Human Resource Policy: ESP Policy 1.

0
Process Owner : Somasundar Konduri
Approver : BV Rao
Inception Date: 01-Nov-2019

Version Effective Date

1.0 01-Nov-2019

Otis Lead Design Center Hyderabad: Employee Scholarship Program (ESP) Policy

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

1. Purpose

2. Scope

3. Policy

Objective

The Employee Scholar Program (ESP) aims to encourage the employees to develop additional skills and engage in lifelong learning
at the accredited colleges and universities

Scope & Applicability

This policy is applicable to all full time employees working in Otis Lead Design Center Hyderabad, Otis Global Services Center Private
Limited having completed 12 months of continuous service.

o Employees who elect voluntary early retirement under a Company-sponsored restructuring or severance program are not
eligible

o Employees who are terminated for cause are not eligible and their participation in the Program ends on the effective date of
termination

o Employees currently serving a suspension or other disciplinary action are ineligible during the period of the disciplinary action

o Eligibility ceases upon the sale, dissolution or winding-up of an eligible employee’s participating entity

Responsibilities

The Center Head, Site HR Lead, Finance Department, Reporting manager are responsible for the management and administration
issues related with ESP.

About the Program

The program covers full-credit courses, certifications that are offered by public or private academic institutions. Degrees issued by
education institutes must be recognized by the country’s Ministry of Education. List by WHQ about approved educational
institutions available at http://utclearning.utc.com/Pages/Emp-Scholar-Program.aspx
4.1 Courses

o The Company sponsors one employee for the courses under one single major in one time and one type of degree per level (i.e.
Associate, Bachelor and Graduate degree). The ESP program will cover at most one Associate degree, one Bachelor degree,
one Master degree and one approved Doctorate degree.

o Employees are also eligible for reimbursements for the approved professional job related certifications (approval to
certifications is discretionary, HR being the final approver)

o Eligible employees can obtain a degree that must be in a business related field

o Employee should provide approval from the reporting manager in pursuing the course ,which is not related to the job

o Employee should consult the Site HR Lead before course registration to determine applicable exceptions

4.2 Tuition and related expenses

The Company pays for eligible employee the following expenses:

o Tuition: In addition, the costs of required application fees, entrance examination for degree programs are also paid

o Books: course-required books, class notes and case studies are paid if required in the course syllabus

o Academic Fees: Fees if required by the school are paid if they specifically support academic related activities (i.e. graduation
fees, registration, library and resources fees),pls refer Appendix 1 for broader classification of Academic and Non Academic
fees

The Company does not pay for eligible employee the following costs or expenses:

o Course/Training material, books, online or any type of reference materials for the certifications

o The Program does not pay for any class taken more than once by the same ESP participant.

o Book shipping / handling cost

o Meals, transportations, software, computers/laptops and related acquisition or maintenance costs, stationary suppliers,
miscellaneous, pre-exam training fee and any expenses occurred due to the non-pass in the course

o Detailed information may be got from the Policy Appendix 1

The Company has the right to recover all course-related payments from employee, if

o Employee withdraws from a course or courses

o Employee, who failed to secure minimum of pass marks or equivalent, or receives an “Incomplete” for any course

o Employee who terminates from the Company prior to completion of the course(s)

o Employee who terminates from the company prior to completion of one year from the date of certification
4.3 Reduced Payments

The Program reduces or eliminates payments if participating employee is eligible for tuition reimbursement or other education
benefits granted from other sources (e.g., scholarships, benefits provided by a government or other agency or another employer).
It is the obligation of ESP participant to inform the Finance Department, Site HR Lead of his/ her eligibility and the source and the
amount of any other benefits

4.4 Tuiti on Fees

Employee’s ESP expense should be within both the annual and total amount of limit. Participants can elect to pay out-of-pocket for
expenses exceeding the degree limits.

Certification which cost less than or equal to INR 60,000/- will only be evaluated for approval. Any other exceeding this amount will
not be considered.

In India

Certifications
Annual Limit (in INR) Total Degree Limit (in INR) Annual Limit
(in INR)
Master & Master & All Categories
Associate Bachelor Doctorate Associate Bachelor Doctorate
60,000 (Max 2 per
40,000 100,000 250,000 120,000 400,000 750,000
annum)

4.5 Grade Submission and Reimbursement request

o Participants are responsible to submit grades within 45 days of completing a course. Otherwise, the participant should not be
allowed to continue taking courses.

o Employee reimbursement requests for expenses directly related to a class/subject must be submitted within one month from
the class/subject end date. Otherwise, the participant will not receive reimbursement

o Employee, who wish to leave the organization in the middle of the course need to repay all the course fee paid by the Otis LDC
Hyderabad, Otis Global Services Center Private Limited since his/her enrollment and can continue to take the course by
paying the expenses on their own

o Employee, who wish to leave the organization, within one year of completion of the recent degree or certification need to
repay 100% of the ESP costs. If the employee is leaving within two years of completing the most recent degree through ESP
program, the employee need to repay 50% of the ESP costs (for degree program). This will apply to new classes and/or
degree programs enrolled in as of Jan. 1, 2019. Classes and/or degree programs completed prior to this will not be subject to
this new policy.

