EMPLOYEE

HANDBOOK

Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund

Restoring hope | Securing the future | Ending poverty
Table of Contents
PREFACE .................................................................................................................................... 4
Chapter # 1 - INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................. 5
Chapter # 2 - RECRUITMENT & SELECTION.............................................................................. 6
TYPES OF EMPLOYMENT .......................................................................................................... 6
HIRING OF CLOSE/ BLOOD RELATIVES ..................................................................................... 6
MANAGEMENT LEVELS/EMPLOYEE GRADES .......................................................................... 7
PROBATION AND CONFIRMATION .......................................................................................... 8
JOB ROTATION AND TRANSFER ............................................................................................... 8
Chapter # 3 - COMPENSATION & BENEFITS............................................................................. 9
ADVANCE SALARY .................................................................................................................... 9
EOBI .......................................................................................................................................... 9
PROVIDENT FUND .................................................................................................................... 9
PPAF PENSION FUND POLICY ................................................................................................. 10
VEHICLE ALLOWANCE ............................................................................................................. 11
FUEL ALLOWANCE & REIMBURSEMENTS .............................................................................. 11
DRIVER ALLOWANCE .............................................................................................................. 12
VEHICLE LOAN ........................................................................................................................ 12
GROUP LIFE INSURANCE ........................................................................................................ 12
HEALTH INSURANCE ............................................................................................................... 13
DEARNESS ALLOWANCE ......................................................................................................... 13
PHONE ALLOWANCE .............................................................................................................. 13
TRANSPORTATION ALLOWANCE ........................................................................................... 14
OFFICIAL TRAVEL POLICY........................................................................................................ 14
LAPTOP/DESKTOP BUY BACK POLICY .................................................................................... 16
HAJJ POLICY ............................................................................................................................ 17
EDUCATION ASSISTANCE FOR PARAPROFESSIONAL (SUPPORT STAFF) CHILDREN ............. 17
INCOME TAX LIABILITY ........................................................................................................... 17
LEAVE MANAGEMENT ............................................................................................................ 18
Chapter # 4 - LEARNING & DEVELOPMENT ........................................................................... 22
INDUCTION ORIENTATION PROGRAM .................................................................................. 22
INTERNATIONAL TRAINING.................................................................................................... 23

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EXPOSURE VISITS/ SYMPOSIUM/ (OTHER THAN TRAINING) ............................................... 23
LOCAL SEMINARS/CONFERENCES/ WORKSHOPS ................................................................. 23
CONTINUED SERVICE AGREEMENT ........................................................................................ 23
CONTINUED EDUCATION SUPPORT PROGRAM (CESP) FOR PARA-PROFESSIONAL STAFF .. 24
REWARD ON ACHIEVING HIGHER EDUCATION ..................................................................... 24
Chapter # 5 - PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM ........................................................ 26
EMPLOYEE OBJECTIVE SETTING ............................................................................................. 26
MONITORING PERFORMANCE AND PROGRESS .................................................................... 26
PERFORMANCE EVALUATION ................................................................................................ 27
WEIGHTAGE OF KPIS & KCIS .................................................................................................. 28
DEVELOPMENTAL NEEDS ....................................................................................................... 28
PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT PLAN (PIP) ......................................................................... 29
PROMOTION POLICY .............................................................................................................. 29
ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA .............................................................................................................. 29
Chapter # 6 - WORKPLACE ETHICS ......................................................................................... 30
ATTENDANCE & PUNCTUALITY .............................................................................................. 30
ABSENTEEISM ......................................................................................................................... 31
LATE SITTING .......................................................................................................................... 31
FLEXIBLE WORKING HOURS ................................................................................................... 31
WORK FROM HOME ............................................................................................................... 31
DRESS CODE ............................................................................................................................ 32
Chapter # 7 - ENVIRONMENT, HEALTH & SAFETY ................................................................. 33
Chapter # 8 - CODE OF CONDUCT & DISCIPLINE ................................................................... 34
DISCIPLINE .............................................................................................................................. 37
PENALTY.................................................................................................................................. 39
CONFLICT OF INTEREST POLICY .............................................................................................. 40
Chapter # 9 - COMPLAINT HANDLING ................................................................................... 43
COMPLAINT HANDLING COMMITTEE (CHC).......................................................................... 43
COMPLAINT HANDLING PROCESSING UNDER GRIEVANCE MECHANISM ............................ 43
Chapter # 10 - ZERO TOLERANCE POLICY .............................................................................. 45
PREVENTION OF SEXUAL EXPLOITATION & ABUSE (PSEA) ................................................... 45
PROTECTION AGAINST CHILD ABUSE | CHILD PROTECTION POLICY .................................... 48
ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING POLICY ...................................................................................... 49
ANTI-TERRORISM POLICY....................................................................................................... 49

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ANTI-CORRUPTION POLICY .................................................................................................... 51
SMOKE FREE ENVIRONMENT ................................................................................................. 52
GAMBLING .............................................................................................................................. 52
POSSESSION OF WEAPON ...................................................................................................... 52
Chapter # 11- EMPLOYEE SEPARATION ................................................................................. 52
TYPES OF SEPARATION ........................................................................................................... 52
PROCEDURE OF SEPARATION ................................................................................................ 53
NOTICE PERIOD ...................................................................................................................... 54

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 PREFACE
This Employee Handbook is provided as a ready reference to staff and is a summary of PPAF HR policy manual.

It is designed to acquaint new joiners also with the organization as quickly as possible. While we expect to continue
offering all the benefits described in this guide in the future, we reserve the right to alter, suspend, or eliminate
benefits and/or policies based on the goals and needs of our organization at any time.

Any change/update will be communicated to you accordingly. It may please be understood that this booklet merely
highlights company policies, practices and benefits for your personal education and cannot be construed as a legal
document nor used for strict interpretation of the policies or benefits which are described.

Please, contact HR Unit in case any clarification is required.

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 Chapter # 1 - INTRODUCTION

PPAF’s Vision
Restoring Hope, securing the future, ending poverty

PPAF’s Mission
Transforming the lives of poor to create a more equitable and prosperous Pakistan.

Our Core Values

The foundation of the way we work and ensure outreach to the most excluded regions, communities, and
households.

1. Inclusion
Recognizing demographic diversity - women, children, elderly, persons with disabilities, indigenous groups and
religious minorities - and connecting different views, experiences, issues and vulnerabilities as a methodology to
reducing poverty.

2. Participation
Increasing community input by having a broad process of consultation so that decisions on contents of intervention,
policies and programmes are not dominated by one group's perspective.

3. Accountability
Having in place legal and reporting framework, organizational structure, processes, and procedures to make sure
regularity and the efficiency of the use resources and personnel help responsible for their actions.

4. Transparency
Substantiating achievements by evidence, clear reporting on activities, and financial proof that would reflect on
implementation of strategies and adherence to mandates and outcomes; advancing the practice of downward
accountability to beneficiaries; and upholding the democratic traditions by having community institution leadership
elected and follow a structure and processes for governance.

5. Stewardship
Responsible management of that which has been entrusted to us in the ecosystems and communities we serve. As
caretakers of the environment and its resources we believe in having a constructive effect on the ambit of our
influence. We commit to fulfill our shared responsibility to our planet, our children, and our future.

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 Chapter # 2 - RECRUITMENT & SELECTION
This policy applies to all regular professional and paraprofessional, temporary project-based employees.

An employee appointed at PPAF shall be governed by the terms & conditions of his/her Letter of Appointment, PPAF
Human Resource Policy Manual and all other applicable policies, procedures, rules, and regulations.

TYPES OF EMPLOYMENT
1. Regular Professionals

An employee who has been engaged for work which is of a recurring nature and requires a full-time
engagement.

2. Regular Paraprofessionals

An employee who has been engaged for non-management work/job which is of permanent/recurring
nature and requires a full-time engagement.

Both Regular Professional & para-professional employees shall be appointed on three-years regular contract
renewable at the mutual consent of both the parties. However, the extension of contracts will be of varied tenure.

3. Temporary Professionals (Project-Based Employment)

An employee who has been engaged for work which is essentially temporary, time bound in nature and
likely to be finished within a period specified in the contract. It includes both professional and para-
professional staff.

4. Internships

The internship will not be construed as employment at PPAF, nor will it guarantee any future employment in
PPAF or its partner organizations. There are two types of internships at PPAF:

 Regular Internship
 Academic Internship

5. Management Trainees

HIRING OF CLOSE/ BLOOD RELATIVES

 Hiring of close relatives of persons currently employed by PPAF is restricted. The following shall be
considered as close/blood relatives.

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 Close/Blood Relatives

Father Father's Brother Father’s Sister 1st Cousin Paternal

Mother Mother's Brother Mother's Sister 1st Cousin Maternal

Brother Brother's Wife Brother's Son Brother's Daughter

Sister Sister's Husband Sister's Son Sister's Daughter

Husband Husband's Father Husband's Mother Husband's Brother

Husband's Sister Wife Wife's Father Wife's Mother

Wife's Brother Wife's Sister Son Son’s Wife

Father-in-Law Mother-in-Law Daughter Daughters' Husband

Daughters' Daughter's Mother-in-Law Stepfather Stepmother

Father-in-Law

Stepbrother Stepsister Stepson Stepdaughter

MANAGEMENT LEVELS/EMPLOYEE GRADES

All regular employee positions in PPAF are classified into the following eight (8) grades/levels:

Level Group Grades Title

Senior I Ex-10 Chief Executive Officer
Management Ex-9 Chief Operating Officer
II SM-8 Group Heads
III SM-7 Company Secretary/ Chief Internal Auditor
III SM-6 Senior General Managers / General Managers
Middle IV P-5 Senior Managers
Management P-4 Managers

Junior V O-3 Assistant Managers

Management O-2 Senior Management Executives
VI O-1 Management Executives/Junior
Management Executives/ Junior
Professional Officers

VII S-2 Supervisors, Admin Associates,

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 Level Group Grades Title
Non- Office Assistants
Management
VIII GS-1 Drivers, Naib Qasids, Gardeners and Electricians, Caretaker – Day Care

PROBATION AND CONFIRMATION

 All newly appointed employees shall be required to complete the probationary period of 3 months which
may be extended up to three (3) months at the sole discretion of the management on the evaluation of
performance.
 All newly appointed employees completing the probationary period of 3 months may be confirmed as per
their performance evaluation subject to successful verification of all testimonials submitted to the HR
department.
 Disciplinary action shall be taken on providing false information. Penalty shall be imposed for providing
wrong information or forging documents.

JOB ROTATION AND TRANSFER

Any regular employee may be transferred from one Unit/Group/Project in the best interest of the organization. All
transfers shall be made with the approval of the CEO.

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 Chapter # 3 - COMPENSATION & BENEFITS
This policy applies to all regular professional, para-professional, temporary project-based employees of PPAF. The
compensation and benefits for the employees shall further be governed as per their employment contract.

• The revision in salary shall be admissible w.e.f. 1st July every year.
• Revision in salary shall be granted to the staff who have joined the organization on or before 31st
December.
• Employees joining on or before 31st December of each calendar year would be eligible for the annual
performance bonus approved by the board. Employees not completing one year of service will be paid on pro-
rata basis.

ADVANCE SALARY
 PPAF facilitates its employees in case of need/ urgency with the advance salary up to two (2) months’
gross salary to be recovered in maximum of two (2) months or the remaining period of contract.
 An employee who has completed his/her probation period and holds confirmed services with PPAF, shall
be eligible for advance salary.
 If the employee requesting advance salary is under notice period/ suspended/ has disciplinary case
pending or a loan defaulter will not be provided of two (2) months installment period.
 An eligible employee may fill the advance salary requisition form and submit it to the HR department for
processing of application after approval of CEO. It will further be submitted to Finance Department for
release of advance salary.

