ORSTW STAFF HR HAND BOOK

ORSTW HR HANDBOOK

Contact Info:

Email: orstw_afghanistan@yahoo.com

Mob: 0796- 902020, 0775-064120,

Email: orstw_afghanistan@yahoo.com, or Waheed_165@yahoo.com

www.facebook.com/orstwaf

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Table of Contents:

 ORSTW Introduction...................................................................................................3-5

 Recruitment.....................................................................................................................6

1.1 Initiating Recruitment………………………………………………………….............6

1.2 Recrutiment Procedure................................................................................................. 6

1.3 Job Description................................................................................................................6

1.4 Annouuncement of Vaccancies....................................................................................6-7

1.5 Planning of Recruitment/selection process......................................................................8

1.6 Selection Procedure.........................................................................................................8

1.7 Selection Processes..........................................................................................................8

1.8 Recruitment Documents...................................................................................................9

1.9 Employments contracts....................................................................................................9

1.10 Job discription ................................................................................................10

1.11 Personal files...................................................................................................11

1.12 Termination of contract...................................................................................11

1.13 Response to resignation ..................................................................................12

1.14 Certificate of service........................................................................................12

1.15 Conde of conduct ............................................................................................12

1.16 Duty station......................................................................................................13

1.17 Working hour....................................................................................................13

1.18 Public holidays.................................................................................................14

1.19 Annual leave.....................................................................................................14

1.20 Sick leave...........................................................................................................15

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ORGANIZATION BACKGROUND:

Organization for Research and Skills Training for Women (ORSTW) is a Non-Governmental, Non-Political and Non Profitable organization specialized in development programs across many areas with operations focused in all regions of Afghanistan. ORSTW programs encompass community mobilization & development, economic growth, emergency response, food & agriculture, peace building, women development and Training & Education.

ORSTW is offering a range of services to vulnerable people, designing special Programs for women and children to address their needs and also works in the area of social development, helping to raise awareness of the rights of men and women.

ORSTW is a registered member of the Islamic Government of Afghanistan, (Ministry of Economy) and serving the people of Afghanistan. ORSTW Vision:

To improve the life standards of the people and raise public awareness about the rights of men and women of Afghanistan and to make a peaceful and develop civil society. ORSTW Objectives:

 To encourage women in the Social environment and shin hide skills to enhance. business activities to empower the women linkage to internal market.

 To facilitate skills building and to empower businesswomen to fight against poverty.

 To take active part developing the Organization through providing of social, vocational and intellectual services for the community.

 To improve the capacity of Afghan Women through conducting long and short term Skills Trainings.

 To attract the attention of the Donors agencies and government for vulnerable women.

 Fight against narcotic drugs by conducting realistic research.

 Fight against immoral activities in various sections.

 Fight against Corruption, and evaluating current environment.

 Fight against insecurity situation, willing for peaceful environment. Our Focus:

ORSTW works closely with beneficiaries to ensure their needs are best prioritized, and clients/ donors at all levels to ensure that both their desired outcomes and organizational goals are achieved. Strategic issues variously assessed as part of the delivery process include: priorities identified by client and their stakeholders, providing high quality development programs for sustainability, identifying and targeting in need beneficiaries on community level and prioritizing

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their needs, adopting best practices and policies to ensure client/donors assets are not wasted, and associated client strategic goals are achieved and development strategies are well implemented.

ORSTW provides cost-effective humanitarian and development programs in the following seven core areas, as well as facilitating in-kind contributions as needed:

1. Community Mobilization & Development

ORSTW works at the gross-root level with Afghan communities to mobilize them for planning, education and training to rebuild community and ensure sustainability when it has been destroyed by civil wars, tragedy and conflicts. ORSTW programs encourage community participation through mobilization and help identify community goals and priorities.

2. Economic Growth

When the socio economic situation of communities is destroyed, communities must be equipped to continue their recovery and rebuild their sustainability. Through economic development programs, ORSTW works to help Afghan communities with means to generate business, train people and create jobs that will sustain families and communities economic growth.

