UNDERSTANDING YOUR COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS: IRRI BANGLADESH OFFICE Understanding Your Compensation

UNDERSTANDING YOUR COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS: IRRI BANGLADESH OFFICE Page 1 of 10

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Understanding Your Compensation

IRRI Bangladesh Office Nationally-Recruited Staff

September 2011


This brochure is designed to answer some questions you may have about your compensation and benefits as Nationally Recruited Staff (NRS) based in Bangladesh. Should you have any further questions, please feel free to contact Swapna Rajendra at [email protected], or HRS Regional Business Partner, South Asia Kitchie Villanueva at [email protected]. HRS Advisor, Country Office Workplace Relations

mailto:[email protected]



IRRI’s key asset is our people representing a wide range of disciplines, talents, cultures and

nationalities, all of whom contribute to meeting the Institute’s mission of reducing poverty and hunger. Human Resource Services (HRS) delivers IRRI’s compensation, benefits and reward strategies for national and international appointments worldwide. We aim to administer a clear, equitable, consistent and competitive compensation and benefit approach to attract and retain the people that we need throughout the organization.

IRRI’s compensation practice is merit based. This means that you are rewarded for your individual performance, as merit pay is linked to the annual Individual Performance and Development (IPaD) process.

How are Jobs Documented? All nationally recruited positions at IRRI are documented and classified into Job Levels, ranging from Levels 1 to 8, against which a clear compensation and benefit structure is matched. When a need is identified, the job description is written by the supervisor/manager, and then submitted to HRS for job classification and approval. Once approved, then positions can be advertised to begin the recruitment and selection process.

Job Profile Each position at IRRI has a job description that describes the job purpose, the major

responsibilities, the job dimensions, competencies and the key performance indicators for that role. The appropriate knowledge, skills, and abilities to do the job are also described.

Position Titles Each position is assigned a position title that reflects the general duties of the job. Jobs within the same job level use generic titles, such as, Research Technician I, Secretary II, and Associate Scientist. Some of the positions may include a functional title, for example, Officer –Administration Coordination, or Associate Scientist – Cropping Systems. HRS maintains a full list of IRRI position titles.

Job Levels A job level includes a series of jobs involving work of the same nature and responsibility, but requiring different skill sets. IRRI’s job levels range from Job Level 1 to 8, with Level 8 requiring the highest level of knowledge, skills and abilities and usually being a managerial role with wide responsibilities. All new positions are classified by HRS. The approval of new positions from Job Levels 1 to 6 is gained through the Request for Personnel (RP) process, Senior management approval is required before a new position can be created at Job Levels 7 and 8.


At IRRI, an employee’s compensation is divided up into three parts:

Base Pay

Allowances

Benefits

Base pay Base Pay is awarded according to an approved salary structure. A salary structure provides a way for the Institute to ensure that employees are equitably rewarded for the work they do in a structured, fair and consistent way. All Nationally Recruited Staff (NRS) positions are placed into one of the eight job levels, and each level has a corresponding salary range on a salary scale that has a minimum, midpoint, and maximum. Please see below for the Base Pay salary scale in Bangladesh Taka for Bangladesh-based NRS.

Job Level Minimum Median Maximum

Level 1 6,500 9,750 13,000

Level 2 8,125 12,188 16,250

Level 3 10,969 16,453 21,938

Level 4 17,000 25,500 34,000

Level 5 23,800 35,700 47,600

Level 6 33,320 49,980 66,640

Level 7 48,314 72,471 96,628

Level 8 70,055 105,083 140,111

How are positions placed into Job Levels? Positions are placed into job levels based on our internal job classification criteria which are standard for all IRRI locations around the world. Therefore, positions with a similar roles and responsibilities are placed in the job level and receive comparable pay on the pay scale within each location. The placement of an individual salary within the job level takes into account the extent and breadth of experience. To be sure those positions are accurately assessed, and that our compensation is competitive, HRS periodically reviews both job descriptions and salary scales. Example:

Job Level 2

Minimum Tk 8,125

Midpoint Tk 12,188

Maximum Tk 16,250

A Secretary II, which is

under Job Level 2,

would fall under a

salary structure like this


At IRRI your Base Pay plus your Allowances are known as Total Guaranteed Cash. This is the amount you receive each pay-cheque.

