ASSOCIATE DEPLOYABLE POOL POLICY - INDIA

Associate Deployable Pool Policy-INDIA

Version 3.0
Revised 29-April-2021

1
Cognizant reserves the absolute right and discretion to change/amend/withdraw in full or part, its policies from time to time with or without any notice. Nothing contained in this policy
shall deem to confer any special rights or privileges to the associates of Cognizant. Cognizant may at its sole discretion and subject to the applicable statutes and contractual
obligations may adopt any special proceedings or deviate from the process to protect its interests, rights and remedies. This is the confidential private property of Cognizant and any
copying, disseminating, altering or use of it without the written consent from an authorized representative of Cognizant shall attract legal consequences.
 ASSOCIATE DEPLOYABLE POOL POLICY - INDIA

Table of Approval –
Prepared By Reviewed by Approved By
Mohan Raj D (741321)
Name Newton MJ (542903) Ashish Malhotra (880973)
Pandurangan, Manikandan (148249) Arun Kumar Vijayamoorthy(140400) Rajeev Menon (186264)
C S, VaraLaxmi Bai (255457) Ramesh Srinivasan(454134)
Rajagopal S (279515)

Change Details -

Revised on 29-APRIL-2021

• S.1. Acronyms - Added CDP Leave

• S.2 – Edited; definition for Bench, CDP Leave, PDP - With Timeline, PDP - No timeline, Consequence
Management, Timeline Management.
• S.3 - Edited 3.1.1, 3.1.2, 3.1.3
3.0
• S. 4.1.10 - Revamp
• S. 4.2.4, 4.2.6, 4.2.15 – Edited
• S.4.3 – Edited, i, iii
• S.4.4.v – Edited
• S.5 – Edited/re-arranged
• S.5.1.1, 5.3 - Revamp, S.5.1.5 – Edited"
• S 7. ADP Orientation: Responsibility Matrix revised for Associate and ADP champ

2
Cognizant reserves the absolute right and discretion to change/amend/withdraw in full or part, its policies from time to time with or without any notice. Nothing contained in this policy
shall deem to confer any special rights or privileges to the associates of Cognizant. Cognizant may at its sole discretion and subject to the applicable statutes and contractual
obligations may adopt any special proceedings or deviate from the process to protect its interests, rights and remedies. This is the confidential private property of Cognizant and any
copying, disseminating, altering or use of it without the written consent from an authorized representative of Cognizant shall attract legal consequences.
 ASSOCIATE DEPLOYABLE POOL POLICY - INDIA

Table of Contents
Preamble to Policy ................................................................................................ 5

1. Acronym ................................................................................................................. 6

2. Definition................................................................................................................. 7

3. Scope ...................................................................................................................... 9

4. Procedure ............................................................................................................. 11

5. Timeline Management .......................................................................................... 18

6. Leave Guideline .................................................................................................... 20

7. Responsibility Matrix ........................................................................................... 21

8. Exception .............................................................................................................. 21

3
Cognizant reserves the absolute right and discretion to change/amend/withdraw in full or part, its policies from time to time with or without any notice. Nothing contained in this policy
shall deem to confer any special rights or privileges to the associates of Cognizant. Cognizant may at its sole discretion and subject to the applicable statutes and contractual
obligations may adopt any special proceedings or deviate from the process to protect its interests, rights and remedies. This is the confidential private property of Cognizant and any
copying, disseminating, altering or use of it without the written consent from an authorized representative of Cognizant shall attract legal consequences.
 ASSOCIATE DEPLOYABLE POOL POLICY - INDIA

Preamble to Policy

This Associate Deployable Pool Policy (hereinafter referred to as “Policy”) is

applicable for all associates who are currently on deployable pool (also referred to as
“Bench”, “PDP”) or covered for internal deployment mechanism (also referred to as
“VCDP”) under the payroll of Cognizant Technology Solutions India Private Limited
and its affiliate and group companies in India (henceforth, collectively referred to as
“Cognizant”). This Policy does not cover associates hired by Cognizant as contractors
or through third party vendors. This Policy is made for the purpose of providing an
effective mechanism with allied processes to deploy associates to Projects that has
positive impact on billability, utilization and other operating business metrics. Also to
establish reasonableness on providing opportunity to associates on Bench the related
processes, controls & communication have been laid out accordingly in this
document. The organization helps in deploying the associate in billable opportunity,
provides meaningful options to develop skill set of the associate and get deployed
which otherwise could not have been possible. This enables the associates to remain
deployed in full time revenue generating roles which increases personal billability.
During this period the associates are encouraged to skill themselves to be future
ready. This document not only focusses on the deployment procedures but also lays
down the importance and norm for enhancing skill sets for the associates.