3. Emergency Response

ORSTW support implementation of programs help vulnerable households. Displaced people and refugees can be self-sufficient by providing them necessary immediate and transitional assistance needed to start a new following war, natural disaster or political conflict. Beyond distributing food and critical supplies, ORSTW works with local and international humanitarian organizations and donors to equip victims with the shelter and tools they need to gain independence.

4. Food and Agriculture

ORSTW supports market-oriented food and agricultural development that aims to increase the competitiveness and income of individual smallholder farmers as well as small and medium-sized agribusinesses. Our program in all over Afghanistan seeks to strengthen entrepreneurial capacity and enable stronger farm-to-market linkages for improved delivery of value-added products to local populations. Through donors assistance, ORSTW has been able to alleviate hunger and improve nutrition among vulnerable populations, provide training and equipment to farmers and businesses (male and female beneficiaries), and generate employment and income for local communities.

5. Peace building

ORSTW is planning to design programs for peace building in all over the Organization. These programs will include but not limited to; peace building through sports, vocational trainings for illiterate youths of local communities and creating income generation and generate employment for them by providing them with necessary tools and equipments, and other recreational activities.

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6. Women Development

ORSTW has got a department composed of women, who work for the rights and development of this gender in rural as well as urban areas of Afghanistan. Afghanistan has been under conflict for years, which has resulted in poor socio-economic condition for women. They have been denied the right to get education and or engage in any other economic activity that requires them to get outside the boundary walls of their houses. The years of oppression has a negative effect on the whole region as poverty is increasing. Hence, our women department works on the rights based issue and tries its level best to provide women their privilege.

7. Training & Education

ORSTW has got a plan for the training and education system of the afghan community with great enthusiasm. We plan to improve the level of education from basic to professional skills in order to support the young generation and equip them with the modern day to day knowledge. ORSTW’s target is to provide education at its level best and provide the modern educational system from which the people of this community are left behind due to the last 3 decades of war and other disturbances in the Organization.

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The ORSTW (Organization for Research and Skills Training for Women) Employee HR Handbook embodies ORSTW's HR policy and specifies the basic rights and duties of national staff working with ORSTW.

Employee Handbook is a management tool, which aim to harmonize the ORSTW HR Strategy. The Employee Handbook should reflect the principles and values stated in ORSTW’s Policy Paper, Human Resources Strategy and Code of Conduct. For more information see ORSTW’s intranet for all these documents written below.

Recruitment Procedure

Staff are recruited into ORSTW on the basis of a thorough and transparent recruitment process. The selection process is based purely on merit without discrimination to gender, ethnic background, disability, religious or clan beliefs. HR representative and Director of the Organization shall be involved in all the Recruitment processes. All recruitment shall be subject to the Organization Director’s approval and will be based on merit.

1.1 Initiating Recruitment The hiring department or director has the responsibility of initiating the recruitment process. This will be done by the department/project completing a request – Approval of New Hire Form (Appendix – 02). A job description must be attached with the New Hire Form. The Finance Manager or Organization Director verifies the personnel request for budget availability and consistency. All requests for personnel must be approved by the Organization Director.

1.2 Recruitment Procedures

1.3 Job Description

Line Managers shall be responsible for developing the job description (JD) for each job/function within ORSTW office before recruitment process is started; the Project Code has to be indicated on the JD. It shall be a short but accurate description of the job/function and generic JDs should be used when available. HR is responsible for keeping an overview of all JDs, ensuring that they all follow the same format. The job description shall be discussed with and agreed upon by the employee when signing the employment contract, and one signed copy shall be kept in the personnel file. Job descriptions should be assessed regularly and updated when needed. It should be indicated in the job description that the employee may be required to undertake additional or different duties from those laid down in the job description – see Job Description Format (Appendix – 03)

1.4 Announcement of Vacancies

All positions with duration of more than 3 months will either be advertised internally or externally and publicized as broadly as possible, and in a way that it reaches all relevant target groups. To be able to reach women candidates, it is recommended that different sources such as Radio, TV Channels, Universities, Ministry of Women Affairs and ACBAR notice boards be used to advertise for available vacant positions.

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Internal vacancy is defined as advertising either only within the field office or among all field offices within the Organization. Decision on whether to advertise internally or externally should be done by the line manager or Organization Director to approve.