How is Base Pay for New Hires determined? A new employee’s starting base pay is normally between the minimum and the midpoint of the salary range. If a new employee meets only the minimum requirements of the position, the starting salary would typically be at or near the salary range minimum. If an employee has qualifications and experience that significantly exceed the basic requirements of the position description, the starting salary may be targeted between the minimum and the midpoint. Base Pay decisions are made by IRRI’s HRS team, not by the Search Committee. However HRS carefully considers recommendations made by the Country Office team.

Allowances In Bangladesh, IRRI Nationally Recruited Staff receive the following cash allowances:

Housing Allowance IRRI provides a housing allowance of 30% of base pay per month.

Transport Allowance Transportation allowances are provided based on Job Levels as follows: Job Levels 1-3 = Btk4,500; Job Levels 4-6 = Btk5,500 and Job Levels 7-8 = Btk6,500.

Returning Mother Allowance Btk1,000 per month for 9 months to female employees post-delivery of a baby to support return to the workplace

● ● ●

Note to Supervisors: No commitment can be

made regarding

compensation and benefits

prior to discussion with

HRS.

● ● ●


Benefits

At IRRI we pride ourselves on being a Family Friendly employer. We provide a range of benefits which demonstrate our commitment to the health and welfare of our employees:

Retirement Fund IRRI provides a non-contributory retirement plan for its staff members. IRRI contributes and invests 15% of annual base pay into the pension plan. .

Bonus (2 months basic salary/year) IRRI provides an allowance equivalent to a month’s base pay at both Eid ul-Fitr and Eid al-Adha.

Vacation Leave of 18 days per year You are strongly encouraged to make use of your vacation benefit. Not more than 30 days of vacation leave may be accumulated and carried over from the end of one year to the start of the next. Unused vacation leaves can be encashed upon resignation from IRRI.

Sick Leave of 15 days per year Not more than 90 days for sick leave may be accumulated and carried over from the end of one year to the start of the next. Unused sick leave cannot be encashed upon resignation from IRRI.

Group Life Insurance and Accidental Death & Dismemberment IRRI provides group life and accident insurance to all NRS including those on probation. We provide 4X of annual base pay for natural death and 8X of annual base pay for accidental death. This is administered by IRRI HQ. You are not required to contribute toward the cost of your life and accident insurance coverage.

NRS Medical Plan (please refer to brochure NRS Medical & Life Insurance Plan, for additional information)

The medical plan is a customized medical insurance plan that provides staff and their recognized dependents with:

o Medical insurance coverage of maximum US$15,000.00 per individual per calendar year subject to a deductible limit of US$25 per participant per calendar year (i.e. first US$25 is not reimbursable);

o 100% reimbursement in respect of medical ambulatory (requiring non-hospitalization) treatment & hospitalization;

o Reimbursement of dental (80%) and psychiatric (50%) treatment - up to a maximum of US$300 and US$600, respectively, per person per calendar year;

o Reimbursement of medical expenses related to the HIV virus. This includes cost of medication, testing, vaccines, consultation;

o Medical reimbursement in cases of emergencies (with prior approval of Vanbreda) in any part of the world, except Singapore & North America.

Annual Physical Examination IRRI provides the coverage for the mandatory annual physical examination to the value of USD75 for NRS in Bangladesh. This amount can be claimed through reimbursement.

Training and Development Opportunities You are encouraged to take advantage of the learning and development opportunities available, including conferences, workshops, and a range of courses and programs which are advertised on the Training Calendar.


Other Leave Benefits:

Adoption Leave - up to seven workdays with full pay to facilitate legal adoption of a child. All legal documents relating to the adoption should be submitted to HRS to ensure that the child is recognized as an eligible dependent.

Maternity Leave - up to 16 weeks paid leave (followed by additional leave without pay based on medical certificate) for female employees who have given birth or had a miscarriage or abortion.

Paternity Leave - seven workdays with full pay for male employees who have completed one year of regular employment, and whose legal spouse/partner has given birth, or had a miscarriage or abortion.

Compassionate Leave - five workdays including travel time with full pay for all employees in the event of critical illness or death in the immediate family. The immediate family shall be limited to the spouse, children, parents, brothers/sisters and parents-in-law.

