efficiency, potential and suitability of employees for promotion to the next higher grades.

6.2 The appraisal year shall be the calendar year for the Supervisors. Targets will be set by the controlling officers for all the subordinates during the last quarter of the preceding year. A copy of the targets so set will be sent to the concerned P&A Deptt. and the Annual Appraisal/Assessment Report format shall be as prescribed from time to time. In respect of Supervisors who have been transferred on deputation to other organization, the concerned Personnel Deptt. Shall maintain and obtain annual appraisal report. The authorities and procedure for annual assessment shall be as per SJVNL rules.

6.3 The Appraisal System will be on a 5-point scale, as defined in the Appraisal formats. For the purpose of promotion to the next higher grades, the ratings given in the Annual Appraisal/Assessment Reports shall be converted in points as under;

6.4  COMMUNICATION OF ADVERSE REMARKS:
6.4.1 In the event of the overall assessment being ‘un-satisfactory/ not satisfactory’ communication will be issued to the concerned Supervisor within one month of the report being counter-signed by the counter-signing authority. For this, the counter signing authority will send back the report to the reviewing officers for issuing the necessary communication to the concerned Supervisor. The communication issued by the reporting/ reviewing officer will contain all details and specific facts and figures substantiating the adverse remarks. The identity of the superior officer need not be disclosed.

6.4.2 The appraisee concerned will be asked to give his comments on the communication issued. The appraisee should give his comments within one month of the receipt of the communication. The adverse report alongwith comments of the appraisee will be examined by the counter-signing authority, in consultation with the reporting and reviewing officers, who will record his final decision alongwith reasons. In case the adverse remarks have been recorded by the counter-signing authority, an officer senior to the counter signing authority in consultation with the countersigning authority and the reviewing officer shall record the final decision alongwith reasons. The final decision will be taken within one month of the receipt of the comments/representation of the appraisee. Wherever, the reporting/reviewing counter-signing officer is CMD, his decision regarding expunction/retention of the adverse comments after due examination of the explanation submitted by the appraisee will be final.

6.4.3 The final decision will be communicated to the appraisee with regard to:

• The earlier assessment being retained.
  or
• After due consideration the earlier remarks are expunged and the same being noted in the appraisal form.

6.5 In case, Incumbent of any Accepting authority ceases to be in employment, the next higher authority will be treated as the Accepting Authority. If the incumbent of Reporting/Reviewing authority ceases to be in employment the next higher authority will be considered Reporting/Reviewing authority. On superannuation/resignation the acceptance of Annual Appraisal Report shall be done within one month from the date of superannuation/resignation.

7.  GRADE SERVICE:
1.  The points for grade service i.e. service rendered by the supervisors in their respective grades shall be as under;

8.  TEST/INTERVIEW & QUALIFICATION:
1. In addition to fulfilling the other eligibility conditions, an employee must possess the requisite qualifications prescribed, if any, for the next higher post against which he is to be considered for promotion.

2.  For promotion from S3 to E1 grade, the employee must qualify in the test(s) and/or interview, as may be prescribed with the approval of Director (Personnel). Test(s) and/or interviews are also to be conducted for promotion from S3 to S4 level, unless specific relaxation is given by Director (Personnel).

3.  The test(s)/ interviews, wherever prescribed, shall be conducted by a Committee to be constituted by Director (Personnel) for promotion from S3 to E1 level and appointing authority for promotion from S3 to S4 level.

4.  The total number of points available for test(s)/ interviews shall be 40. In case, where both tests and interviews are prescribed, the points shall be divided in the ratio of 1: 1.

9.  CRITERIA FOR PROMOTION TO THE NEXT HIGHER GRADE:
1.  Factors which are to be taken into account for determining suitability for promotion of a supervisor and the weightage thereof shall be as under:

a.  Promotion of supervisors from the grade S1 to S2, S2 to S3 and S3 to S4:

The points for the Performance Appraisal Ratings and Grade service shall be as given in para 6.3 and 7.1 respectively. In case where no test and/or interview is involved, the total maximum points will be 60 The overall “Qualifying Percentage” for “Promotion” will be 63%.

b) Promotion of Supervisors from the grade of S3 to E1 :

The Points for the Performance Appraisal Ratings and Grade Service shall be as given in para 6.3 and 7.1 respectively. The Overall “Qualifying Percentage” for "Promotion" will be 75 %.

2.  SC/ST candidates shall be given preference as per Govt. guidelines issued from time to time.

10.  CONSTITUTION AND ROLE OF DEPARTMENTAL PROMOTION COMMITTEE:
1.  All the promotion in the supervisory categories will be carried out by the concerned project except in case of promotion from supervisory to executive level, which will be centralized at corporate office. For the purpose of promotion, of supervisors to the next higher grade, a Departmental Promotion committee (DPC) shall be constituted by appointing authority, as under:

1.  HOD of employee concerned
2.  Chief Personnel Manager/ Sr. Manager (Pers.)
3.  One other Head of Department
4.  SC/ST representatives
5.  A representative from Corporate Personnel to be nominated by Director (Personnel).

2.  The DPC will be held every year in the month of April. The DPC will consider the suitability or otherwise of the eligible Supervisors for promotion to the next higher grade, on the basis of their qualifications, Appraisal Reports, Test (wherever applicable) and other documents/records available in the personal files which may have a bearing on their being considered for promotions.