Auxiliary positions and staff to be employed on Service Agreements can be advertised within the same area where an ORSTW Office is planning to hire an auxiliary staff, this is to give employment opportunities to the local community and ensuring further acceptance of ORSTW in these areas. Other positions must be advertised as broadly as possible and should be through HR Department.

Where there is only one employee applying internally for an Internal Job Posting, the vacancy should be advertised externally for the second time and applications collected.

HR Officer will be responsible of preparing all the vacancy’ adverts after receiving the Job Description and “Approval for New Hire Form” for announcements. HR Department will put related Vacancy Number on each new posting and review the Job Description to ensure that the JD is in line with generic requirements. To ensure that all the recruitments, JDs and positions are in line with ORSTW harmonized policies, HR department shall be informed about all recruitments. The HR department will be included for the development of tests, participation in the interview session, reference checks/interviews etc.

ORSTW’s standard advert format shall include the following;

 ORSTW’s mission statement, its aims and main activities in the Organization (header)

 Title of the vacant position, and duration (important)

 Whether full time or part time position

 Vacancy Number

 Number of Posts

 Salary (optional to be put for higher positions)

 Brief description of the tasks involved

 Qualifications

o Educational requirements and/or experience needed

o Technical skills (including language, computer skills, driver’s license etc.)

o Personal qualities required for the job

 Duty station

 General terms and conditions for the position

 Closing date for applications

 Name, address, contact person & e-mail address.

 Information that only short-listed candidates will be called for interviews.

Encourage women applicants by adding the following statement in the advert “qualified female candidates are highly encouraged to apply”.

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Internal Advert is to be run for a minimum of 7 days and is only open to ORSTW staff while external adverts is to be run for a minimum of 14 days.

1.5 Planning of the recruitment/selection process

Line managers will always be responsible for new recruitment of staff with the support of HR. A plan of action should be developed by the line manager in consultation with the HR manager before starting any recruitment processes to secure that main deadline are set and that key actors in the process are being informed about their contribution in the process.

1.6 Selection Procedure

The short listing of candidates should be based on professional qualifications (education and experience) as reflected in the job description. This is done by the HR and Administration section. However, issues concerning security and politics may in some cases affect the choice of candidates for the organization. In order to avoid conflict of interest, close family should be considered before employment. Members of the same family may not report to each other or be members of the same management group.

1.7 Selection Processes

1. CVs shall be received through e mail orstw_afghanistan@yahoo.com or specific address as will be given on the advert. Guards shall record hard copies of CVs received at the gate and hand them over to HR representative in the Head Office or the field office.

2. Screening of CV’s (received both electronically and hard copies) must be undertaken to ensure that the demands of the job and the experience and educational background of the applicants are aligned. This will be done by HR representative provided to the Line manager. The line manager will screen further and come up with the applicants shortlist that will be invited for the interview

3. A written test is required after the initial selection of candidates. Eight or Nine applicants on each vacant position will be given a written test. A written test is a must for recruitment process. All written tests shall be provided by the relevant departments. The Office administrator or HR shall be in charge of the tests.

4. Further selection of between 3 to 5 applicants will be done based on the results of the written test.

5. The interview panel will comprise of a HR representative, Line Manager/Supervisor and someone else from the hiring department/project. The panelists should not have any

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relation to the candidates and are required to declare of the same before the interviews. This face to face interview must aim to highlight the competencies the candidate possesses for the particular job that they have applied for. Competence questions must be prepared in advance as a guide. A Candidate Evaluation Form will be used by the panel members to evaluate the candidates. See Appendix – 07 Candidate Evaluation Form

6. The best candidate will then be selected. It will be mandatory to consider if there is a second candidate in case the first candidate declined the offer or if we shall have to restart the process. Interviewing notes from the interview should be kept separately from the resume or application and retained also after the process is completed to document the process. Written recommendation/decision paper with ranking of the candidates should be made and the reason for hiring the person should also be explained and signed by the panel.