Study Leave - Full time study leave is unpaid; part time study leave may be paid upon approval from your supervisor and HRS

Unpaid Leave - If you need time away from work and are unable to use other forms of leave, you may request unpaid leave of absence. You must seek your Organizational Unit Head’s approval for unpaid leave of up to 30 days. The Director General’s approval is necessary for unpaid leave of more than 30 days.

Special Leave -. Traveling staff will earn one day of Special Leave for every 15 complete nights (cumulative) spent away from the duty station on official travel. Special leave days must be used within six months after the end of the year in which they were earned. This leave is separate and distinct from sick and vacation leaves and cannot be encashed or transferred.

How does IRRI ensure your Compensation and Benefit package is externally competitive and internally fair? IRRI believes that it is important to consider both internal and external factors as compensation and benefit decisions are made.

External Equity Internal Equity

To ensure that IRRI’s compensation and benefits are competitive with the marketplace – with what people outside the institute are earning for comparable jobs – HRS undertakes regular benchmarking surveys, reviewing data from similar organizations and recommending adjustments as appropriate.

To ensure jobs with similar levels of accountabilities / responsibilities, and required knowledge, skills and abilities are paid comparably, HRS compares jobs internally using factors such as:

Knowledge and skill

Special Training

Impact and accountability

Consequence of error

Problem-solving

Guidance received

Communications

Level of supervision

Confidentiality

Working conditions

At IRRI, your Base Pay plus your Allowances plus your Benefits are known as your Total Cost. This is the real

value of your compensation and benefits package


Confidentiality of Salary

Your compensation and benefit package is confidential and private to you. HRS does not share details of your package

with others unless required to do so for planning, budgetary or auditing

purposes. We ask that you do the same. In order to ensure that you receive

accurate information, please direct all your compensation and benefit queries

to HRS.

How can your pay grow?

Your pay can grow with merit and inflationary increases or through your career progression should you take on new duties or

change roles.

Merit increases IRRI provides all staff with the opportunity to be rewarded for their performance. Therefore your base pay can grow within a job level through merit increases. Merit increases are awarded in January each year and are based upon the

rating you receive in the annual performance appraisal process (IPaD). All pay decisions are subject to the availability

of current and continued funding. Please refer to the brochure entitled: An Overview on the Individual Performance and

Development (IPaD) Process to learn more about IRRI’s IPaD.

Inflationary increases IRRI reviews reputable published inflationary data each year, and if appropriate, provides inflationary increases to NRS base pay to ensure that our base pay reflects changes in the cost of living in the relevant country. Inflationary increases, if appropriate, are awarded in July of each year.

How can I be Promoted? The development of formal Career Paths for NRS is currently underway. Currently NRS promotions are gained through competitive selection for vacant more senior roles. All vacancies for NRS roles are advertised on the IRRI website in the “Work with Us” section and also in our local offices. IRRI strongly supports career progression.

What is Reclassification? Reclassification of a position to a higher job level occurs where a job has grown significantly from the original job description to the point where the current responsibilities are now significantly greater than those originally assigned. The job reclassification process involves the documentation by the supervisor of the new role and the submission of both new and old job descriptions to HRS, whereupon a reclassification review will take place. This review includes an interview with the relevant staff member and other mechanisms to ensure the accuracy of submission. If the application is successful, the job is reclassified to a higher level and the old job will be eliminated. Consideration will be given as to whether the person who held the old job has the appropriate knowledge, skills and abilities to do the reclassified job. Reclassification requests are accepted from the IRRI Bangladesh office twice per year in March and September. Should the request be unsuccessful a period of 12 months must elapse prior to resubmission of a related request.



For inquiries

Kitchie Villanueva

HRS Advisor, Country Office Workplace Relations

Human Resource Services

International Rice Research Institute (IRRI)

Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines

+63 (2) 580-5600 ext. 2363

Email: [email protected]

Swapna Rajendra

HRS Regional Business Partner for South Asia



New Delhi, India

+880 28711991 ext. 20


For inquiries

Kitchie Villanueva

HRS Advisor, Country Office Workplace Relations



Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines

+63 (2) 580-5600 ext. 2363


Swapna Rajendra

HRS Regional Business Partner for South Asia



New Delhi, India

+880 28711991 ext. 20






Documents

UNDERSTANDING YOUR COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS: IRRI BANGLADESH OFFICE Understanding Your Compensation