EOBI
 All regular employees shall be eligible for the EOBI benefit.
 Employees shall be registered with EOBI soon after joining the organization.
 The employees’ salary shall subject to EOBI deduction for 1% whereas 5% shall be borne by the
company on behalf of the employee.

PROVIDENT FUND
 All regular, temporary, and project-based staff are eligible for enrollment in the PF scheme from the day
of their joining.
 It becomes applicable to the employees after becoming members of the PF scheme.
 The membership of the Fund shall be compulsory for every employee of the organization. The following
employees shall, however, not be members unless otherwise so made by an agreement:
• Probationary Employees
• Consultants
• Employees under written agreements whereby they are not allowed membership of the PF
scheme.

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  A member of the PF scheme shall contribute 10% of their basic salary per month. An equal amount shall
be contributed to the Fund by PPAF.
 The contribution of each employee/member shall be deducted at the time of monthly salary payment and
shall be paid by PPAF to Provident Fund Trust at the end of each month.
 The accumulated balance shall be payable on the day member ceases to be an employee of the
organization according to the Trust Deed and Rules of the Provident Fund.
 The Provident Fund will be managed by Trustees as assigned by the management as per Trust deed/rules
of Provident Fund.

PPAF PENSION FUND POLICY

 All regular employees, except those on temporary short-term/long-term projects, shall be entitled to
become member of PPAF Pension Fund from the date of their joining / with effect from its establishment.
 PPAF will contribute 10% of employee current basic salary on monthly basis to the PPAF Pension Fund.
 PPAF will select a financial institution for management of the Fund.
 Employee may contribute in his/her account in pension fund, regularly or occasionally.
 Employees will choose investment plan of pension fund by his/her own choice as per the rules of pension
investment fund offered by selected financial institution. The Company shall not bear any responsibility
regarding the performance of the fund selected by the employee.
 All changes including any update in employee particulars submitted to the financial institution or
nominee(s)/beneficiary(ies) shall be immediately provided by the employee to the PPAF HR department.
 Any permanent withdrawal during PPAF employment shall not be allowed from PPAF’s portion during the
tenure of employment with PPAF. In case of any permanent withdrawal from PPAF’s portion, PPAF shall
stop its contribution to the pension account of that employee for the rest of his/her tenure of employment
with PPAF. However, employee may be allowed to make withdrawal of his/her own portion of the fund
during PPAF service as per the rules of the pension fund.
 Temporary withdrawals from the pension fund shall be allowed as interest free loans to employees as per
the rules of the pension fund.
 The amount of loan will be limited to a maximum of eighty (80) percent of the amount of pension fund at
the time of submission of loan application to the fund manager.
 The loan will be repaid in maximum up to sixty (60) equal monthly instalments.
 The instalment amount will be deducted from employee’s salary and will be deposited in that employee’s
pension fund.
 Employee may take next loan from pension fund after full repayment of previous loan.
 All tax adjustment related to contribution in pension fund shall be carried out by the financial institution.
 Any adjustments needed for excess or shortfalls in tax shall be made by the employees at the time of filing
their individual Income Tax returns.
 Upon separation from PPAF service, PPAF shall cease to deposit any contribution in employee’s pension
investment fund. The employee (or his/her next of Kin in case of death of employee) may withdraw the

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 total accumulated amount of pension fund subject to clearance/ NOC from PPAF. However, withdrawal
shall be subject to provisions of all applicable laws.

VEHICLE ALLOWANCE
 Only regular employees of PPAF are eligible for Vehicle Allowance.
 The price of entitled vehicle will be ascertained/implemented in July every year.
 The benchmark vehicles are for the purpose of calculating vehicle and maintenance allowance for various
eligible groups are as follows.

Employee Grade Benchmark Vehicle (CC) Maintenance Limit (Rs.)/ Month

Group I (CEO & COO) Honda Civic (1800 CC) Rs. 10,000

Group II (Group Head) Honda City (1300 CC) Rs. 8,000

Group III (Company Secretary/ Honda City (1300 CC) Rs. 6,000
CIA Senior General
Manager/General Manager)

Group IV (Senior. Manager) Suzuki Cultus (1000 CC) Rs. 5,000

Group IV (Manager) Suzuki Cultus (1000 CC) Rs. 4,000

FUEL ALLOWANCE & REIMBURSEMENTS

 Fuel shall be paid as monthly allowance to the management levels, Group V-A & B while for management
levels, Group I till IV-B, fuel will be reimbursed to the entitled employees on monthly basis. Fuel
entitlements for various management levels will be as follows:

Employee Grade Entitlement

Group I (CEO/COO) 400 Liters

Group II (Group Head) 300 Liters

Group III A&B (Company secretary/ CIA/Senior General 290 Liters

Manager/ General Manager)

Group IV A (Senior Manager) 245 Liters

Group IV B (Manager) 210 Liters

Group V A (Assistant Manager) 200 Liters

Group V B (Senior Management Executive) 120 Liters

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  The amount of the fuel allowance will be paid as per the fuel price applicable on the payroll day each
month.

DRIVER ALLOWANCE
 Monthly payment for Group – II Employees in respect of driver salary as per the minimum wage as
announced by Federal Govt. of Pakistan. It will be ascertained/ implemented in July every year.

VEHICLE LOAN
 It is applicable to all regular professional and paraprofessional staff of PPAF only.
 The employees will be entitled for the following:

Employee Grade Entitlement

Group I to IV Equal to employee’s Provident fund balance or Rs.

1,500,000/- whichever is lower.

Group V and below Equal to employee’s Provident fund balance or Rs.

500,000/- whichever is lower.

 This loan shall be provided on interest free basis.

 It can be availed once in five (5) years.
 The loan shall be repaid in maximum up to sixty (60) equal monthly installments.
 The payments of installments will commence one (1) month after the loan has been issued.
 The installment shall be deducted from staff member’s salary each month.
 All application shall be forwarded to CEO through HR and Finance.
 The staff member (group V and below) can apply for next loan only after the settlement of previous loan.
 The staff member (group I to IV) can apply for the next loan after every five (5) years and after the
settlement of previous loan.
 The CEO will be the final authority to approve these loans.
 In case the staff member leaves the organization before complete repayment of the loan, the balance
outstanding in his/her account shall be repaid by such employee in full to PPAF. However, PPAF has the
right to adjust the loan amount from such employee’s outstanding Provident fund balance at the time of
final settlement.

GROUP LIFE INSURANCE

 All employees at PPAF up to the age of 65 years, will be covered under the Group Life Insurance arranged
through an insurance company.
 Group Insurance covers Death benefits, Additional Accidental Death benefits, Permanent Partial and Total
Disability, and Natural Disability as per terms and conditions agreed with the Insurance Company which
may subject to revisions at any given time.

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Employee Grade Maximum Group Insurance Cover

Group I-VIII Rs.1 million or 36 salaries whichever is higher.

 Admission of employees into the scheme will take place from the first day of confirmation of employment
with PPAF.

HEALTH INSURANCE
 All employees at PPAF up to the age of 65 years, their spouses and dependent children will be provided
with health coverage for hospitalization, maternity, and any related ailments.
 Unmarried employees shall be entitled to health coverage for self only.
 Male children above 28 years of age will not be covered.
 Daughters till marriage will be allowed insurance facility without age limit.
 The maximum ceilings on annual reimbursement for health coverage is as follows:
a) Maximum covered amount of hospitalization for Group I employees is Rs. 650,000/- while for
rest of the employees is Rs. 500,000/-
b) Room Rent charges for all staff will be equivalent to quality hospital in the country i.e., Shifa,
Agha khan hospital etc. It will be revised in July every year.
c) Maternity – Normal Delivery & C-Section limit for all female employees are Rs. 90,000/- and
Rs. 200,000/- respectively.

DEARNESS ALLOWANCE
 Only regular professionals/paraprofessionals shall be entitled to monthly dearness allowance as per
the details mentioned in the table below.
 Employees will be paid monthly allowance with effect from their joining date.

Employee Grade Monthly Allowance

(Rs.)/Month

Group I, Group II (A & B) 10,000

CEO/COO & GHs

Company Secretary/ CIA/Sr. GMs/ GMs and below 7,500

(Group III-and below)

PHONE ALLOWANCE
 All the regular employees (Group IV and above) of PPAF shall be entitled to Phone Allowance (residential
& mobile) with the following limits.

Employee Grade Monthly Allowance (Rs.)/Month

Group I Actual subject to maximum of

5,000/-
CEO & COO

Group II 3,500

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 GHs

Group III- 3,000

Company Secretary/ CIA/Sr/GMs

Group IV 2,500
Managers & Sr. Managers

TRANSPORTATION ALLOWANCE
 All the regular employees (Group VI and below) of PPAF shall be entitled to transportation allowance with
the following limits:

Employee Grade Monthly Allowance

(Rs.)/Month

Group VI and below Equivalent to 40 Liter of fuel

process ascertained on the
MEs and below
monthly payroll day.

OFFICIAL TRAVEL POLICY

PPAF defines the broader guidelines for employees required to travel within Pakistan or outside Pakistan for
business, conferences, trainings or other temporary projects or assignments.

 Travel Entitlement for Employees in Groups I to VI (Professional)

a) Group I employees shall be entitled to travel through business class air fare up to the nearest air-link.

b) Group II to VI employees shall be entitled to travel through economy class air fare.

c) In case of unavailability of air travel, an employee may be accommodated and allowed to travel by road.

d) In case the employee uses to travel in his/her personal vehicle, The reimbursement shall be calculated
as 80% of the amount as per rent a car service agreement.

e) Air-conditioned sleeper class rail travel shall be allowed to employees if they wish to travel by train.

f) Reimbursement claims will only be entertained if the expenditure is supported by invoices/bills.

 Travel Entitlement for Employees in Group VII and VIII (Para- professional)

a) Group VII and VIII employees shall be entitled to economic class travel by train.

b) The employees shall be allowed to use public transport such as bus, coaster, mini-bus, or wagon.

c) Reimbursement claims will only be entertained if expenditure is supported by invoices/ bills.

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 Hotel Accommodation/Stay
a) For local travelling all employees from Group I to VI, shall be entitled to stay at a hotel or guesthouse
on PPAF’s panel.

b) In case of foreign visit, the reimbursement of actual charges of a room is admissible on production of
hotel bills up to a maximum of admissible Foreign DA.

c) Meal Entitlements for Professional and paraprofessional staff will be calculated as per the rate of food
buffet offered by pre-qualified panel hotels as per entitlements of staff and organizational
arrangement.

d) In case of any official meeting at the staying hotel the officials of Group- I & II are allowed to host food
to the official guests as per the defined limit.

e) Reimbursement claims for meal and incidental expenses will only be entertained if expenditure is
supported by invoices/bills.

 Daily Allowances (applicable when accommodation has not been provided by PPAF)
a) If the employee from Group, I to VI (professional) chooses not to stay at a hotel or guesthouse he/she
shall be entitled to the daily allowances at the rate of Rs. 10,000/- per day paid as a per diem, to cover
the cost of lodging, meals, and incidental expenses.

b) The paraprofessional employees from Group VII & VIII shall be allowed for daily allowance & hotel
stay at the rate of Rs. 6,000/- per day or at actual, whichever is lesser.

c) The Administration Unit shall arrange the hotel reservations or transport and conveyance facility for
all employees.

d) For employees in the Islamabad Office, daily allowance shall not be applicable when traveling within
Islamabad Territory and Rawalpindi District (Territory as defined by government of Pakistan)

e) For employees in the regional Office, daily allowance shall not be applicable when traveling within
regional District. (Territory as defined by government of Pakistan).

f) Conveyance and meal charges (payable after office hours i.e., after 6:30 pm or on holidays) for Group
VII & VIII (para- Professional) shall be Rs. 600/-

 Foreign Daily Allowance

a) The allowance is admissible to staff travelling abroad officially for training, meetings, conferences, and
exposure visits etc.

b) The staff will be admissible to TA/DA equivalent to UN rates for foreign travelling applicable at the day
of travel. Transit stays may be catered as per UN foreign travelling policy.