3.  The DPC shall take into consideration the Performance appraisal Reports including Special Performance Report, if any, for the last 3/4 years. In case, a Supervisor is not promoted in the first / subsequent DPCs the next DPC will consider the best 3/4 Performance appraisal Reports out of the reports for the last 4/5 years.

4.  The points secured by each eligible supervisor from the Performance Appraisal Reports, Grade Service and points in test (wherever applicable) will be aggregated. Those supervisors who have been found suitable for promotion will be Ranked in order of merit. Where the aggregate of the points is the same, they will be ranked in the order of seniority, as per the following criterion:

1. Length of service in a grade from the date of joining inclusive of seniority weightage, if any or from the date of promotion in SJVNL.
2. Merit position in the selection panel where date of joining is the same or the merit position in the DPC minutes where date of promotion is the same.

5.  The panel of the selected supervisors, in the order of merit will be drawn by the Departmental Promotion Committee and submitted to the competent authority for approval. The competent authority shall be the appointing authority of the respective posts/levels.

6.  The promotion orders shall be issued by the respective HRM Division after approval of the appointing authority.

11. RESERVATION FOR SC/ST:
1.  The directives of the Govt. of India with regard to reservation of posts for SC/ST employees in the matter of promotion, as issued from time to time, will be followed in SJVNL also.

12.  DEBARRING:
1.  Supervisor whose Annual Confidential Report/Performance Appraisal for any year during the minimum eligibility period is rated ‘Unsatisfactory/Not Satisfactory’ will not be considered for promotion to the next higher grade by DPC.

2. Supervisor who has been awarded minor punishment will be debarred for a period of one year from the effective date of punishment order from consideration for promotion. However, when an enquiry is prolonged for more than two years from the date of issue of charge sheet and such delay is not attributable to the Supervisor and as a consequence of enquiry leads to award of censure, then in that event the Supervisor shall not be debarred for promotion for more than two years from the date of his/her eligibility. No Supervisor who has been awarded three/more minor punishments in the same calendar year or major punishment shall be considered for promotion for the next two years from the effective date of the last punishment order. However Supervisors will be considered by DPC for promotion immediately on the next standard date of promotion as soon as the period of currency of punishment is over, subject to completion of eligibility period.

3.  Any Supervisor who has been on EOL for a period of 30 days or more in a year or 90 days in 3 consecutive years will not be considered for promotion, unless such leave is on medical grounds. Further, impact of EOL (other than on medical grounds) shall be as under:

1. If EOL during the eligibility period is less than or equal to 30 days, the same will have no effect on the eligibility date for promotion.
2. If EOL during the eligibility period is more than30 days and less than or equal to 60 days, the eligibility period will be extended by six months.
3. If EOL during the eligibility period is more than 60 days and less than or equal to 90 days, the eligibility period will be extended by one year.
4. If EOL during the eligibility period is more than 90 days and less than or equal to 120 days, the eligibility period will be extended by one year and six months. If the EOL during the eligibility period is more than 120 days, the eligibility period will be extended by two years. The maximum effect of EOL on extension of eligibility period in a grade will be two years.
5. If EOL is for less than six months in the assessment period, the assessment may be considered as representative of the whole assessment period.

4.  No Supervisor under suspension or against whom disciplinary or vigilance proceedings have been instituted shall be promoted until he is unconditionally reinstated or exonerated. In case of unconditional reinstatement or exoneration, he will be allowed promotion with retrospective effect, but the Financial benefit accruing due to promotion will be allowed with effect from the date of issuance of promotion orders only and no arrears will be payable on this account, unless specifically mentioned otherwise in the promotion order. DPC proceedings shall be kept in sealed cover. In light of the judgment of Hon. Supreme Court in case of Union of India etc. Vs. K.V. Janaki Raman (AIR1991SC2010), the sealed cover procedure be adopted in following circumstances:

• Supervisor under suspension.
• Supervisor in respect of whom a charge sheet has been issued and the disciplinary proceedings are pending; and
• Supervisor in respect of whom prosecution for a criminal charge is pending.

The procedure and guidelines as communicated by Department of Personal & Training vide OM dated 14th September’ 1992. be adhered.

5.  Other conditions for debarring employees from promotions as laid down by the Govt. of India/Company from time to time will be followed.

13.  GENERAL:
1.  All clarifications/doubts relating to this policy may be referred to the Corporate HRM Division and the decision of Director (Personnel) shall be final and binding in this regard minor modifications/alterations/additions in rules can be made by D(P)/CMD.

2.  The management reserves the right to modify, cancel, add or amend any of the provisions of the policy at any time.

14.  APPEAL
Supervisor who is aggrieved by an order of promotion on the ground that he has been superseded may appeal or represent his case to the Director(Personnel) through proper channel. Representations/appeal must be submitted within 45 days of the date of notification of promotion with sufficient evidence and justification. Flimsy appeals may lead to reprimand against the Supervisor The decision of Director (Pers.) shall be final and binding to the Supervisor.

NOTE : Director (Personnel) may intervene under following circumstances

1. There is improper interpretation or application of rules.
2. The ACRs have not been recorded in fair manner and there is sufficient ground for proving biased recording.
3. DPC has not given marks in a fair manner and there is a sufficient ground to prove bias.
4. Director(Personnel) under above circumstances in consultation with concerned Director and after recording the reasons in writing may constitute a fresh DPC and refer the case to fresh DPC or order a particular year’s ACRs to be treated as null and void in which case ACRs for a year preceding the year under consideration will be considered or expunge certain remarks if they can be attributed to a particular superior officer where remarks by the other officers are absolutely different.