7. HR should conduct the reference checks by phone or email and the candidate’s line manager should be contacted as a reference. (Written references are essential for the records – see Appendix – 08 Reference Check ) ORSTW reserves the right to make reference to any previous employer for whom the candidate has worked.

8. If selected for the job, on completion of the process, certificates, diplomas and testimonials as well as the references shall be checked for authenticity and if satisfactory an offer in the form of a Job Offer Letter will be made.. This letter will be signed and issued by HR or Organization Director. The confirmation date of joining will be mentioned in Job Offer Letter. Date of joining could be negotiated depending on the position with the candidate.

1.8 Recruitment Documents

All the documents form Initial Recruitment till Offer Letter for a position should be kept in a recruitment file for each position. A personal file should be prepared for a selected candidate with complete documments.These documents will include (Approval for New hire form “original”, Job Description, Written Test, Candidate evaluation Form with signatures). The documents will be checked by HR in and verified for accuracy before a job offer letter is prepared, see Appendix – 10 – Job Offer Letter.

1.9 Employment contracts

All staff members should receive a written contract, in the form of an employment contract, a contract for a short-term assignment or daily labour. Agreements about duties, obligations and compensation should be clear and agreed upon before the start of the contract. The ORSTW Contracts should be in accordance with laws and regulations of the Organization of operation. This has to be done in consultation with a local lawyer.

1.10 Probation period

All new employees serve a probation period which gives the employee the opportunity to demonstrate his/her suitability for the position and the employer the opportunity to assess the potential, competencies and capabilities of the employee.

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The probation period in Afghanistan is;

 one (1) month for employees with contracts less than six (6) months.

 three (3) months for employees with six (6) to twelve (12) months contracts.

The Line Manager or Organization Director may extend the probation period. Such a decision and reason for extension of probation will be formally communicated in writing to the particular staff member at least one week prior to the end of the probationary period. This decision should be communicated as well to HR Department. For longer contracts, the probationary period can be extended to a maximum of 6 months.

During the probation period the work performance is monitored by the line manager. During this period a contract can be terminated by either party by providing at least 5 working days of written notice by giving reason for termination or resignation. A handover should be done by the employee to the supervisor.

When employees do not meet the standards set for the job, it is important that line managers terminate the employment contracts during the probation period.

When existing staff are promoted to higher positions they shall be put on probation, if probation period was not satisfactory the employee will get back to former position if still vacant.

1.10 Job description

Each job/function at the ORSTW Office shall be described in a short, but accurate, job description. It is the responsibility of the line manager to prepare the JD.

The job description shall be discussed with and agreed upon by the employee when signing the employment contract and one (1) signed copy shall be kept in the personnel file.

Job descriptions should be assessed regularly and updated when needed.

The job description shall be written in the official working language of the Organization Office. It should be translated into local language, where necessary. A job description should contain, as a minimum, the following information:

 Job title

 Immediate supervisor and the immediate supervisor’s substitute

 Immediate sub-ordinates (if any)

 Main tasks and responsibilities

 Place and date of issue

 Name and signature of employee and Organization Director (or designate)

It should be indicated in the job description that the employee may be required to undertake additional or different duties from those laid down in the job description.

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1.11 Personnel Files

Personnel files will be established by HR for all employees and shall contain all relevant information and records related to job and employment history of every ORSTW current and past employee. Hard copies shall be kept as well as Soft copies if possible.

 An employee may request to view her/his file in the presence of the HR officer or Organization Director, but are not allowed to take original copies of documents in the file. Photocopies of CVs, diplomas etc can be taken with permission. This is to avoid falsification of documents. All documents shall be made available except:

- Reports obtained prior to staff employment

- Reports in relation to promotional issues, court correspondence, etc

 Each employee is responsible for submitting, in writing, changes of address, name and other relevant details to administration.

The personnel file of each employee presently employed by ORSTW shall include the following:

Personal File Check List – Appendix – 26

The management of these Personnel files is the sole responsibility of the HR department. HR is responsible and accountable for the maintenance of these files, as well as for their confidentiality. Personnel files are kept in HR offices, locked, and no third party may have access to these personnel files. HR is responsible, if requested by Organization Director, to provide these files to internal and external auditors on immediate notice, given that auditors are bound by confidentiality.