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  Use of PPAF Pool Vehicles
a) PPAF vehicles shall be used only by authorized personnel when required for fulfilment of their
responsibilities/duties. The competent authority shall allow utilization of vehicle. All POL consumed
and other expenditure incurred on vehicles shall be properly recorded in individual logbook
maintained against each vehicle.

b) All vehicles used for carpooling, shall be driven by PPAF drivers only and shall be parked at PPAF
premises overnight.

 Rental Vehicle for Official Visits

Rental vehicles may be used for field visits by employees when pool vehicles are unavailable. Moreover,
pool vehicles can also be used in case of any emergency i.e., if conveyance arrangements are required by
employees within Islamabad and its suburban and rural areas.

LAPTOP/DESKTOP BUY BACK POLICY

 The policy is applicable to all regular professional and temporary project-based staff.
 The policy is applicable to laptop/desktop in use by employees.
 The policy does not apply to iPads and other laptops in use by the unit/employee.
 Employees can purchase official laptop/desktop assigned to him/her on the following terms and
conditions:

a) The employee can purchase official laptop/desktop in his/her use after completion of its
depreciated life of four (4) years.
b) The employee has completed at least one year of service with PPAF.
c) The employee can purchase the laptop/desktop for Rs. 1,000/-
d) The employee can purchase the laptop/desktop once in a period of four (4) years.
e) If Administration Unit has a laptop available (up to one-year-old), the same can be issued to the
staff.
 In case of employee leaving the organization, where the laptop/desktop in employee’s use has not
completed its depreciated life, the employee can purchase the laptop/desktop at the book value.
 In case of dismissal of service of an employee, the laptop / desktop in his/her use must be returned to
Administration Unit in order to process his/her final clearance.

New Laptop
 All new requests for purchase of laptop/desktop/accessories shall be routed through Administration Unit.
 Below items will be provided along with the laptop:
• Battery
• Adopter / Charger
• Carrying case / Bag
 The original/initial battery and adopter/charger will be provided along with the laptop at the time of laptop
provision. The replacement of the said battery or Adopter/Charger may only be availed on checking &
recommendations of IT Unit. For acquisition of new battery/charger in case of malfunctioning of the old
one, the same will be returned back to Admin.

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  The standard carrying case will be provided to the user along with the laptop at the time of laptop
provision. No replacement will be provided by company.
 External Mouse & Numeric pad may be provided on need basis by the recommendations of Admin. For
acquisition of new mouse/numeric pad in case of malfunctioning of the old one, the same will be returned
back to Admin.

HAJJ POLICY
 Paraprofessional staff with continuous service with the organization shall be eligible for performing Hajj on
organization’s expense.
 Each year PPAF shall finance two (2) para- professional staff members along with their spouse to perform
Hajj.
 The selection of staff shall be made through balloting every year.
 All those employees whose names have once been drawn shall not be eligible for any future drawings and
their names, therefore, shall be excluded from the list of eligible employees.
 It will cover expenses related to Hajj application fee, travelling, boarding & lodging for 40 days.
 Each employee will be eligible only once during the entire service period.
 If an employee’s name is not selected in the Government’s Hajj Scheme, the organization shall allow the
employee to perform Hajj through a private Company subject to the CEO’s approval.
 All conditions as may be announced by the Government of Pakistan from time to time shall be applicable.
 This benefit shall not be encashed.

EDUCATION ASSISTANCE FOR PARAPROFESSIONAL (SUPPORT STAFF) CHILDREN

 PPAF shall reimburse educational expenses (related to school, college & universities) of children of support
staff.
 The organization intends to support grade IV and V employees by providing financial assistance to help
defray their children’s professional education.
 An amount up to Rs. 100,000/- per annum per staff will be reimbursed to each support staff for their
children’s education.
 No claim shall be entertained without the verified supporting documents / actual receipts.
 This reimbursement includes tuition fee, or any other fee/expense related to education.
 Vouchers / Receipts must be submitted to the HR Department.
 The Chief Executive Officer will be the final authority to approve the payment.

INCOME TAX LIABILITY

 Employees shall be responsible for preparation and submission of their personal income tax and any other
personal taxation returns and reports, and for the payment of taxes, and of other statutory dues.
 PPAF undertakes no responsibility or liability in this respect, except for deduction of taxes at source,
depositing the same with the concerned authorities, submitting required statements to the income tax
department, and providing a salary and tax certificate for the tax year to the concerned employees.

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LEAVE MANAGEMENT
 All employees are entitled to avail leaves as per organization’s policy subject to approval from their Line
Manager & GH.
 Employees serving notice period, shall not be allowed any leaves except for emergencies.
 An employee must provide his/her contact details to his/her Line Manager during the period of leave.
 All leaves shall be calculated on a calendar year basis.
 Leaving office 2 Hours before the off time shall be considered ‘Short Leave’.

Annual Leave
All employees shall be entitled to 30 days of Annual Leave in a calendar year, subject to the following
conditions:

 2.5 days of earned leave shall be credited to an employee for each month of duty. A fraction of a month
with 15 days or more of duty shall be treated as 1 month and less than 15 days shall be ignored.
 The calculation of Annual Leaves of an employee starts from his/her date of joining.
 The employee is entitled to take Annual Leave (accrued thereof) after the successful completion of
his/her probation period.
 Application for Annual Leave should be given at least fifteen 15 days prior to the date from which the
leave is required.
 Annual Leave may be accumulated up to a maximum of 60 days. Any accumulation over and above 60
days will be considered to have lapsed.
 The Annual Leaves may be encashed but only at the time of leaving the organization.
 Annual leaves must be taken for not less than 4 four days at a time. Leaves less than 4 days shall be
considered as casual leaves.
 Annual leaves cannot be availed more than 3 times in a calendar year.

Casual Leaves
All employees shall be entitled to 10 days of Casual Leaves in a calendar year, subject to the following
conditions:

 Casual Leave will be allowed for only up to three (3) working days at a time.
 The employee is entitled to avail the Casual Leave after the successful completion of his/her probation
period.
 The calculation of Casual Leave of an employee starts from his/her date of joining on pro-rata basis.
 The quota of 10 Casual Leaves cannot be carried forward to next year and thus they will lapse by the end
of the calendar year i.e., on 31st December.

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 Sick Leaves
 An employee will be allowed a total of 10 working days paid Sick Leave per calendar year.
 Application for Sick Leave for more than 3 days, shall be supported by a Medical Certificate from a
Registered Medical Practitioner.
 The calculation of Sick Leaves of an employee starts from his/her date of joining on pro-rata basis.

Extended Sick Leave

In case of long-term sickness where the employee who is unable to resume normal office routine may be
granted extended Sick Leave benefit as per the following:

 An employee can be granted extended Sick Leave provided he/she has exhausted all his/her casual and
annual leaves.
 The organization at its discretion may allow extended Sick Leave on medical grounds with pay up to a
maximum of 90 calendar days.
 Application for extended Sick Leave shall be supported by stamped medical certificates.
 It shall be approved by the CEO on recommendation of the concerned Group Head and Head of Human
Resources.
 Extended Sick Leave shall not apply in cases where a female employee has been allowed Maternity Leave.

Maternity Leave
All regular & temporary project based female employees will be eligible for Maternity Leaves with the
following conditions:

 Married female employees will be allowed up to 90 days which includes 6 weeks pre-natal and 6 weeks
post-natal Maternity Leave with pay.
 Maternity Leave becomes applicable after completion of 4 months of service at PPAF.
 An employee is only entitled to a maximum of 2 periods of Maternity Leave in her entire service with the
organization.

Pilgrimage Leave
 Regular employees may be allowed up to a maximum of 40 days leave with full pay for pilgrimage purposes
only. This leave will only be allowed once in the entire service with the organization but not exceeding a
total of 40 days.

Gazette Holidays
 Leaves for religious festivities and national holidays for all employees will be allowed as per Federal
Government’s notifications.

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Probationary Period Leave
 Employees during their probationary period are allowed to take a total of 3 leaves as per the discretion
of their supervisor, which shall be either Casual or Sick Leave.

Iddah Leave
 This leave is applicable to all regular and project based female employees only once in service. The
duration of leave will be paid for 130 days to fulfill the religious binding. It will be provided after the
adjustment of all other paid leaves.

Leave Without Pay

 It is applicable to all regular professional and para-professional staff member.
 In exceptional cases, a staff member may be granted leave without pay maximum up to 1.5 years subject
to the discretion of CEO.
 Leave without Pay is only considered when no other kind of leave is available to the staff member.
 To avail leave without pay a staff member must have completed at least two (2) years of continuous
service.
 His/her rejoining is subject to availability of vacant position depending upon the time period of his/her
absence from service which may differ from case to case.
 No benefit will accrue to the concerned staff for the period leave without pay.

Study Leave
 It is applicable to regular professional and para-professional staff members.
 PPAF may provide one (1) month paid study leave.
 This can be taken in different occasions with maximum limit of one month.
 A staff member must serve at least three (3) years at PPAF on continuous basis.
 This benefit can be taken once during the service.
 It requires to provide all necessary supporting documentation to HR unit.
 It is additional to any other leave that an employee entitled to.
 It is the prerogative of CEO to allow this leave.

Procedure to Apply Leaves

 Employees shall complete the Leave Application Form by confirming his/her leave balance and submit
it within the stipulated time to their Line Manager.
 Line Manager reviews the Leave Application Form, adds his/her comments, and then approve or
forwards it to the approving authority for final approval as per policy (if Supervisor is not the approval
authority).
 The approving authority approves/disapproves the Leave Application.

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 The approved/disapproved Leave Application form is forwarded to the HR Department by the
approving authority for further processing and record maintenance.

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 Chapter # 4 - LEARNING & DEVELOPMENT
This policy applies to all regular professional and paraprofessional, temporary project-based employees.

• No formal learning intervention of any duration (internal or external or any other type) shall be carried out
without the prior written approval or agreement with the HR Department by any individual/group/
unit/department.

• Training nomination must be based on Annual Performance Review (APR) or as per Learning Need Analysis
(LNA).

• All requests for training, workshops, seminars, etc. shall be aligned with the agreed training plan finalized by
the concerned Unit Head and Group Head.

• Attendance is mandatory for all the nominated staff in the training sessions. However, prior leave may be taken
by the participants in case of any genuine reason by providing justification and timely intimation to the HR
Department through the concerned Unit Head.

Learning Need Analysis/ Learning Need Identification

It remains the responsibility of the concerned employee and the respective Line Manager to identify the
‘appropriate’ learning and development needs considering the current and future career prospects and timely
submit the nominations to the HR Department.

Types of Learnings
The following types of learning programs may be offered by the organization:

INDUCTION ORIENTATION PROGRAM

a) The HR Department shall design a formal Induction Orientation Program to familiarize the new
employees with the organizational objectives, mission, vision, core values and HR policies. It is a
mandatory learning program for all the new joiners at PPAF.
b) The Unit Head shall be responsible for providing the instructions on the 1st day of employee’s joining,
which shall include:
• Outline the functions of the Department.
• Employee's job description, responsibilities, and performance goals for the year.
• Line of authority in the department.
• Working procedures.
• Administrative and disciplinary matters.

c) The respective Unit Head shall assign a colleague under the ‘Buddy Program’ for the first 15 days to
help assimilate the new employee with the workplace and working procedures. The ‘Buddy’ must be a
regular employee with a service tenure of a minimum of 1 year.

