DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF A WEB BASED LEAVE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (CASE STUDY OF NIGCOMSAT)
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background To The Study
Leave is any form of vacation, sick time, personal time, or paid time off (PTO) which is provided as a standard portion of an employee benefit package.
Leave is an authorized absence from duty. It is a period of time that one must be away from his primary job, while maintaining the status of employee. This contrasts with normal periods away from the workplace, such as vacations, holidays, hiatuses, sabbaticals, and “working from home” programs, in that they are considered exceptional circumstances, rather than benefits. Generally, such an arrangement has a predefined termination at a particular date or after a certain event has occurred. All leave time must be earned or allotted before it can be used by the employee.
Leave management is the process of employees requesting time away from work and supervisors granting or denying leave based on its impact on the organization. This may involve handling leave of absences related to personal or family illness, the birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a child, military service, and any other event that results in an extended absence.
Electronic Leave Management is the automation of a traditional Leave Management System. An Electronic Leave System is described as a smart online leave management system that allow users to apply for their leave conveniently anytime, anywhere and designed with online leave approving capabilities, making every leave application a total breeze for both those applying as well as those approving.
Electronic Leave Management System (e-Leave) allows employees to apply for leave online using computer system and internet facilities. Nowadays, more and more people choose the simpler, quicker and more secure alternate ways to do things by going online. Some of the advantages of online leave application include; reduced cost, ease of access, quick processing and so on.
The management of leave in Nigeria is governed by Part 1 of the Labour Act Chapter 198, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 1990. According to section 18, Part 1 of the Labour Act, every worker is entitled after twelve months of continuous service to a holiday with full pay of at least six working days; or in the case of persons under the age of sixteen years (including apprentices), at least twelve working days (Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 1990). The holiday may however be deferred by agreement between the employer and the worker: Provided that the holiday-earning period shall not be increased beyond twenty-four months’ continuous service.
In Nigeria, different organizations have various policies regarding the management of leave, such policies must however adhere with the Labour Act Laws of 1990 (other law applies for other countries).
A pro-active leave policy may also serve to preserve the interest of an organization, for example one study estimated that a one per cent increase in absenteeism is equivalent to a one per cent increase in salary costs (Nikolay et al., 2012).