Cognizant is the parent company of Cognizant India. It is an American multinational IT service and consulting company. Its headquarters are in Teaneck, NJ, United States. It has over 350k employees worldwide and a total revenue of almost 20 Billion Dollars.
Cognizant India offers services like Cloud Enablement, Application Services and Modernization, and Data Analytics & AI. It has a balanced work-life environment for its employees.
Leaves are essential for the work-life balance, and Cognizant India provides enough. Let me tell you about the leave types, number of leaves, terms & conditions regarding them, etc., of Cognizant India.
Earned Leaves (EL) Policy
Cognizant offers 18 days of earned leaves yearly, which means 1.5 days of ELs monthly. An associate can only get an EL if they join on or before the 15th of the month. For instance, if an employee joins the organization on the 14th of March, they will get a leave credited during the first week of April. Similarly, if an employee joins on the 16th of March, they will not get an Earned Leave credited in April.
Employees can also get ELs while in a notice period but can not avail of them. Employees can carry forward all 18 ELs to the subsequent calendar year, but after that, all ELs get lapsed.
Employees can also encash ELs if they submit the resignation letter on or after the 1st of July. The company also offers the primary option of adjusting ELs against the notice period.
Casual Leaves Policy
Cognizant India provides Casual Leaves to its employees in case of unforeseen personal emergencies or personal time off. Employees can also use these leaves to celebrate festivals of faith if they have not been declared National Holidays by Cognizant India.
Employees get six working days of paid Casual Leaves yearly, and they get credited on the 1st of January each year. Casual Leaves get credited every quarter if an employee joins during the year.
Unfortunately, employees cannot carry forward these leaves to the subsequent year, and they lapsed on the 31st of the same year. Employees cannot encash these leaves too. Employees can not avail of Casual Leaves while on notice period.
Sick Leaves Policy
Cognizant provides one sick leave monthly to its associates. It also follows the same terms and conditions of the joining date as Annual Leaves. So, an associate gets 12 Sick Leaves yearly. However, they cannot encash them.
Associates can accumulate up to 1.5 years or 18 sick leaves; the rest gets lapse automatically. Cognizant India also allows employees to apply for these leaves after returning to work, but they should inform the reporting manager.
An associate should also provide relevant medical certificates or reports for availing of sick leaves for more than three consecutive days. If an employee has to undergo a planned hospitalization, they must apply for sick leave before using it.
Compensatory Off Leave Policy
Comp-off or Compensatory off means a day off against extra work because of project requirements. Employees can record the days worked on a weekend or holiday on their leave management system (EAMS).
An employee can only avail of comp off after approval from the manager. Employees can only use comp offs within 60 days from the day they have worked. One can also use a comp off while serving the notice period. Associates cannot encash these comp-offs or combine them with ELs or CLs.
Maternity Leaves Policy
Cognizant India offers paid maternity leaves to women employees for at least 182 days for the first two surviving children. Employees can apply for these leaves at least 80 calendar days before the expected delivery date.
Associates also get paid MLs for the third child (or so on) for 84 days. MLs are inclusive of all Saturdays, Sundays, and other holidays declared by Cognizant India. The company also recommends availing of MLs at least 14 days before the delivery date for the well-being and safety of the associate.
Associates can extend these MLs for 30 days, but these leaves would not come under MLs. They should also submit a genuine medical certificate or report from a certified medical practitioner regarding the active line of treatment, the reason for extending leave, the cause of illness, etc.
Associates can further avail MLs for additional six months, but with a LOP. One critical condition regarding MLOPs is that an associate should exhaust all available ELs, SLs, and CLs before applying.
Cognizant also allows availing of all leave types, like ELs, CLs, SLs, etc., on account of MLs.
Miscarriage Leave Policy
Employees in Cognizant can avail of paid Miscarriage Leaves for up to six weeks immediately from the date of miscarriage.
Tubectomy Leaves Policy
Women associates can also take two weeks of paid PLs in case of Tubectomy. However, associates cannot take Tubectomy leaves while on MLs or MLOPs.
Commissioning Leave Policy
Women associates can take up to 84 days of commissioning leaves. They have to submit the birth certificate of the child possessing the name of the commissioning mother and a discharge summary from the hospital.
Paternity Leaves Policy
These leaves apply only to new and expectant fathers. Cognizant India only offers five consecutive days off for new fathers, and they cannot take them in parts.
Associates can apply for these leaves within 90 calendar days from the date of birth of the child or ten calendar days before the expected delivery date. They should also provide documents like a medical certificate from a certified medical practitioner regarding the father’s name, expected delivery date, birth certificate, etc.
Child Adoption Leaves Policy
Employees can avail of these leaves in case they adopt a child. They can get up to six weeks or 42 calendar days of leave from the date of the legal adoption of the child.
Women employees who adopt a child less than three months old can take up to 84 days of paid adoption leaves. Employees should also present a legal adoption certificate, an application form from the court, and a certificate from the agency confirming the adoption.
Loss of Pay (LoP) Policy
Employees can avail of these leaves after exhausting all available leaves such as ELs, SLs, CLs, etc. These leaves cannot be reversed or adjusted against future leave accruals.
Cognizant India Holidays List in 2024
| Date | Holiday |
|---|---|
| January 1 | New Year’s Day |
| January 26 | Republic Day |
| February 1 | Maha Shivratri |
| March 8 | Holi |
| April 14 | Dr. B.R. Ambedkar’s Birthday |
| April 22 | Id-ul-Fitr |
| May 1 | May Day |
| May 9 | Rabindra Jayanti |
| June 29 | Id-ul-Zuha |
| July 29 | Muharram |
| August 15 | Independence Day |
| September 6 | Janmashtami |
| September 17 | Vishwakarma Puja |
| September 28 | Foteha Dwaz Dham |
| October 2 | Gandhi Jayanti |
| October 14 | Mahalaya |
| October 20-28 | Durga Puja & Lakshmi Puja |
| November 12-15 | Kali Puja & Bhratridwitiya |
| November 27 | Guru Nanak’s Birthday |
| December 25 | Christmas Day |