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INTERNATIONAL TRAINING
All regular employees shall be eligible for the international training based on the following criteria:
 Employees with at-least 1 year of service and performance rating ‘Meets Expectation’ or above, will be
eligible.
 The Group Head, during the employee development planning process, may identify exposure visits, in line
with the job requirement.

EXPOSURE VISITS/ SYMPOSIUM/ (OTHER THAN TRAINING)

All regular employees in Group I to VI may be provided fully/ partially funded Exposure visits/ international
Symposium (other than training). The criteria for these visits shall be the same as international training.
 Employees shall be restricted to a maximum of one international Exposure Visits /Symposium (other than
training) per year.
 Employees with at least 1 year of service and performance rating ‘Meets Expectation’ or above, will be
eligible.
 An Exposure Visit Report is mandatory to be submitted by the employee to the HR Department within the
period of 15 days of the completion of the Exposure Visit, as an essential part of the Annual Performance
Review.

LOCAL SEMINARS/CONFERENCES/ WORKSHOPS

In case of participation in a seminar, workshop or conference fully/partially funded by PPAF, the following
criteria/guidelines shall be observed:

 Regular employees having service tenure equal to or more than 1 year shall be eligible.
 Employees serving probationary period shall be eligible to participate in seminars/workshops/conference
organized by PPAF otherwise probationary employees shall not be eligible to attend any training which has
budgetary implications. This may, however, be allowed in exceptional cases with proper justification duly
approved by the CEO.
 An employee shall be eligible to participate as a delegate in a seminar, workshop and conference only if it
is directly related to his/her area of work.
 In case an employee is invited to present a paper, is part of a panel, delegate, etc., whether related to PPAF
areas of activity or otherwise, that adds value to the organization; only administrative approval would be
required from CEO through HR upon approval of Group/Unit Head.

CONTINUED SERVICE AGREEMENT

 All employees nominated for any international training must sign a Continued Service Agreement (CSA) to
continue their service at PPAF for at least 6 months after completing the training.
 In case the employee leaves the organization before the CSA expires, he/she shall have an obligation to
pay the total training cost incurred including traveling expenses, if applicable. The HR Department shall
have the authority to hold all the leaving benefits of the employee otherwise.

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CONTINUED EDUCATION SUPPORT PROGRAM (CESP) FOR PARA-PROFESSIONAL STAFF
CESP is aimed at providing self-learning and development opportunities to the Para-professional staff of PPAF who
can take coursework during off-duty hours from an accredited college or university of their choice.
 PPAF shall only facilitate a maximum registration fee up to Rs. 50,000/- and tuition fee up to Rs. 50,000 for
each semester for only once. PPAF shall not facilitate the employee for repeating any course/semester in
case of failure to secure passing marks as per the respective institution’s/college’s/university’s criteria.
 Employees shall be responsible to bear any other costs in relation to their education/study program i.e.,
books, transportation, and any other college/university fees.
 Employees serving their probationary period shall not be eligible for CESP.

REWARD ON ACHIEVING HIGHER EDUCATION

 For the sake of motivation for staff to continue leaning and acquiring higher education, salary of employees
who achieve Chartered Accountancy (CA) or PhD degree, shall be revised upon qualifying the degree (on
submission of Degree to HR) equal to 15% of their current gross salary.

RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE LINE MANAGER LEARNING & DEVELOPMENT

 The Group Head in consultation with the respective Unit Head and discussion with the employee during
APR would identify the training which will be linked with various factors such as next year’s Key
Performance Indicators and Key Competency Indicators relevant to his/her role during the time of Annual
Performance Review. National, as well as international trainings shall be marked for the whole group based
on development areas in consultation with the HR Department.
 The development areas identified must address performance gaps as per the current and expected future
role of the individual staff members.
 It is the responsibility of the Group Head to communicate the final group training plan with all employees
of the group before the end of September every year.
 The Group Head shall ensure equality and transparency amongst the group.
 It shall be the responsibility of each Group Head to ensure that the employee is given the learning
opportunity marked in the development area and the HR Department shall monitor the process on a
quarterly basis.

RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE EMPLOYEE

 The employee, after attending the training, workshop, etc., shall submit the copy of the certificate to HR
Department for record purpose.
 Training feedback form will be provided to the trainees to measure the effectiveness of training and for
the evaluation of the trainer. This feedback will help to assess the contents/ methodology and the way the
training is organized.
 Pre-training assessment of the nominated employee shall be carried out by HR Department through a
designed questionnaire (Annexure 4C) duly filled by the nominated employee and the Line Manager.
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 Post–training assessment shall be done by HR through a questionnaire (Annexure 4C) filled by the Line
Manager. This assessment shall be conducted at least 3 months after the training. The feedback will be
required for the evident improvement or changes in the trainee’s performance particularly in the areas in
which they have received the training.

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 Chapter # 5 - PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

This policy applies to all regular professional, temporary project-based employees of PPAF.

 All employees who join PPAF on or before 31st December shall be eligible for appraisal that may result in
increment, bonus and/or promotion.
 If an employee is transferred to another department during a year, the responsibility to assess his/her
performance would lie with the previous manager if the employee were transferred after first 6 months of
financial year. In such cases, feedback of new supervisor will be obtained before finalizing the rating.
 If the transfer is made during the first 6 months of financial year, his/her new supervisor is responsible to
assess the performance based on the feedback received from his/her previous manager.

EMPLOYEE OBJECTIVE SETTING

 The supervisor should consider the overall organizational goals to set the objectives at department level.
 All employees are required to set and agree to their performance objectives along with Key Performance
Indicators (KPI) and Key Competency Indicators (KCI) for the year with their Line Managers.
 Objectives must be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable/Aspirational, Relevant, Timebound/
Transparent).
SMART Objectives
Specific
Focused on a narrowly defined activity rather than a generalization
Measurable
Capable of objective measurement in line with the approved and established
measurement system
Attainable/
Aspirational Foster greater innovation by encouraging employees to push their limits
Relevant
Producing an outcome that is in line of sight with the goal
Timebound/
Transparent Subject to evaluation within a reasonable and defined time frame.
Visible to everyone—top-down, bottom-up and cross functionally— OKRs ensure
everyone is working toward the same result.
 Attention should be paid to flow of work, task configurations, and handling relationships of management
teams (if any). Scope of objective setting should be in line with an employee’s job description to ascertain
degree of difficulty and his/her performance against those goals.

MONITORING PERFORMANCE AND PROGRESS

Continuous Performance Outlook
The Line Managers shall continuously follow up the employees’ performance to:
 give candid feedback on performance to-date and resolve gaps.
 assist in trouble shooting and help acquainting desired skills and tools to achieve the goals.
 give real-time honest feedback.
 deliver continuous training and development to attain desired result.

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PERFORMANCE EVALUATION
 All eligible employees are assessed against assigned objectives for the performance year.
 Individual employee performance (KPIs) will be rated on a 5-point rating scale:

Rating Performance Description Scoring

Category

5 Outstanding Employee consistently exceeds 90% and above

performance standards

4 Exceeds Employee meets and often exceeds 80-89%

Expectations performance standards

3 Meets Employee consistently meets performance 60-79%

Expectations standards

2 Needs Employee meets but often falls short of 50-59%

Improvement performance standards. Performance
improvement is expected during the next
appraisal period (within12 Months).

1 Unacceptable Immediate performance improvement is Below 50%

needed (within 3 months)
 In case of any Disciplinary Action, the responsible employee(s) rating will be down-graded one step below
his/her actual rating of that year.
 The employee’s technical competencies will be rated on a 1-4 scale, where.

Rating Performance Category Description

• Has an in-depth understanding of the concept

4 Advanced
• Builds own core strength by fine tuning and applying the
competency to varied problems and settings
• Executes without requiring guidance.
• Adds value and provides direction on the topic.

• Able to coach and advise others and is considered a subject

matter expert

• Has progressed beyond the Basic level.

3 Intermediate
• Is skillful and effective but continued development should
remain a priority.
• Executes requiring occasional guidance

• Has a general understanding of the competency/skill

2 Basic
• Demonstrates the competency at a foundational level.
• Continued development and coaching are high priorities.
• Requires guidance to execute

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 • Does not demonstrate the competency at any level
1 Does not exhibit

 The employee shall first carry out their self-appraisal to evaluate their performance against agreed
objectives, stating the limitations and success factors.
 The Line Manager then evaluates the employee performance using the defined rating scale. This shall be
signed off by both the employee and the Line Manager.
 In case of a disagreement, this shall be documented in the appraisal form and escalated to the respective
Group Head. Decision of the Group Head and Group Head SS shall be final.
 For quantifiable results, employee’s behavioral competencies will be rated on a 1-4 scale, where.

Rating Performance Description Scoring

Category

• Employee demonstrates the desired 90% and above

4 Always behavior at all times

• Employee demonstrates the desired 80-89%

3 Often behavior usually

• Employee demonstrates the desired 60-79%

2 Sometimes behavior occasionally

• Employee never demonstrates the

1 Never desired behavior 0%

WEIGHTAGE OF KPIS & KCIS

The total weightage given to KPIs is 80% and to KCIs (behavioral only) is 20% that contributes to overall
performance rating. The total weightage of KPIs and KCIs (behavioral only) should be 100%. The formula for
overall rating is given as follows:

Overall Rating = (%KPI x 0.8) + (%KCI x 0.2)

DEVELOPMENTAL NEEDS
 Line Managers shall identify areas of improvement and development needs to help employees improve
their performance in the present job and guide them in preparing for positions of greater responsibility in
the organization.
 Through discussions, the Line Manager will identify the individual’s shortcomings, deficiencies and training
needs during the performance evaluation which are communicated to the HR Department

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PROVIDING FEEDBACK
 Line managers shall provide a balanced and constructive feedback highlighting both employee’s
deficiencies and strengths. In addition, they should provide support on where to make improvements, and
help employees learn to take pride in their work and to take on new challenges with confidence.

PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT PLAN (PIP)

 To address the issue of employee’s continuous under performance, despite the feedback and coaching of
supervisors, a performance improvement plan shall be initiated.
 The employees with performance rating 2, ‘Needs Improvement’ shall be expected to improve
performance within 12 months.
 The employees with performance rating 1, ‘Unacceptable’ shall be expected to improve performance
within 3 months.
 The Line Manager shall review the employee’s KPIs along with identifying performance improvement area
and action plan with timelines. PIP will be communicated to HR Department for record.
 If no improvement in performance is observed, a formal disciplinary action will be initiated by issuing a
formal show cause notice, as per Disciplinary Action Policy.

PROMOTION POLICY
 All promotions will be assessed based on availability of positions, employee’s skill set, experience, potential to
function into a new and higher role, and supervisor’s recommendation.
 Employees nominated for a promotion shall be interviewed if they are at managerial level or above.
 The CEO shall be the approving authority for all promotion recommendations except Head of Internal Audit,
where it shall be based on the recommendation of the Board Audit Committee.

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA
 The rating of employee recommended for promotion should be 5, ‘Outstanding’, 4 ‘Needs Improvement’ or
minimum 3, ‘Meets Expectations’.
 Employees that have received a performance rating of 2, ‘Needs Improvement’/ 1, ‘Unacceptable’ or have
received an adverse Disciplinary Action decision, shall not be eligible for promotion.
 The employee must meet the minimum time duration set between two promotions which shall be 3 years for
Assistant Manager and levels below, 5 years for Manager level and above.
 The nominated employee should not have a history of Disciplinary Action or pending decision.
 The promotion of an employee is subject to availability of position within unit.