4
Cognizant reserves the absolute right and discretion to change/amend/withdraw in full or part, its policies from time to time with or without any notice. Nothing contained in this policy
shall deem to confer any special rights or privileges to the associates of Cognizant. Cognizant may at its sole discretion and subject to the applicable statutes and contractual
obligations may adopt any special proceedings or deviate from the process to protect its interests, rights and remedies. This is the confidential private property of Cognizant and any
copying, disseminating, altering or use of it without the written consent from an authorized representative of Cognizant shall attract legal consequences.
 ASSOCIATE DEPLOYABLE POOL POLICY - INDIA

1. Acronyms

Abbreviation Definition

ADP Associate Deployable Pool

CDP Corporate Deployable Pool

CDP Leave Corporate Leave Pool

PDP Practice Deployable Pool

VCDP Virtual Corporate Deployable Pool

TSC Talent Supply Chain

BU Business Unit

IJF Internal Job Fair

IMT Interview Management Tool

JA Job Abandonment

TMP Talent Market Place

MtS Made to Stock

MtO Made to Order

MCA My Career Application

CCA Cognizant Career Architecture

PEA Project End Appraisal

5
Cognizant reserves the absolute right and discretion to change/amend/withdraw in full or part, its policies from time to time with or without any notice. Nothing contained in this policy
shall deem to confer any special rights or privileges to the associates of Cognizant. Cognizant may at its sole discretion and subject to the applicable statutes and contractual
obligations may adopt any special proceedings or deviate from the process to protect its interests, rights and remedies. This is the confidential private property of Cognizant and any
copying, disseminating, altering or use of it without the written consent from an authorized representative of Cognizant shall attract legal consequences.
 ASSOCIATE DEPLOYABLE POOL POLICY - INDIA

2. Definition
i. Assessment - Evaluation procedure of technical/functional/behavioral/any other organization
need based skill set of an associate. It is any method that is used to evaluate, measure, and
document the academic readiness, learning progress and skill acquisition.
ii. Associate Engagement - Various forms of employee connects in an associate life cycle.
iii. Bench – Also referred as Associate Deployable Pool is a Deployable common pool where
associates are allocated in between projects, any new associates hired for unplanned ramp up,
unbilled, unassigned.
iv. Bench Period – 35 calendar days
v. CDP Leave – Corporate Leave Pool for maternity & medical for self shall be governed by the
clauses contained in the Cognizant Leave Policy
vi. Continuous Ageing – Cumulative ageing of an associate in case of movement between various
Corporate & Practice deployable pool (refer to section 4.3)
vii. Deployment - Allocation to a Project where an associate can be billed >50%
viii. Job Fair - Common platform for creating job opportunities, showcasing internal talents for
redeployment.
ix. Leave - Time when an associate is officially allowed to be absent from work maintaining the
status of an employee.
x. Opportunity - Opportunity means a possibility of getting deployed/allocated in a billable position
xi. Opportunity Offered – Opportunity Offered means an opportunity for an interview for a
confirmed deployment OR Opportunity for an allocation in a Project post a successful interview.
xii. Opportunity Loss - Opportunity Loss means when an associate fails to be present/ participate/
qualify in any connect session or skilling initiatives aimed to provide direct help in getting
deployment in a billable opportunity. This also includes absence from work as defined under JA
policy/guideline/procedure.
xiii. No Opportunity – There were no valid opportunity which could be availed by an associate based
on their current skill set or an associate is found unsuitable for the position proposed based on
primary screening by hiring managers for the opportunity. Timeline management shall be done
at the discretion of the management.