1.12 Termination of Contract

A staff member can resign by giving a written notice to his/her line manager at least one (1) calendar month in advance. Failure by employee to provide 1 month written notice, the employee shall pay ORSTW Afghanistan a compensation equivalent to one month salary less any accrued unused leave in lieu of notice.

Employees who resign with the proper advance notice as explained above will be entitled to salary for that month and payment for any unused accrued annual leave days. Staff planning to take their leaves during the notice period must get approval from their line manager.

If the employee has used all annual leave due prior to the resignation, all days used in excess of those earned shall be deducted from the employees final pay cheque at the rate of the salary paid at the time of the resignation.

No employee shall be compensated for any unused sick leave at the time of resignation.

It is the responsibility of the HR department to alert the departmental heads and Project Managers of staff contract end dates 3 months in advance.

ORSTW may terminate the contract with one (1) month notice.

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 If there is a lack of funding for the running of the Organization Office or the project to which the employee is attached, or if the project/Organization program is undergoing changes or is being closed down (or phased out).

 If it is decided to suspend or halt the operation for security reasons in the area where the employee is stationed.

 If the employee becomes redundant due to scaling down of activities.

In this case the employee will be entitled to payment of any accrued unused leave.

ORSTW may terminate the contracts without notice under the following circumstances:

 Lack of ability to perform according to job description,

 Breach of the Codes of Conduct or any other misconduct or serious negligence.

In this case the employee will be entitled to payment of salaries for days worked, any overtime and any accrued unused leave.

1.13 Response to Resignation Letter

When an employee submits a written resignation letter, the line manager must respond within two days in writing accepting or rejecting the resignation. Reasons for rejecting should be clearly stated.

When accepting the resignation, the line manager must include the following in the acceptance letter:

 The notice period must be a month

 State the last working day of the employee

 State any outstanding work/tasks that must be accomplished before the employee leaves ORSTW

 Need for staff to prepare a handover report

 Inform the staff whether to use all their annual leave or work through the notice period and get paid for accrued unused days.

 Any other relevant information about their departure.

1.14 Certificate of Service

Any staff member leaving ORSTW is entitled to a certificate or written statement containing the following information: name, date of birth, position and duration of employment. To be valid, a certificate of service must be signed by the Organization Director or Project Manager.

1.15 Code of Conduct for ORSTW Staff

The ORSTW has developed a Code of Conduct for ORSTW staff in accordance with international humanitarian standards. All employees must commit to the Code of Conduct for ORSTW staff and are required to sign a copy of the document. Breaches of the Code may lead to contract termination.

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A comprehensive security policy, consisting of a security and an evacuation plan with certain guidelines, has been formulated for ORSTW staff members. At the time of appointment, the security guidelines are explained to employees, after which employees are required to sign that they have read and understood the guidelines and will adhere to the mentioned specific standards and procedures.

 Whistle Blowing

All staff and anyone else representing ORSTW, who becomes aware of possible breaches of the Code of Conduct committed by ORSTW personnel or any other humanitarian worker, partner and/or third parties doing business with ORSTW, must report alleged violations immediately through one of the following reporting channels: 1. Through line manager or any senior manager 2. Through appointed focal points or staff representatives 3. Through HR Officer

Complaints can be reported by phone, email or in a letter. A failure to report a breach of the Code of Conduct is itself a breach of the Code of Conduct and may result in disciplinary action.

ORSTW realizes that reporting along the management line can be difficult or even impossible in certain cases, i.e. if line manager is involved in the allegations and/or if a staff member feels more comfortable reporting to another manager, HR or a staff representative.

1.16 Duty Station

The duty station is the physical location where the employee will be working. However, this may change according to operational needs. Since ORSTW is a humanitarian organization, its assistance may be required anywhere and at any time. Consequently, ORSTW Afghanistan employees may be transferred to a different duty station.

ORSTW can with good reason decide to relocate an employee to another area of duty other than that agreed upon in the contract of employment. The duty station may change according to operational needs. If an employee is transferred from his/her duty station, it is understood that this will not include family members.