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 Chapter # 6 - WORKPLACE ETHICS
This policy applies to all employees of PPAF including regular professionals, regular paraprofessionals, temporary
project-based, short-term contractual employees, management trainees, interns and external consultants working
for PPAF.

 All employees working in the office shall observe and comply with workplace policies which may, from
time to time, be circulated by HR Department.
 All employees will conduct themselves in an orderly and civilized manner to maintain a comfortable,
secure and conducive working environment for other colleagues.
 Use a low tone of voice while speaking in corridors or across desks to avoid causing noise pollution.
 Line Managers and Group Heads of respective Units and Departments must ensure the maintenance of
office decorum and the punctuality of their employees.
 Employees arriving late for any reason, must inform their Line Managers well before time.
 Uninformed absences or habitual late coming shall lead to disciplinary action.
 Management may, at its discretion, excuse late arrivals in case of natural disasters or extraordinary
circumstances.
 Every employee must mark their attendance using the biometric system upon their arrival and at the time
of departure.

ATTENDANCE & PUNCTUALITY

 The work schedules and actual hours of work may change from time to time for operational, seasonal, or
religious reasons e.g., Ramazan timings.
 Working hours shall be determined as per the labor laws and operational requirements.
 The normal workweek for fulltime employees shall consist of 5 days as per the standard practices.
 For all employees in Groups I to VII, regular working hours consist of a minimum of 40 hours per week.
Working hours for employees in Group VIII consist of 48 hours per week. This includes additional time
beyond regular office hours for routine maintenance of office premises and office property.
 On a normal working day, employees should arrive at the office no later than 09:30 am and should not
leave before 5:00 pm.
 Employees may be required to work extra hours because of the operational requirements.
 There shall be a standard lunch break of 1 hour starting from 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm. On Friday, the lunch and
prayer break shall be from 1:00 pm to 2:30 pm.
 Attendance of employees will be based on marking through Biometric attendance machines or attendance
register/logs (manually) when biometrics machines are not available.
 To maintain discipline, one day salary shall be deducted against three late arrivals in a month.
 Gazette holidays will be observed as announced by the Federal Government.

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ABSENTEEISM
 If an employee remains absent without prior approval or intimation over 1 day without any valid reason,
the period shall be considered as unauthorized absence and will be treated as LWP (Leave Without Pay),
and repeated next unauthorized absence shall be subject to disciplinary action.
 An absence may be converted to an ‘Approved Leave’ if employee provides proper and timely notification
deemed reasonable and acceptable to the satisfaction of GM / HOD.
 Uninformed absence from duty for one month or more in continuity, without any intimation to either
immediate supervisor, GM / HOD or HR department, shall result in termination of service contract, unless
the employee has a legit and acceptable reason to justify the uninformed absence.

LATE SITTING
 PPAF promotes work-life balance and discourages late sitting of employees after 6.00 pm unless required
by the Line Managers on an occasional basis. Employees are required to work efficiently during business
hours and avoid regular late sittings.
 Late sitting registers must be maintained in every department to keep a record of employees’ late sittings
after 6.00 pm. Its contents should also be checked by the management of the concerned Unit/Department
regularly to ensure proper remedial measures, where necessary.

FLEXIBLE WORKING HOURS

 The organization may allow the employees to benefit from flexible working hours subject to approval from
CEO.
 It can be taken twice a month for maximum two hours a day.
 The introduction of flexible working hours does not alter the existing definition of a working week in terms
of hours required to be worked by an employee.
 As a minimum standard all employees must complete 8 hours for compliance and effectiveness. Flexible
hours are not a privilege and may be allowed at the discretion of the management.
 Before approving employees’ requests for flexible working hours, the Unit/Group Head must ensure that
their department is adequately manned throughout the core time and routine operations of the
organization are not affected.
 Opportunities for training and development and promotion should not be affected by being on flexible
working practice.
 In case of promotion, transfer or change in role, a fresh approval shall be sought from the CEO in case the
employee or the Line Manager wishes to continue with the flexible work practice.

WORK FROM HOME

This policy shall not be applicable for everyone as it depends on the context of the role of employees and is allowed
only in special circumstances (irregular an occasional circumstances) with the approval of the CEO and subject to
the following conditions:
 Work from home shall be granted to employees on occasional or ad hoc requests for specific temporary
reasons, such as a pandemic outbreak, government stay-at-home order, unrest in the city, etc.

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  When working from home, the employee shall be expected to fulfill their work duties during their normal
flexible working hours as if they were in an office location.
 The organization may, from time to time, require the attendance of an employee working from home at
specific events, meetings, trainings, or other events even where such attendance falls outside of the
employee’s normal flexible working hours.

DRESS CODE
 All employees are expected to wear normal business attire from Monday to Thursday.
 On Fridays, Head Office employees may dress smart casual. However, if a meeting is scheduled on Friday,
the related employee must ensure that he /she dresses appropriately for the meeting.
 All employees with the stakeholder dealing roles must wear normal organizational attire on all working
days.
 Non-clerical staff i.e., messengers, security guards, office boys, maintenance staff, provided with uniforms,
must always wear clean and proper uniforms while at work.
 Field workers are expected to follow the community attire, which may consist of casual or traditional wear.
 All employees must wear/display ID cards issued by the HR Department.
 Employees are required to return their Employee ID cards when their employment period ends with PPAF.
 Group Heads/Line Managers must ensure that the dress code is followed by all employees under their
reporting.

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 Chapter # 7 - ENVIRONMENT, HEALTH & SAFETY
To maintain compliance with the health and safety policy, all employees, visitors, and any person present in the
PPAF office premises must follow the safety instructions displayed on the notice boards, communicated via emails
and/or laid in this manual.

It is the policy of PPAF to comply with all current health and safety legislation applicable to its undertakings and to
regard these as minimum requirements.

All employees have a personal responsibility for their health and safety in the workplace and for the environment
in which they work.

INCIDENT REPORTING
An incident is any unplanned or unwanted event, which could result in an injury or damage to equipment, property,
process or environment. Types of incidents include:

• Injury/illness
• Property/equipment damage
• Fire/explosion
• Release
• Public complaint
• Regulatory/permit non-conformance

 All incidents should be reported to the Head of Security at PPAF.

 Incident investigations shall be conducted by the Security team under the supervision of the Head of
Security, to determine the causes of all incidents so that appropriate action can be taken to prevent a
recurrence.
 The role of incident investigation in a health and safety program includes prevention. Therefore, it is
important to investigate not only the incidents that cause loss but also ‘near misses.

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 Chapter # 8 - CODE OF CONDUCT & DISCIPLINE

This code of conduct lays down the general provisions of morals and ethics which every member of PPAF’s family
should understand and uphold in their day-to-day activities while at work. It is expected from every employee to
follow these minimum standards of conduct and is also a condition of employment with the PPAF.
The employee must comply with the mandatory code of ethics while at work.
• He/she should observe high standards of attitude that include positive persona, body language, courteous
and optimistic approach. Negative and unprofessional behavior should always be avoided.
• He/she must respect the rights, dignity and interests of all stakeholders including but not limited to
colleagues, partner organizations, and communities.
• The employee must be devoted to his/her work with a high degree of dedication, enthusiasm, and
professionalism and co-operate with fellow employees and work as a team for the benefit of the
organization.
• He/she must avoid any action that may be viewed or be repugnant, unethical, or unlawful on his/her part.
• He/she should avoid any activities that could involve or lead to involvement in any unlawful or unethical
governance practice.
• PPAF is committed to foster, cultivate, and preserve diversity, equity and inclusion. The employee should
respect the individual diversity within the organization and while at fieldwork and must not be involved in
discrimination, harassment, abuse and intimidation with a view towards the fulfillment of others’ right to
work with dignity.
• He/she must abstain from buying, selling, exchanging, distributing, possessing, using or being under the
influence of intoxicants or illegal drugs in the workplace.
• The employee must not use language, written or spoken in interoffice communication(s) or
communication(s) with any individual within or outside the workplace that may contain any statement or
material that is offensive to others.
• He/she must prevent influencing other employees with his/her personal, political, religious and social
believes.
• At all times, the employee should be aware that his/her employment carries an obligation to have due
regard to the impact of his/her professional and personal conduct on PPAF’s standing and reputation.
• The employee should ensure that his/her work habits, behavior, personal and professional relationships
at the workplace contribute to a harmonious and productive work environment.
• The employee must adhere to PPAF’s defined policies and procedures.
• It is expected that the employee does not exceed limits and authority, he/she should take decisions in
compliance with PPAF’s policy and defined authority matrix.
• The employee must protect the assets and enhance reputation of PPAF.
• All employees at PPAF are expected to practice Integrity, probity, and impartiality to maintain the
reputation of the organization.
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 • They are expected to observe the highest standards of professional ethics, contribute to good governance
practiced at organization.
• Treating all employees and others in the workplace with respect and dignity is a part of PPAF’s values that
applies to everyone. This is particularly important for leaders, who must be role models for those under
their direct supervision.
• Sarcastic comments, insulting behavior, favoritism/nepotism, and inappropriate communication
(screaming, shouting, insulting) is highly discouraged.
• Abuse or exploitation of any nature such as physical, verbal or sexual, shall not be accepted and will lead
to strict disciplinary action and even termination or other legal proceedings.
• Be vigilant of employees dealing with confidential information, to prevent misuse.
Gifts
The employee must not solicit, accept, or give gifts that may influence his/her official decisions.
 The employee may accept meals, entertainment, token gifts or favors only when the value
involved is not significant i.e., the amount is not more than Rs. 10,000/- and clearly will not
place him/her under any real or perceived obligation. In general, the employee should pay for
his/her own. In no event should the employee offer or accept meals, or attend events, at
establishments featuring inappropriate entertainment. It is anticipated that this statement
of policy, with its emphasis on how the situation might be reviewed at a later date by a
disinterested third party, will enable him/her to discourage gifts and entertainment falling in
the “grey area” without embarrassment to either himself/herself or to the organization.
• The employee must refrain from bringing in outside pressure or influence to attain personal gains within
the organization.
• The employee should not use his/her position to coerce or pressure employees to make contributions or
support candidates or political causes; any such attempt will be subject to disciplinary action.
Protection & Proper use of PPAF Property
The employee is entrusted with protecting PPAF’s property. The employee must take all possible care when
using PPAF’s property, goods, intellectual property and services and ensure the use efficiently, carefully and
honestly.
 Acts of dishonesty against PPAF involving theft, destruction or misappropriation of money, property, office
equipment, supplies or any other items of value are, of course, prohibited.
 Fabrication, modification or replacement of records to conceal or aid such acts is also prohibited. If he/she
is aware, suspects someone or has witnessed such an act, it should be immediately reported to the Unit
Head/Manager.
 The employee is expected to exercise usage of the internet and email with caution and personal internet
usage should not interfere with the job tasks. It is extremely important for him/her to be careful when
downloading received information or data and never rely on data gathered from the internet until
appropriate confirmation of the source. He/she must adhere to the policies concerning Computer, Email
and Internet usage released by the IT Department from time to time.