6
Cognizant reserves the absolute right and discretion to change/amend/withdraw in full or part, its policies from time to time with or without any notice. Nothing contained in this policy
shall deem to confer any special rights or privileges to the associates of Cognizant. Cognizant may at its sole discretion and subject to the applicable statutes and contractual
obligations may adopt any special proceedings or deviate from the process to protect its interests, rights and remedies. This is the confidential private property of Cognizant and any
copying, disseminating, altering or use of it without the written consent from an authorized representative of Cognizant shall attract legal consequences.
 ASSOCIATE DEPLOYABLE POOL POLICY - INDIA

xiv. Opportunity Rejected - Opportunity Rejected means when an Opportunity is offered for an
interview OR an opportunity to get allocated in a Project post a successful interview, to the
associate during ADP period and the associate refuses/rejects or fails to attend the interview OR
refuses/rejects to take up allocation post a successful interview, OR if any associate is not
reachable over phone and email for greater than or equal to 3 “Valid Attempts”.). This also
includes any associate deliberately failing during interviews or assessment citing associate’s
personal convenience and constraints such as shift timings, change of facility/location,
technology/domain, etc.
xv. Orientation Course - Introductory Course on life cycle management of an associate during
Bench Period. It covers the policy guidelines, how to search opportunity, skilling options, overall
deployment support.
xvi. PDP – PDP or Practice Deployable Pool is a pool project tagged to specific business units for
mapping associates with BU specific skill set, during the time period between two projects.
xvii. PDP VCDP - System enablement on visibility of a bench associate for deployment across Group
of BU/ BU/ Organization or any other form of business organization structure as defined.
xviii. PDP With Timeline – Associates tagged to any PDP Project Code other than PDP No timeline
Projects as governed by section 4.3
xix. PDP-No timeline – Unassigned associates under scope 4.1.10. These associates will be
enabled on VCDP and will be governed by this Policy, except section 4.3.
xx. Project - Revenue generating assignment
xxi. Skilling - Platform for resources to re-skill or upskill based on CCA framework to make them
future ready.
xxii. Reserve - System blocking an associate exclusively for a customer interview for a specified time
period restricting system visibility.
xxiii. State Tag - System driven categorization
xxiv. Consequence Management – The policies and procedures governing the associate for non-
adherence, willful act or omission or non-compliance of this policy as per India Addendum to
Global Workplace Misconduct and Remediation Policy.

7
Cognizant reserves the absolute right and discretion to change/amend/withdraw in full or part, its policies from time to time with or without any notice. Nothing contained in this policy
shall deem to confer any special rights or privileges to the associates of Cognizant. Cognizant may at its sole discretion and subject to the applicable statutes and contractual
obligations may adopt any special proceedings or deviate from the process to protect its interests, rights and remedies. This is the confidential private property of Cognizant and any
copying, disseminating, altering or use of it without the written consent from an authorized representative of Cognizant shall attract legal consequences.
 ASSOCIATE DEPLOYABLE POOL POLICY - INDIA

xxv. Timeline Management – The policies and procedures governing the associate for non-
adherence, willful act or omission or non-compliance of this Policy, once the associate completes
Bench Period.
xxvi. TMP - Cognizant internal deployment platform matching organizational demand with associate
supply
xxvii. Valid Attempt - A successful attempt by the Company to connect with an associate over phone
and followed by an email addressed to associate’s official email id stating the purpose to connect
for deployable opportunity.
xxviii. VCDP – Virtual Corporate Deployable Pool.
1) VCDP With Timeline – BU associates for whom system enablement on visibility for
deployment across organization is done without change in department and gets governed
by all provisions of ADP Policy
2) VCDP Without Timeline - BU associates for whom system enablement on visibility for
deployment across organization is done without change in department and has all the
clauses contained in ADP Policy applicable except ADP Timeline ( Section 4.3)

3. Scope
3.1 An India associate who is not deployed in any Project and remains unallocated is tagged under one
of the following:

3.1.1 Practice Deployable Pool (PDP)

3.1.1.1 PDP VCDP - System enablement on visibility of a bench associate for deployment across
Group of BU/ BU/ Organization or any other form of business organization structure as defined. This
will be auto enabled on the 21st day in ADP.
3.1.2 Associates who are in VCDP with timeline will be governed by all provisions of this Policy,
however, they will not be released to PDP. This includes associates who are lateral hires in
‘PA, D+’ grade and associates from corporate functions.
3.1.3 Associates who are covered under VCDP without timeline will be governed by this policy,
except Section 4.3 – ADP Timeline, This includes associates who are in ‘P, PT, PAT, PA
(not lateral hires).