o If an employee has joined a degree program unrelated to the business before 31st Dec 2019, the employee can continue on
such programs and complete it before Dec 31, 2022. The payback provision will not be part of such courses. Any enrollments
prior to Jan. 1, 2019 are not subject to repayment.
 o For the courses (eg :like BITS Masters / Certifications) where company undertakes an MOU with the educational institute & is
liable for complete payment irrespective of student continuing the course, the entire course fees will be recovered from the
employee in the event of Termination of service, Low grade & course not completed for any other reason. Further the
employee is responsible to pay for any additional exam / semester fees incurred if the course is not completed within the
timelines

o Blanket approval for a complete program is not given at any level, total academic fee will be paid as per the fee schedule of the
educational institution as per the cap prescribed in the policy

o Employee will be responsible for paying all applicable local taxes, if any, on all payments associated with the Otis Scholar
Program. The country ESP Coordinator may facilitate this process by ensuring all payments which may be subject to the local
taxes are reported and deducted through the appropriate payroll procedures.

o Payments are made directly to the educational institution to minimize out of pocket costs

4.6 Paid Leaves

Employees who have enrolled under ESP, are eligible for 7 Education leaves in a calendar year, excluding weekly offs. These leaves
can only be availed for attending the classes (in case of distance learning) and / or writing examinations related to the course. (The
Leave period should match with the date of examination / classes). This is not applicable for certification programs.

4.7 Reporting Managers Role

o Reporting Manager must motivate and monitor the performance of the employee in both job and academics, and ensure
completion of course / certification on time with required quality

o Reporting Manager has the responsibility to review the internal opportunities which can help the employee to achieve the
career goal

5 General

The Company reserves the right to amend, add or delete any detail of the Policy from time to time, due to any change in the
Company’s policy and business conditions. The Policy and all its revised versions (editions) must be dated and reviewed by
RHQ/WHQ HRM Policy & Process Improvement, Legal Manager (if applicable), and approved by HRD India before implementation.
Changes of the Company’s policy of this nature shall be announced by HR representative in writing and communicated in internal
memoranda or displayed on the Company’s notice boards, as applicable
Appendix -1

Examples of Academic Fees vs. Non-Academic Fees

Academic Fees ( covered under ESP) YES NO

Application fee to attend school *
Course-required books / class notes / case studies if required by course syllabus *
Entrance examinations for degree programs *
Graduation fee *
Library membership *
Portfolio review *
Program fees *
Publication/newspaper/magazine (individual or subscription) if required on syllabus *
Registration *
Research gathering *
Resources fee *
Technology fee *
Thesis fee *
Transfer of credits *
Transcript / grade fee *

Non Academic Fees (not covered under ESP)

Annual maintenance *
Assessment / collection fees *
Building / repair *
Computer software if not specific to the course *
Deferred fees, Facilities fees *
Health / medical service / wellness Centre *
Incomplete in any course *
Infrastructure *
Insurance ,Interest, Late fees *
Mailing / shipping *
Meals *
Membership *
Mileage *
Parking, Photo ID *
Printing / binding (regardless of whether it’s required on syllabus or by professor / school)
*
Stationery or other suppliers or tools(calculators, rulers, lap tops / computer / software etc)
*
Student activity or union fee *
Telephone charges *
Travel *
Video rental / purchase *
ESP Application process

Process Steps

DESCRIPTION DOCUMENTS / PARTICIPANTS TIME FRAME

TECHNOLOGY
ESP Application form Employee,
1) Interested employee should submit duly filled in Manager
ESP application form to the Reporting Manager along
with the following documents.

Documents to be attached along with the ESP

application form

 Letter of Admission from the Institute

 Total Course fee details
 Payment methods

The Manager after review shall forward to Site HR Lead

Site HR Lead Within 1 week

2) Site HR Lead will verify the documents submitted by Center Head after receiving
the Employee and if the documents are in order / the application
meets the ESP requirements, shall forward to Center
Head for approval.

3) Once Employee get approval from HR, the employee Employee,

need to discuss with Reporting Manager regarding the Reporting Manager Upon the ESP
arrangements for ESP Paid time-off from work. eligibility is confirmed
by Centre HR
Head/Site HR Lead

Payment Process : Finance Dep’t As per Educational

institute norms
4) After step 2: Finance department shall make
payment directly to the Institution by means of
cheque/DD/online transfer based on the information
provided by the employee

Payment for Next Academic year :

Marks Sheet /Result Employee
5) After 1st year/semester, Grades/Marks Sheet to be copies
submitted to HR immediately after announcement of
the results to review qualifying criteria.
To make the payment for next Academic Year
/Semester, employees need to submit the following
documents to Site HR Lead
 Payment form with original payment letter from
the institute for courses of next
semester/module/year
 Result copies
 DESCRIPTION DOCUMENTS / PARTICIPANTS TIME FRAME
TECHNOLOGY
6) After review, Site HR Lead will forward to Center
Head for approval of the course fees and forward to Site HR Lead 1 week upon receiving
finance for payment. Center Head the Grade & Payment
Finance Dep’t form
HR Department files a copy of Payment form,
Payment acknowledgement, Result copies

ESP Reimbursement process for Certifications

Process Steps

DESCRIPTION DOCUMENTS / PARTICIPANTS TIME FRAME

TECHNOLOGY
1) Interested employee should get prior Certification details Employee,
Approval from the Manager about the certification Manager
program (course, fees, duration).

After their review & approval, it shall be forwarded to

Site HR Lead

2) Site HR Lead will review the proposal and Approve / Site HR Lead
Reject

3) Based on the approval, employee can proceed for Employee

the certification. After successful completion of the Site HR Lead
program, employee need to apply for the
reimbursement within 45 days of the certificate issue
with a copy of awarded certificate and fees paid proofs

4) After verifying documents, Site HR Lead will Centre HR Head

recommend for reimbursement to Finance dept. Finance Dep’t
Finance dept will issue the cheque/DD for the
certification ,as per the ESP fee norms