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  Utilizing PPAF’s provided computers, devices, or internet access (IP address) to perpetrate any form of
fraud, and/or software hack, film or music piracy, buying or selling of illegal financial assets or blackmailing
a partner organization, donor or any stakeholder may lead to strict disciplinary action and even
termination.
 Intellectual Property: The employee must protect and, when appropriate, enforce PPAF’s
intellectual property rights.
Intellectual property refers to creations of the human mind that are protected by various national laws and
international treaties, in a fashion like real property (i.e., land). Intellectual property includes copyrights,
patents, trademarks, design rights, logos, know-how and other intangible industrial or commercial property. If
the employee is involved with PPAF’s intellectual property, he/she shall protect and administer it in the interest
of the organization. The employee must also respect the intellectual property belonging to third parties in a
manner consistent with that outlined for PPAF.
a) Confidential Information
 He/she must protect confidential information and prevent such information from being
improperly disclosed to others inside or outside the organization.
 These obligations apply both, during and after employment with the PPAF. When he/she will leave
PPAF, all copies of materials containing the PPAF’s confidential information or trade secrets in
his/her possession should be returned.
 Within PPAF, confidential information may be disclosed only to other employees who need the
information to carry out their duties. When discussing confidential information, the employee
must not do so in places where he/she can be overheard. In addition, the employee should not
communicate or transmit confidential information or trade secrets by non-secure methods (e.g.,
cell phones, non-secure e-mail, hotel faxes, etc.).
b) Trademarks, Copyrights and Patents
 The employee must protect PPAF’s trademarks, copyrights, and patents.
 The developed material by the employee for PPAF will be protected by copyrights. For example,
publications, documentation, training materials, computer codes and other works of authorship.
 He/she should not make unauthorized copies, nor pass on to anyone outside the organization
documents/material/information/policies/manuals, electronic and physical data, or computer
programs etc. Any work that is undertaken for the organization is the sole property of the
organization and that should be kept secret. However, the information may be shared where
required in course of work by auditors, tax consultants, regulatory bodies etc. with the necessary
approval of the respective Group Head.
• Media Communications: In addition to daily communication with external stakeholders, PPAF officials
may, occasionally, be asked to express their views to the media. As a rule, the CEO responds to the
questions about PPAF’s position on public policy etc. The employee should immediately contact the HR
Department if he/she is approached by the media.
• Texts of articles for publication, public speeches and addresses about PPAF or development sector

36
 or any industry should be reviewed in advance by media/QARD Department.
• In case the employee is aware of any complaint being reported in the media, he/she should report
to HR Head immediately.

• Social Media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Blogs, etc.)

 Only authorized spokespersons can represent PPAF officially on any social network(s).
 Establishing a PPAF account or becoming an official representative that shares information
about the organization requires approval from the Group Head. Only these official accounts
can display the organization logo.
 The employee is required to respect colleagues and the audience while making use of social
media platforms. He/she should not use ethnic slurs, racist remarks, bad language, etc.
 He/she will be held accountable for views expressed on social media networks platforms such
as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and print media.
 The employee should protect confidential information related to PPAF. It is inappropriate to
share, post, publish or otherwise disclose confidential information on social media and
networking sites including.
 Financial information.
 Product / proprietary information.
 Organizational strategy.
 Current legal proceedings.
 Upcoming brand, marketing or social media campaigns and launches.
 Information surrounding affiliated companies.
 Personal information (anyone’s, not just his/her own).
 Offensive or indecent content.
 Any information regarding any stakeholder that may adversely affect PPAF.

DISCIPLINE
PPAF intends to ensure that all its employees adhere to the highest standards of discipline, as well as always
embrace the values of the organisation.
This policy shall apply to all regular and project-based employees of PPAF.
Competent and Appellant Authority
• The CEO is the competent authority. The Competent Authority or the CEO may initiate proceedings by its
own prerogative when it becomes aware of any disciplinary grounds. The complaint handling committee
(CHC) will have a mandate of Disciplinary Action Committee as well and shall hold an inquiry as per the
instructions of the Competent Authority

37
 Category of Employee Competent Authority Appellate Authority
1. Staff till GM level Group Head SSS CEO
2. Group Head CEO Chairman Board of Directors
3. CEO Board of Directors Chairman Board of Directors

Actions Leading to Disciplinary Proceedings

The acts and instances that shall lead to initiation of disciplinary proceedings and subsequently lead to imposition
of penalty(ies) by the Competent Authority.
Misconduct
Misconduct is defined as any unacceptable or improper behaviour which may include but is not limited
to the following:
a) Insubordination,
b) Repeated neglect of duty,
c) Habitual absence from duty without intimation,
d) Habitual tardiness,
e) Divulging confidential information regarding affairs of the organisation without authority,
f) Misuse of organisation facilities, assets, and manpower,
g) Engagement in private trade, business, or work that would affect the performance of the
employees’ official duties or result in conflict of interest between the organisation and his/her
private business in any manner whatsoever. Dual employment requires prior permission from the
CEO,
h) Physical violence or bullying,
i) Deliberately accessing internet sites containing pornographic, offensive, or obscene material,
j) Discrimination or harassment,
k) Bringing the organisation into serious disrepute,
l) Serious incapability at work brought on by alcohol or illegal drugs,
m) serious breach of health and safety rules.

Violation of PPAF policy and/or conviction by court of law

a) No employee shall breach any rules, policies and/or regulations of PPAF; or
b) No employee shall breach the law and policy relating to fake/ingenuine
information/credentials/documents; or
c) No employee shall be involved in and/or convicted of any criminal activity or have a reputation
involving criminal acts.
Abuse of Office
a) No employee shall, by virtue of his/her office, obtain for himself/herself, his/her family, and friends
any undue advantage including the use of the organisation’s assets, facilities, and manpower to
which they are not entitled to under the terms of their employment, nor shall they favour or
38
 discriminate against existing and prospective employees on grounds of religion, caste, creed, colour
or ethnic affiliations; or
b) No employee shall agitate collectively or through association or form association for purposes of
agitation of demands relating to the remuneration, terms and conditions of employment.
Propagation of Sectarian Creeds etc.
No employee shall indulge in provincialism or propagate any religious and sectarian creeds or take part
in such controversies as they are likely to affect his/her integrity in the discharge of his/her duties or to
embarrass the organisation or to create feelings of discontent or displeasure amongst the organisation’s
employees in particular and the people in general.
Lending and Borrowing
No employee or his/her dependent shall lend money to or borrow money from or place himself/herself
under any monetary obligation to any person with whom the employee has any official dealings.
It also includes the non-compliance of ethical standards mentioned above in this chapter.

PENALTY
Considering the nature and severity of the case together with the available facts and evidence, the DA Committee
shall recommend any of the following course of actions to the Competent Authority for in the Enquiry Report.

The following are penalties the DA Committee (CHC) may recommend:

a) Minor Penalties
i. Verbal warning
ii. Written warning.
iii. Censure
iv. Withholding of increment and/or bonus and/or promotion
v. Suspension with pay
vi. Recovery from the remuneration of the whole or any part of the pecuniary loss caused to PPAF or
its staff by negligence or breach of an order.

b) Major Penalties
i. Termination from PPAF's employment
ii. Dismissal from PPAF's employment
iii. Demotion
iv. Reduction in salary
v. Temporary suspension without pay.
vi. Compulsory retirement
vii. Termination / option of resignation
viii. Such other penalties (as per the law) as the Committee may consider appropriate in the
circumstances.

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CONFLICT OF INTEREST POLICY
Conflict of Interest means, “a situation in which the concerns or aims of PPAF and the concerned official are or
may become incompatible or a situation in which a PPAF official or director is in a position to derive personal
benefit from actionsor decisions made in their official capacity and/or to the detriment of PPAF best interests.”

This policy shall apply to the following stakeholders:

• All regular, project based, and outsourced staff, trainees and internees.

• Board of Directors / General Body Members

RELATIONS IN WHICH CONFLICT MAY ARISE:
a) Affiliated person(s) includes the following:
 An employee or his / her family members (parents, close relatives which includes by blood
or marriage i.e., husband, wife, father, mother, brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, father-
in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, son in law, mother-in-law, daughter in law, children
of brothers and sisters or children of brothers/sisters in law), lineal ascendants and
descendants.
 Any corporation or Organization of which you or family member (referred in I above) are
a board member, an employee, a partner, participate in management or are employed by,
or are, directly or indirectly, a debt holder or the beneficial owner of any class of equity
securities; and
 Any trust or other estate in which you or affiliated person described in (a) or (b) have a
substantial beneficial interest or as to which you or above affiliated person serves as a
trustee or in a similar capacity.
b) Partner Organization(s) means organization(s) with which PPAF has or had any partnership
arrangement currently or in the past or Partner Organization(s) associated companies.
c) Associated Companies means two or more companies / organizations / banks under common
directorship and/or management/ownership.
d) Beneficial Relations means any relation where joint salary, earning, renumeration, benefit, profit,
investment, investment return (short term and/or long term) etc. may be shared between two or
more member/employee(s) of PPAF.
Conflicts of interest may arise in the relations of directors, management staff and/ or an employee (either directly
or through their affiliated persons) in relation to each other or with any of the following third parties:
 Persons and Organizations (vendors) supplying goods and services to PPAF or providing
employment services.
 Persons and Organizations to which PPAF disburses grants or loans.
 Persons and Organizations to which our Partner Organizations are required under PPAF
financing agreements to disburse grants, loans or have financial transactions.
 Persons and Organizations from which PPAF leases property and equipment.
 Persons and Organizations with whom PPAF is dealing or planning to deal in connection with
the gift, purchase or sale of real estate, securities/ financial instruments, or other property.
 Organizations with a competing interest and/or relationship of affinity with PPAF.
 Donors and other Organizations/persons supporting PPAF.
 Agencies, Organizations, and associations which affect the operations of PPAF; and
 Family members, friends, beneficial relations, and other employees.
 Reporting line relations or units with cross function responsibilities e.g., Audit, Finance,
Monitoring, HR etc.

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INSTANCES OF CONFLICT OF INTEREST
A conflicting interest may be defined as an interest, direct or indirect, with any persons or firms as mentioned
above. Such an interest might arise through:
 Owning stock or holding debt or other proprietary interests in any third party dealing with
PPAF.
 Holding office, serving on the board, participating in management, or being otherwise
employed (or formerly employed) with any third party dealing with PPAF.
 Receiving remuneration for services with respect to individual transactions involving PPAF.
 Using PPAF’s time, personnel, equipment, supplies, or goodwill for other than PPAF-
approved activities, programs, and purposes.
 Endeavoring any beneficial relations with any director, management staff member,
employee, etc. of PPAF
 Any other instance that the Board/CEO may consider a to be a conflict.
GIFT OR ENTERTAINMENT
 PPAF does not seek to gain any advantage through the improper use of work-related courtesies
or other inducements. Good judgment and moderation must be exercised by employees to avoid
misinterpretation and adverse effect on the reputation of PPAF. Offering, giving, soliciting or
receiving any form of inducement is prohibited.
 Gifts, favors, cash and other work-related courtesies or inducements may not be given or
acceptable unless they are consistent with customary operational practices and are not excessive
in value beyond Rs. 10,000/- and cannot be construed as inducement or pay-off. Further, these
are not in contravention of applicable law or ethical standards.
 When giving gifts or paying for meals or entertainment, employees must make sure that the gift
supports the legitimate interests of PPAF, is reasonable and appropriate under the
circumstances and cannot be construed to be a bribe.

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DISCLOSURE POLICY AND PROCEDURE
 Every person under scope of the policy shall be required to fill and sign the “conflict of Interest
disclosure statement” on an annual basis.
 The hiring authority or head responsible for hiring any employee during the year shall be
required to ensure that the employee fills the above statement at the time of joining.
 Any conflict of interest which arises during the year and after the disclosure statement has been
submitted shall be disclosed immediately.
 The onus of disclosure shall rest with the person under scope of the policy.

Conflict Concerning Organization Employees

 The CEO shall be informed of any failure of disclosure in the Organization.
Conflict Concerning Board Members
 Disclosure involving directors should be made to the Board chair, (or if she or he is the one with the
conflict, then to the Board vice-chair).
Settlement of the Conflict
 In case of a conflict of interest being determined, the Board/CEO shall decide whether the
contemplated transaction may be authorized as just, fair, and reasonable to PPAF.
FAILURE TO DISCLOSE CONFLICT
 In case of any failure of disclosure determined by the CEO the disciplinary proceedings given
under HR Manual shall be followed.