8
Cognizant reserves the absolute right and discretion to change/amend/withdraw in full or part, its policies from time to time with or without any notice. Nothing contained in this policy
shall deem to confer any special rights or privileges to the associates of Cognizant. Cognizant may at its sole discretion and subject to the applicable statutes and contractual
obligations may adopt any special proceedings or deviate from the process to protect its interests, rights and remedies. This is the confidential private property of Cognizant and any
copying, disseminating, altering or use of it without the written consent from an authorized representative of Cognizant shall attract legal consequences.
 ASSOCIATE DEPLOYABLE POOL POLICY - INDIA

Note – For VCDP associates (with reference to 3.1.2 and 3.1.3), the cost of the associate
will be with the existing Group of BU/BU/Account.

3.1.4 Associates with <50% billability based on previous month's invoicing will be detached from
the project and released to Bench either immediately after the invoice is raised for the
preceding month or visibility of such <50 billability is known, whichever is earlier. Post
release they will be governed by this Policy. This will not include the following category of
associates –

A. Exclusions based on state tags at the management discretion. Few examples are as below

i. Delivery Management (EP, EL, DP, DL are secondary state tags)

ii. Account Ops (based on secondary tag)
iii. MSA Buffer
iv. Knowledge Transfer
v. Awaiting Billing
vi. Any other based on management discretion
B. Exclusions not based on state tags at the management discretion. The guideline of non-
state tags will be published time to time.

3.1.5 Associates become unassigned if they are not currently assigned to any Project. This usually
occurs when –
i. A Project end date lapses before an extension can be secured by project managers
and account leadership
ii. A new joiner gets hired for a closed Project / service order

3.2 Any employment arising out of rebadging or M&A agreements or separate employment or contractual
agreements shall not fall under the purview of this Policy, unless stated otherwise.

3.3 Associates on or planning to go on approved maternity or long leave (greater than 30 days of leave
duration) shall be moved into the ADP under the appropriate Leave Project from the approved start
date of the leave. Please refer to the Policy Repository for the relevant policy.
9
Cognizant reserves the absolute right and discretion to change/amend/withdraw in full or part, its policies from time to time with or without any notice. Nothing contained in this policy
shall deem to confer any special rights or privileges to the associates of Cognizant. Cognizant may at its sole discretion and subject to the applicable statutes and contractual
obligations may adopt any special proceedings or deviate from the process to protect its interests, rights and remedies. This is the confidential private property of Cognizant and any
copying, disseminating, altering or use of it without the written consent from an authorized representative of Cognizant shall attract legal consequences.
 ASSOCIATE DEPLOYABLE POOL POLICY - INDIA

3.4 Other Considerations:

3.4.1 Releasing Managers are expected to extend allocation for the associates before raising the
release request from the existing project. Once a request for release has been raised, no
preference will be given to the previous project.
3.4.2 All categories mentioned under this Policy shall apply to associates working under the payroll
of Cognizant India only and not to the associates working outside of India.