If the employee resists moving and the employer has good reason for requiring the transfer, the employment contract will be terminated on the date by which the employee is to have moved to the new duty station.

1.17 Working Hours

ORSTW employees will work up to 40 hours per week without any overtime accruing. Current working hours are between 8.00am and 4.00pm from Sunday through to Thursday, including half an hour lunch and prayer break, equivalent to 37.5 hours per week.

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However, due to ORSTW’s humanitarian mission statement, ORSTW employees may be required to respond to emergencies, in which case normal working hours would not be applicable and any concessions provided by ORSTW Afghanistan with regard to leave may be postponed or cancelled.

Working Hours during the Holy Month of Ramadan

During Ramadan, ORSTW Afghanistan will reduce working hours by two hours per day, subject to confirmation by the Organization Director. Staff preferences will be determined by the HR Department before fixing the starting time during Ramadan, taking into account the time of year when Ramadan occurs. The practice has been that working hours are adjusted from 8.00am to 2.00 pm with½ hour praying time and break.

1.18 Public Holidays

All the ORSTW staff in Afghanistan will be entitled to a paid day-off during all the official public holidays in the Organization. ORSTW Afghanistan will follow the public holidays published in the labor law. HR department will sent a list of public to the Organization Director for approval. Employees shall hereafter be informed about the exact dates at the start of the employment/start of the year and copy shall be displayed on the notice board.

Employees on special ORSTW emergency teams, including security personnel will need to work on public holidays to ensure security of operations.

1.19 Annual Leave

Full time employees are entitled to 1.67 days paid leave per contract month worked, equaling 20 working days over a 12 month period. Employees are not entitled to take their earned leave until the probation period is finished. Employees working part time or less than a full year will earn annual leave proportionally to their working hours. The annual leave year runs from the starting date of the contract.

ORSTW requires annual leave to be taken during the contract period. Line managers, in conjunction with the HR department, have a responsibility to ensure that employees avail themselves of their annual leave. Office Administrators should forward the updated leave planners as close to the beginning of the year as possible.

When an official holiday falls within an approved leave period that holiday shall not be considered as part of annual leave. For example if Wednesday is a holiday, then for a staff member taking that week as leave, they will be deducted for Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday only.

The line manager approves leave days in advance, giving consideration to the work schedule at the office. All employees shall plan their annual leave with their line manager at the start of each financial year. It is the employee’s responsibility to plan

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his/her annual leave in such a manner that leave is not carried over to the next year. Staff going on annual leave (more than 1 week) should formally apply for leave at least two week in advance and shall make a comprehensive handover of office at least 2 days before the departure to a designated person in consultation with his/her immediate line manager.

The Head of department shall be responsible for planning and maintaining the leave status of all employees. Unspent annual leave days will not be compensated unless the employee has been requested by his/her Manager to postpone leave and this request has been communicated in writing to HR/Admin. See Appendix – 40 National Staff Leave Request, See Appendix – 41 Leave Tracking Sheet and See Appendix – 42 National Staff Leave Calendar

1.20 Sick Leave

Should the employee be absent from work due to medical reasons, he/she must notify his/her immediate superior as early as possible on the same day. Should the employee be prevented from giving such notice due to an inability to communicate, notification must be given by a relative or as soon as possible (same day) thereafter.

The employee has to submit his/her own written sick note for up to three (3) days of absence. Such a note may be used maximum four times in the course of a 12-month period, or twice in the course of a six-month contract. Should the employee submit more than four such notes during a 12-month period, the immediate supervisor will demand that all sick leaves henceforth be documented by a doctor, duly recognized and approved by ORSTW Afghanistan. Each employee is allowed a maximum of twenty (20) days of sick leave in a year. Sick leave days cannot be transferred to the following year.

For sick leaves lasting longer than three working days, the employee must submit a medical certificate from a doctor or clinic recognized by ORSTW Afghanistan, stating the full name of the employee, the nature of sickness and the prescribed duration of leave. This medical certificate must be submitted not later than 5 days after the employee returns on duty.

Should an employee be absent purportedly due to illness but, thereafter, work for another employer during such sick-leave, this shall be grounds for summary dismissal.