 In case of any failure of disclosure of a Board Member, the Board shall determine the penalty.

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 Chapter # 9 - COMPLAINT HANDLING

COMPLAINT HANDLING COMMITTEE (CHC)

A permanent three (3) member Committee will be nominated by the CEO, comprising of.
• One Group / Unit Head who will also act as the Head of the Committee.
• Head of HR unit.
• One member from the Senior Management team i.e., GM level or above.
In case of matters involving Whistle Blow mechanism, if the CEO deems suitable, a 4th member from Internal Audit
unit maybe included in the CHC. This will need to be formally approved/notified by CEO.

GRIEVANCE –

Applicable to all regular professional and para-professional, temporary project-based employees of PPAF.

DEFINITIONS
Grievance –
A grievance is a concern, problem, or complaint that employees raise with the management of the organization.

COMPLAINT HANDLING PROCESSING UNDER GRIEVANCE MECHANISM

Informal Channel
1. As a first step in the process, employee should discuss the issue with any one of the following:
• Line Manager
• Unit Head
• Group Head
2. This discussion can be verbal or written (email etc.) and the senior official approached must hold the
meeting within three (3) working days from the date of escalation of grievance.
3. If an acceptable solution is agreed upon, the matter may be considered closed.
4. In such instances the case will not be recorded by organization or moved for CHC intervention.
5. However, incase an amicable resolution is not achieved via the informal channel, employee may raise his
/ her concern officially through the Formal Channel.
Formal Channel
If the complainant is not satisfied and / or the grievance remains unresolved through the Informal Channel, staff
may formally raise the matter by using the prescribed Grievance Form and writing to CHC on the company’s mailing
address (Plot 14, Street 12, Mauve Area G - 8/1, Islamabad, 44000, Pakistan) or via email
(staffgrievance@ppaf.org.pk).
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Appeals Forum
Appeals can be made to the CEO for a review, if supported by sound reasoning and evidence, in case the Complainant
remains dissatisfied with the outcome of the grievance processing under the Formal Channel. It will be CEO’s
discretion to allow the appeal for any further deliberation, involve a third party or close the matter.

44
 Chapter # 10 - ZERO TOLERANCE POLICY
 This policy applies to all employees affiliated with PPAF or any of its projects, under any type of
employment contract.
 Any employee who is found to have been involved in any of the Zero Tolerance matters, will be subject
to immediate disciplinary action, up to and including termination.
 When Company becomes aware of an incident involving Zero Tolerance matter, it will review and probe
the matter as Prescribed under relevant section.
 During the investigation, the accused employee(s) may be removed from the working environment and,
in extreme cases, may be suspended.
FAIRNESS
All employees at PPAF are guaranteed a fair and impartial investigations process. The integrity of the investigation
is the responsibility of the senior leadership, whose personal biases and individual relationships will never factor
into the investigation. If a member of leadership has a direct or indirect conflict-of-interest, they will recuse
themselves from the processes to ensure fairness.
TRANSPARENCY
PPAF commits to a discrete but transparent investigation process. Throughout the investigation, all involved
parties (i.e., the employee(s) making the complaint(s) as well as the employee(s) accused of misconduct) will be
provided regular updates as to the status of the case.

PREVENTION OF SEXUAL EXPLOITATION & ABUSE (PSEA)

 PPAF is committed to a healthy, harassment-free working environment for all the employees. This
company-wide policy has been developed which is intended to prevent harassment of any type, including
prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse. It also focuses on quickly and effectively dealing with any
incident that might occur. Sexual Harassment is a Zero Tolerance matter at PPAF.
 This policy applies to and is mandatory for all employees affiliated with PPAF or any of its projects, under
any type of employment contract. Sexual Harassment with outside the company will not be tolerated by
PPAF either. Community members, donors, vendors, contractors, and everyone interacting with the
company are covered under this policy. It includes regular operations at workplace or at organization-
sponsored social events at office, work related travel or similar situations connected with employment.

DEFINITION
Harassment is defined as any unwelcoming sexual advance, request for sexual favors or other verbal or written
communication or physical conduct of a sexual nature or sexually demeaning attitudes, causing interference
with work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment, or the attempt to
punish the complainant for refusal to comply with to such a request or is made a condition for employment.
Three significant manifestations of sexual harassment are briefly mentioned hereunder.
a) Abuse of Authority: Demand by a person in authority for sexual favors in order to provide job related
benefits in any shape.

45
 b) Creating a hostile environment: Unwelcoming sexual advance or any other verbal or physical conduct of
sexual nature causing interference, intimidation, hostile or offensive work environment.
c) Retaliation: Retaliation by the supervisor emanating from refusal by the employee to grant sexual favor
resulting in limiting employee’s options for future growth or promotions, distorting evaluation reports,
maligning image, or denial of legitimate rights.
 Along with abuse of authority, creating a hostile environment and retaliation, passing on
obscene/pornographic/offensive material of any kind in any form would be tantamount to sexual
harassment.
 Any expression suggesting inequality and superiority of one gender over the other including jokes to
demean and unwelcoming references to one’s appearance or physique to cause psychological
discomfiture and humiliation will fall within the definition of sexual harassment.
Employee Awareness & Training:

Each department head shall be responsible to raise general awareness of their respective teams on the
subject, on an ongoing basis.

Sexual Exploitation Risk Assessment:

In order to ensure prevention of any undesirable misconduct, the management and officials keep
assessing any risks related to sexual exploitation, on an ongoing basis through interactions and during
field visits.
Establishing a Standing Inquiry Committee
 Organization shall establish a standing Inquiry committee, to look into the complaints related to sexual
harassment.
 Committee may consist of three members, of which at least there is one female.
 One of the members will be from senior management and another could be a senior employee. One of
the three members will be selected as committee chairperson.
 Inquiry Committee shall be approved by CEO.
 In case a complaint is made against any of the members of the committee, that member shall be replaced
with another for that case. CEO will be authorized to nominate the substitute.
Reporting Non-compliance
 Person who feels to be the target of sexual harassment, informs the offender verbally or in writing that
their behavior is not appreciated/acceptable thus it must be discontinued immediately.
 If the person does not want to communicate with offending party, or if communication is not effective, it
needs to be reported.
Informal procedure for complaint:
 An informal approach to resolve a complaint of harassment may be though mediation between the
parties involved and by proving advice and counselling on strictly confidential basis.
 The complainant may report the incidence of harassment, informally to the immediate supervisor or any
member of standing inquiry committee.

46
  The supervisor or member of inquiry committee shall mediate or escalate to formal inquiry, depending
on the severity of the complaint.

Formal procedure for complaint:

Employee who believes to be the target of sexual harassment and want to formally complaint about the offence,
shall report to the committee. On receipt of a complaint, inquiry committee shall initiate the inquiry.

Penalties
If the Inquiry Committee finds the accused to be guilty, it shall recommend to the CEO for imposing one or more
of the following penalties:

Minor penalties:

• Censure
• Withholding, for a specific period, promotion, or increment.
• Stoppage, for a specific period, at an efficiency bar in the timescale, otherwise than for unfitness to cross
such bar.
• Recovery of the compensation payable to the complainant from pay or any other source of the accused.

Major penalties:

• Reduction to a lower post or timescale, or to a lower stage in a timescale.

• Compulsory retirement.
• Removal from service.
• Dismissal from service
• Fine. A part of the fine can be used as compensation for the complainant.

CEO shall impose the penalty recommended by the Inquiry Committee.

Process of appeal against penalties

 Any party aggrieved by the decision on whom minor or major penalty is imposed may within seven days
of written communication of decision, submit an appeal to Inquiry committee or CEO, providing reason
and substantial evidence or establishing any aspects of the incidence, which were not considered during
the initial inquiry process.
 Inquiry committee and CEO shall review the appeal and based on the material content of appeal, may or
may not decide to re-initiate the inquiry and preserve or re-state the decision.
 Aggrieved party may further appeal to Ombudsman, if in case of dissatisfaction from the outcome of the
appeal.
Confidentiality

Any reporting in relation to this policy shall be handled with extreme and strict confidentiality.
“All documents, information, record, proceedings and findings of the inquiry Committee shall be
confidential, and no copies thereof shall be provided to any person not related to the case under the
Act or the rules made thereunder.”

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PROTECTION AGAINST CHILD ABUSE | CHILD PROTECTION POLICY

 PPAF has a strict policy to not to employee or engage for labor or any other services, under any
arrangement, children under 18 years of age.
 Though there is no direct involvement of children within the organization, however certain employees
may have limited interactions with children while performing their work-related duties, such as
community visits, education or health related projects and other similar activities where there is some
level of interaction with children.
 This policy applies to and is mandatory for all employees affiliated with PPAF or any of its projects, under
any type of employment contract.
 Communities engaged with PPAF in any form or any other entity such as schools, hospitals are also
protected under this policy.

DEFINITION
Child abuse or maltreatment constitutes all forms of physical and/or emotional ill-treatment, sexual abuse,
neglect, or negligent treatment or commercial or other exploitation, resulting in actual or potential harm to the
child’s health, survival, development, or dignity in the context of a relationship of responsibility, trust, or power.
CHILD PROTECTION PROCESS
All children regardless of age, disability, gender, racial or ethnic origin, religious belief and sexual identity have
equal rights to protection and freedom from abuse and exploitation as set out in the UN Convention on the Rights
of the Child.
PPAF does not tolerate or accept any form of child abuse.
• Use of language or behavior towards children that is inappropriate, harassing, abusive, sexually
provocative, demeaning or culturally inappropriate, is not acceptable.
• Possession or access to any material that is abusive towards children will not be tolerated.
• Do not engage children in any form of sexual activity or acts.
• Staff should wherever possible, ensure that another adult is present when working in the proximity of
children.
• Staff in connection with their work for PPAF should not invite unaccompanied children into their home
unless they are at immediate risk of injury or in physical danger.
• Staff in connection with their work for PPAF should not sleep close to unsupervised children unless
absolutely necessary, in which case they must obtain their supervisor’s permission, and ensure that
another adult is present if possible.
• Use of any computers, mobile phones, or video and digital cameras must be appropriate and never to
exploit or harass children or access child pornography through any medium.
• Staff should comply with all relevant legislation, including labour laws in relation to child labour and they
should immediately report concerns or allegations of child abuse in accordance with appropriate
procedures.

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(Note: There may be further amendments in the law applicable. Intent of including definitions in the policy is to
only guide the employees broadly on the subject. This content cannot be used for legal purposes)
REPORTING NON-COMPLIANCE
 Reporting suspected or actual child abuse or access or possession of material that is abusive towards
children is mandatory for all employees to report to HR.
 Any concern, disclosure or accusation is alleged rather than proven at this point.
 PPAF will ensure that action is taken to support and protect children where concerns arise regarding
possible abuse in connection with the organization’s work.
 PPAF reserves the right to report concerns to the appropriate external bodies if needed.
CONFIDENTIALITY
Any reporting in relation to this policy will be handled with extreme and strict confidentiality.

ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING POLICY

This policy applies to and is mandatory for all employees affiliated with PPAF or any of its projects, under any type
of employment contract.
DEFINITION
Any person shall be guilty of Money Laundering if them.
• Acquire, convert, posses, use or transfer property, knowing or having reasons to believe that such
property is proceeds of crime.
• Conceal or disguise the true nature, origin, location, disposition, movement, or ownership of property,
knowing or having reason to believe that such property is the proceed of crime; or
• Hold or possess on behalf of any other person any property knowing or having reason to believe that such
property is the proceed of crime; or
• Participate in, associate, conspire to commit, attempt to commit, aid, abet, facilitate or counsel the
commission of the acts specifies in the three points mentioned above.
According to Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2010 of Pakistan, whoever commits the offence of money laundering
shall be punishable with rigorous imprisonment for a term which shall be up to 10 years and shall also be liable to
fine which may extend to one million rupees and shall also be liable to forfeiture of property involved in money
laundering or property of corresponding value.
Provided that the aforesaid fine may extend to five million rupees in case of a company and every director, officer
or employee of the company found guilty under this section shall also be punishable under this section.
(Note: There may be further amendments in the law applicable. Intent of including definitions in the policy is to
only guide the employees broadly on the subject. This content cannot be used for legal purposes)

ANTI-TERRORISM POLICY
This policy applies to and is mandatory for all employees affiliated with PPAF or any of its projects, under any type
of employment contract.

DEFINITION
According to the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) – 1997 of Pakistan – Section 6; “terrorism” means.
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(1) - the use or threat of action where: -
(a) the action falls within the meaning of sub-section (2); and
(b) the use or threat is designed to coerce and intimidate or overawe the Government or the public or a section
of the public or community or sect or a foreign government or population or an international organization] or
create a sense of fear or insecurity in society; or
(c) the use or threat is made for the purpose of advancing a religious, sectarian or ethnic cause or intimidating and
terrorizing the public, social sectors, media persons, business community or attacking the civilians, including
damaging property by ransacking, looting, arson or by any other means, government officials, installations,
security forces or law enforcement agencies:]
Provided that nothing herein contained shall apply to a democratic and religious rally or a peaceful demonstration
in accordance with law.
(2) - An “action” shall fall within the meaning of sub-section (1), if it: -
(a) involves the doing of anything that causes death.
(b) involves grievous violence against a person or grievous bodily injury or harm to a person.
(c) involves grievous damage to property including government premises, official installations, schools, hospitals,
offices or any other public or private property including damaging property by ransacking, looting or arson or by
any others means
(d) involves the doing of anything that is likely to cause death or endangers person’s life.
(e) involves kidnapping for ransom, hostage-taking or hijacking; involves use of explosive by any device including
bomb blast or having any explosive substance without any lawful justification or having been unlawfully concerned
with such explosive.
(f) incites hatred and contempt on religious, sectarian or ethnic basis to strip up violence or cause internal
disturbance.
(g) involves taking the law in own hand, award of any punishment by an organization, individual or group
whatsoever, not recognized by the law, with a view to coerce, intimidate or terrorize public, individuals, groups,
communities, government officials and institutions, including law enforcement agencies beyond the purview of
the law of the land.
(h) involves firing on religious congregation, mosques, imambargahs, churches, temples and all other places of
worship, or random firing to spread panic, or involves any forcible takeover of mosques or other places of worship.
(i) creates a serious risk to safety of the public or a section of the public or is designed to frighten the general public
and thereby prevent them from coming out and carrying on their lawful trade and daily business and disrupts civic
life.
(j) involves the burning of vehicles or any other serious form of arson.
(k) involves extortion of money (“bhatta”) or property.
(I) is designed to seriously interfere with or seriously disrupt a communication system or public utility service.
(m) involves serious coercion or intimidation of a public servant in order to force him to discharge or to refrain
from discharging his lawful duties.
(n) involves serious violence against a member of the police force, armed forces, civil armed forces, or a public
servant.
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(o) involves in acts as part of armed resistance by groups or individuals against law enforcement agencies; or
(p) involves in dissemination, preaching ideas, teachings, and beliefs as per own interpretation on FM stations or
through any other means of communication without explicit approval of the government or its concerned
departments.
The use or threat of use of any action which involves the use of firearms, explosive or any other weapon is
terrorism. An action in violation of a convention specified in the Fifth Schedule shall be an act of terrorism under
this Act. In this section “action” includes an act or a series of acts. In this Act, terrorism includes any act done for
the benefit of a proscribed organization.
• A person who commits an offence under this section or any other provision of this Act, shall be guilty of
an act of terrorism.
• In the Act, a “terrorist” means.
a) “an individual] who has committed an offence of terrorism under the Act, and is or has been concerned in the
commission, preparation, facilitation, funding or instigation of acts of terrorism”
(b) “an individual who is or has been, whether before or after the coming into force of this Act, concerned in the
commission, preparation, facilitation, funding or instigation of acts of terrorism, shall also be included in the
meaning given in clause (a) above”
(Note: There may be further amendments in the law applicable. Intent of including definitions in the policy is to
only guide the employees broadly on the subject. This content cannot be used for legal purposes)

ANTI-CORRUPTION POLICY
This policy applies to and is mandatory for all employees affiliated with PPAF or any of its projects, under any type
of employment contract.
DEFINITION
 For the purpose of PPAF’s anti-corruption policy, corruption in broader view will include any attempt to
directly or indirectly:
o Give or offer someone an improper advantage based on position, assignment or duty or demand.
o Receive or accept an offer to receive an improper advantage based on position, assignment, or
duty.
 Improper Advantage: Any benefit provided in return for the misuse of the receiver’s position, task or
assignment will generally be considered an improper advantage. An improper advantage will usually be
a benefit in the form of cash or objects with economic value but may also include benefits without
economic value. Personal benefits provided in relation to the recipient's position, task or assignment.
 Bribery or "trading in influence": Bribery or trading in influence is an offer (or acceptance) of an improper
advantage to someone who has the ability to influence a decision.
 A benefit is recognized as bribery where a company or a private person receives a benefit that may
influence important decisions that they would not receive in free competition.
 Bribery is corruption by definition.

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  Gifts: It is customary to exchanging gifts with Donors, suppliers and other entities organization engage
with, and is permissible, as long as the gifts are kept within the confines of what is defined as "customary".
Under no circumstances PPAF should offer or accept gifts of cash. Gifts other than cash will normally be
customary if they are:
• branding material/marked with a company logo,
• of negligible value,
• must not be kept hidden from superiors/management, e.g., gifts should be addressed to the
recipient’s working address, i.e., company or public entity office address.
• must not be provided or accepted in return for any undue benefit.

SMOKE FREE ENVIRONMENT

 Smoking is allowed only in the designated areas marked by the Administration Section.

GAMBLING

 All forms of gambling / betting on the Organization’s premises are forbidden.

POSSESSION OF WEAPON

 Possession of a weapon in the workplace or while conducting Organization business is prohibited.

 Violation of this policy may lead to disciplinary action, including termination of the Member and the
involvement of appropriate law enforcement authorities.

POLITICAL / RELIGIOUS ACTIVITIES

 No members will engage in any activity of any sort that demonstrates radial indications of their political
or religious beliefs within Organization premises or sponsored events.

REPORTING NON-COMPLIANCE
 Reporting of any non-compliance is mandatory for all employees to report to HR unit.
 Any concern, disclosure or accusation is alleged rather than proven at this point.
 Management will review the complaint for initial inquiry and decide on further line of action.
 Individuals involved in non-compliance may be subject to corporal punishments and legal actions as per
prevalent country laws.
 Often, the individuals' superior will also be subject to proceedings if he/she knew or should have known
the misconduct.
 PPAF reserves the right to report concerns to the appropriate external bodies if needed.

CONFIDENTIALITY

Any reporting in relation to this policy will be handled with extreme and strict confidentiality.

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 Chapter # 11- EMPLOYEE SEPARATION
 This policy applies to all employees of PPAF.

TYPES OF SEPARATION
Resignation

 Resignation is a voluntary, permanent separation from the organization initiated by the employee or a
mutual agreement between the employee and the organization.

 An employee may resign from the employment, at any time, by giving notice in writing for the period as
stipulated in his/her employment contract. Any employee who tenders his/her resignation, or gives notice
of resignation, while on leave, shall be treated to have separated from PPAF without notice on the day
he/she proceeded on leaves.

Separation on Health Grounds/ Disability

 Employees who are disabled or suffering from chronic illness and are not able to work in their current
position, nor in any other position, are retired due to disability.
 The procedure for separation due to disability is initiated by the relevant Unit Head and is referred to the
HR Department for action.
 The HR Department shall seek the professional opinion of the approved doctor/hospital/panel of doctors
before taking necessary approvals from the CEO.
 CEO will be approving authority.

Separation on Disciplinary Grounds

 PPAF may terminate the services of a permanent or temporary/contractual employee as specified in the
Progressive Discipline policy.

 Any dismissal or termination of services of staff falling in Group Senior General Manager and above on
disciplinary action to be approved by BCC.

 This separation may be with immediate effect and without any notice to the employee. The employee shall
not be entitled to leave encashment in such an instance. However, other terminal benefits may be paid to
the employee after adjustment of any claims PPAF may have against the employee.

Separation due to unsatisfactory performance

 PPAF may terminate the services of a permanent or temporary/contractual employee due to

unsatisfactory performance if he/she fails to improve the performance standards detailed in Performance
Management Policy. The employee shall be entitled to all terminal benefits.

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Separation due to Retrenchment, Redundancy, Restructuring, Completion of Project / Assignment

 Services of an employee may be terminated on the grounds of retrenchment, restructuring and

abolition of position or office.
 The terms and conditions of the separation shall be at the discretion of the management and in
compliance with the applicable laws.

Expiry of Contract

 An employee’s employment contract normally expires at the end of the agreed period. However,
it can be renewed upon the consent of both parties. The organization has nevertheless the right
not to renew the contract of any employee. Any payment to the employee whose contract expires
shall be clearly defined in their contract of employment.

Retirement

 An employee will retire from PPAF’s service at the age of 65 years, provided that his/her
performance remains acceptable to PPAF, and services are not dispensed earlier due to any
consideration.

Separation due to death

 In the event of an employee’s death, the date of employment termination shall be deemed from
the date of death.

PROCEDURE OF SEPARATION
 An employee who wishes to end his/her employment shall submit their resignation to the HR
Department with a copy to his/her Line Manager through either a letter or an email. The Line
Manager and Group Head shall endorse the letter to signify their acknowledgment of the
resignation and send the approved letter/email to the HR Department.

 In case an employee wishes to withdraw his/her resignation; he/she shall contact HR Department
and his/her Line Manager in writing within 7 calendar days of the resignation. A copy of the
withdrawal request shall be approved by the Group Head and sent immediately to the HR
Department.

 PPAF may also terminate any employee with or without notice, with immediate effect on
disciplinary grounds including inter alia theft, fraud, misconduct, misappropriation, dishonesty,
harassment, or discrimination.

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  The employee shall be liable to process the clearance form (Annexure 8A), once it is approved by
their supervisor it can be forwarded to the HR Department along with the organization’s property
which is to be returned by the employee.

NOTICE PERIOD
 All employees separating from the regular, project-based, and temporary employment shall serve the
notice period as stipulated in their employment contract.
 If any an employee fails to submit a written resignation and/or shall not serve the notice period as stipulated
in his/her employment contract, he/she will not be in any case entitled to any compensation or benefit or
experience certificate.
 Employees cannot extend their notice period to take advantage of rest days or public holidays falling
immediately after the expiry of their required notice period.
 Employees cannot use their compensation leave or annual leave in lieu of the notice period.
 Any employee who tenders his/her resignation, or gives notice of resignation, while on leave, shall be
considered to have left the services of PPAF without notice on the day he/she proceeded on leave.
 Upon leaving the service, the employee shall hand over to his/her concerned Line Manager, all the accounts,
contacts, data, records and documents, whether in paper or electronic form, related to his/her job.
 The employee shall fill the clearance form and get it signed by the Line Manager
 In case of the organization’s property is not returned or damaged by the employee, PPAF reserves the right
to deduct an equivalent amount from the final settlement of the employee.
 Final payment shall not be made unless and until the concerned department confirms that the resigned
employee has returned all the organization’s assets/property and records in his/her possession and the
clearance form has been submitted to the HR Department.

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