4. Procedure
4.1 Associate Deployable Pool
Requirements for releasing associates to ADP:

4.1.1 All releasing managers will have to mandatorily provide the associates with 28 days of notice
period before the proposed release date to Associate Deployable Pool. Exception – VCDP
with timeline; VCDP without timeline; Associates with <50% billability based on previous
month's invoicing; Unassigned during the last calendar month.
4.1.2 All releasing managers will have to raise the request in the system with mandatory qualitative
feedback
4.1.3 Any expense request/MCA profiling including skill profiling with proficiency level /location
update in ESA shall be taken care of by Releasing manager before releasing the associate
to ADP.
4.1.4 Global Head – TSC reserves the right to decide and action on any exception to the above
clauses mentioned under section 4.1.1
4.1.5 Any leadership releases (Director and above) to ADP needs to be approved by Global Head
– TSC
4.1.6 The releasing manager has to ensure that the associate with defined CCA role will have skill
profiling completed with proficiency level in “My Career App” (hereinafter referred to as
“MCA”) AND associate without any defined CCA role will have skill profiling completed in
“iAspire”, All skill information would mean 100% skill profiling completion by the associate
and necessary approval by the supervisor. All release request initiation to ADP cannot be
completed till the skill information is updated and approved. Exception – Release of
10
Cognizant reserves the absolute right and discretion to change/amend/withdraw in full or part, its policies from time to time with or without any notice. Nothing contained in this policy
shall deem to confer any special rights or privileges to the associates of Cognizant. Cognizant may at its sole discretion and subject to the applicable statutes and contractual
obligations may adopt any special proceedings or deviate from the process to protect its interests, rights and remedies. This is the confidential private property of Cognizant and any
copying, disseminating, altering or use of it without the written consent from an authorized representative of Cognizant shall attract legal consequences.
 ASSOCIATE DEPLOYABLE POOL POLICY - INDIA

Associates with <50% Billability based on previous month's invoicing (Release under section
3.1.5); Unassigned during the previous calendar month.
4.1.7 The releasing manager has to ensure that the associate has completed Project End
Appraisal before releasing him/her to Bench. All release request initiation to ADP cannot be
completed till the PEA information is updated in Go Perform. Exception – Release of
Associates with <50% Billability based on previous month's invoicing (Release under section
3.1.5); Unassigned during the previous calendar month.
4.1.8 Skill Assessment will be conducted with an aim to assess the skill proficiency level for the
roles as per CCA framework.
4.1.9 Releasing managers to ensure not to release any associate with long leave plans to
deployable pool (PDP/Bench/VCDP).
4.1.10 Out Of Scope Criteria:
The following categories of associates shall not be considered to be tagged under Associate
Deployment Pool – With Timeline and are excluded from the section (4.3) -
i. All Campus Hires < 2 Years as on date. This would include PA auto promoted from PAT
while they are tagged to ADP. These associates who will be out of billable opportunity,
needs to be enabled VCDP, from the next day after the last day of allocation in the
billable assignment. This action has to be done by the releasing manager.
ii. All Lateral Hires with less than 180 days tenure in Cognizant
iii. Campus Hires currently at any 'Trainee' grade, irrespective of tenure.
iv. Associates allocated to/on PDP-No Timeline Project Code.
v. Employed as Individual Contractors
vi. Employed under Third Party Contractors
vii. Associates with ‘Rating 1’ rating in the last appraisal cycle
viii. Associates on Performance Improvement Plan (PIP)
ix. Associates who have resigned from Cognizant and are serving their notice period
x. Associates on vacation or planning to go on vacation. In cases of suppression of facts
regarding future leave plans, the associate will be mandatorily moved back to the
releasing BU.

11
Cognizant reserves the absolute right and discretion to change/amend/withdraw in full or part, its policies from time to time with or without any notice. Nothing contained in this policy
shall deem to confer any special rights or privileges to the associates of Cognizant. Cognizant may at its sole discretion and subject to the applicable statutes and contractual
obligations may adopt any special proceedings or deviate from the process to protect its interests, rights and remedies. This is the confidential private property of Cognizant and any
copying, disseminating, altering or use of it without the written consent from an authorized representative of Cognizant shall attract legal consequences.
 ASSOCIATE DEPLOYABLE POOL POLICY - INDIA

xi. Any such associate released to ADP shall be moved back to Releasing BU Project /
Account till the Leave start date
xii. Associates pending investigation or involved in any disciplinary proceedings can be
moved into PDP- No Timeline with approval from ADP Owners. However, no allocation
of Project will be provided until such Associate is cleared of the charges by HR
Compliance. Cases accepted in ADP post approval will remain masked in system till
completion of investigation.

4.2 Associate engagement in ADP and Their Responsibilities / Obligations

4.2.1 Contact ADP TSC POC within 3 business days from the date of movement to ADP.
4.2.2 Declare if they are not deployable by virtue of going on long/short leave, already deployed
in another Project etc.
4.2.3 Comply with all provisions/aspects listed in “Welcome to ADP” mailer and any other
subsequent communications.
4.2.4 Complete mandatory Orientation course.
4.2.5 Mandatorily be reachable over phone and email. If any associate is not reachable over
phone and email for greater than or equal to 3 “Valid Attempts” the same shall be deemed
as ”Opportunity Rejected” solely attributed by the associate.
4.2.6 The associate has to report to the designated Cognizant office regularly on all working
days during normal business hours. Associate presence in office as stated above shall
be tracked through TruTime reports unless otherwise instructed by Cognizant. *Clause is
not applicable for Prevalent Situations as per Org discretion
4.2.7 Attend ADP Connect sessions conducted on a periodic basis.
4.2.8 Opportunity supersedes Aspiration. ADP Associate should read opportunities published
by the TSC team and use the matching engine in the ‘iAspire’ application on One
Cognizant to apply for relevant opportunities.

i. ‘iAspire’ is an opportunity matching engine aimed to provide a matching window for

the deployable associates.

12
Cognizant reserves the absolute right and discretion to change/amend/withdraw in full or part, its policies from time to time with or without any notice. Nothing contained in this policy
shall deem to confer any special rights or privileges to the associates of Cognizant. Cognizant may at its sole discretion and subject to the applicable statutes and contractual
obligations may adopt any special proceedings or deviate from the process to protect its interests, rights and remedies. This is the confidential private property of Cognizant and any
copying, disseminating, altering or use of it without the written consent from an authorized representative of Cognizant shall attract legal consequences.
 ASSOCIATE DEPLOYABLE POOL POLICY - INDIA

ii. It provides filtering options to narrow down on the available opportunity matching the
skill set of the associate.

iii. Once the filters are applied, a list of matching opportunities appear on the screen
showing percentage match, detailed job description and POC details

4.2.9 Associates are expected to pursue their Role Development Plan while in ADP to make
them future ready.
4.2.10 Associates are strongly recommended to get themselves enrolled for relevant Skilling
program in consultation with their TSC POCs. On failure to obtain passing score in post
skilling assessment, the associate shall be routed through relevant Timeline
Management (Refer Section 5 of the Policy). It is the responsibility of the associates to
mandatorily attend and complete all Skilling programs, enrolled by them and take the
assessment. Assessment evaluation shall be objective and free from any bias.
4.2.11 Associates undergoing any Skilling programs (including any aspirational skill of
associate subject to availability through academy curriculum) shall be allocated to a new
project only upon completion of the program and successful clearance of post skilling
assessment.
4.2.12 Skilling focus of MtO and MtS, skill refreshment along with business recommendation
will also be used to determine the skilling requirements for an associate and will
supersede any aspirational skilling by the associate.
4.2.13 Cognizant is not responsible in any manner, whatsoever, for the failure of the associate
to pass any assessment.
4.2.14 Associates should mandatorily attend/participate in all Internal Job Fairs and other
deployment initiatives offered by Cognizant. Any failure on the part of associates to
attend IJF and other deployment initiatives by Cognizant, as communicated in writing by
TSC team, will lead to relevant Timeline Management for the associate, as per Section
5.
4.2.15 Hiring managers need to mandatorily update interview feedback in the appropriate
deployment tool (‘iSeek’ in TMP).

13
Cognizant reserves the absolute right and discretion to change/amend/withdraw in full or part, its policies from time to time with or without any notice. Nothing contained in this policy
shall deem to confer any special rights or privileges to the associates of Cognizant. Cognizant may at its sole discretion and subject to the applicable statutes and contractual
obligations may adopt any special proceedings or deviate from the process to protect its interests, rights and remedies. This is the confidential private property of Cognizant and any
copying, disseminating, altering or use of it without the written consent from an authorized representative of Cognizant shall attract legal consequences.
 ASSOCIATE DEPLOYABLE POOL POLICY - INDIA

4.2.16 Associates should explore opportunities during their release notice period with the help
of the TSC team and complete any skill assessment.
4.2.17 Accept deployable opportunities at any location where Cognizant has requirements.
Business needs will be the only deciding factor for the location of employment as stated
in the terms and conditions of your employment mentioned in your offer for employment
letter. It can be of any of the forms described below –
i. Intra City – construed to mean any Cognizant facility present at any part or locality
in the same city or town, within the geographical boundaries of India.
ii. Inter City – construed to mean any Cognizant facility located in any city or town within
the geographical boundaries of India
iii. Captive & Customer Location – Any location where the customer need requires to
be
iv. Inter Geography – construed to mean any Cognizant facility in or outside the
geographical boundaries of India.
v. Work-Week and Work-time - flexibility to shifts/working hours in 24*7 framework
vi. Technology/Domain – No constraint with respect to technology/domain will be
considered. BU allocation supersedes other aspirations (including onsite).
vii. Role/Delivery Methodology - No constraint with respect to Delivery methodology
(Support, Application Development, AVM etc.) will be considered. Opportunity
supersedes Role Aspirations.
4.3 Timeline

Associates with insufficient opportunity or no opportunity for deployment and after a

Continuous Ageing of 35 days in ADP will be referred to the HR Talent Management team
for Timeline Management Process. However, Cognizant reserves the right of it’s discretion
in altering the Bench Period without any prior notice.

Continuous Ageing of an associate in case of movement between various Corporate &

Practice deployable pool. Following are the scenarios –

14
Cognizant reserves the absolute right and discretion to change/amend/withdraw in full or part, its policies from time to time with or without any notice. Nothing contained in this policy
shall deem to confer any special rights or privileges to the associates of Cognizant. Cognizant may at its sole discretion and subject to the applicable statutes and contractual
obligations may adopt any special proceedings or deviate from the process to protect its interests, rights and remedies. This is the confidential private property of Cognizant and any
copying, disseminating, altering or use of it without the written consent from an authorized representative of Cognizant shall attract legal consequences.
 ASSOCIATE DEPLOYABLE POOL POLICY - INDIA

i. From one PDP-With timeline project to another PDP-With Timeline (inter/intra

BU)
ii. VCDP with timeline
iii. VCDP with timeline to PDP with Timeline

Any resignation during the time the associate is on ADP will be as per the terms of
employment contract.

4.4 Deployment Procedure

i. Hiring managers must engage the TSC team during the deployment procedure.

ii. All associates on ADP will be made available for opportunities on a first come first serve
basis with a best-fit mode and as per the terms of this Policy.

iii. The associate will be reserved for the new project for 3 business days for client interview
only and not for any other purpose namely internal evaluation. This should be
communicated clearly to the associate.

iv. In the event of any dispute on allocation/reserving of associate, the decision of the Global
Head – TSC /Designated Person in ADP will be final and binding.

v. Associates enabled on PDP & VCDP, will be made visible for deployment in the following
manner -

▪ 0-15 days in Bench – Exclusive to Releasing BU / Any other equivalent business

classification

▪ 16-21 days in Bench – VCDP within group of BU

▪ >21 days in Bench – VCDP across organization.

4.5 Reserve Norms

i. A business unit can reserve an associate once only 3 business days in TMP
ii. The total time involved in reserving will be excluded from calculation of the ADP timeline
of 35 days.
15
Cognizant reserves the absolute right and discretion to change/amend/withdraw in full or part, its policies from time to time with or without any notice. Nothing contained in this policy
shall deem to confer any special rights or privileges to the associates of Cognizant. Cognizant may at its sole discretion and subject to the applicable statutes and contractual
obligations may adopt any special proceedings or deviate from the process to protect its interests, rights and remedies. This is the confidential private property of Cognizant and any
copying, disseminating, altering or use of it without the written consent from an authorized representative of Cognizant shall attract legal consequences.
 ASSOCIATE DEPLOYABLE POOL POLICY - INDIA

iii. No reserving to be done during IJF week.

iv. Any selection/reserve during IJF shall supersede any other selection/reserve not already
approved under Exception.

4.6 Proposal through Talent Market Place

View of resource profiles for evaluation and opportunity proposal has to be done through TMP.
No other out of system evaluation or proposal, namely, ‘over email’, will be considered as a valid
proposal for deployment.
Whenever the associates are proposed by TSC teams for a potential opportunity, they should be
available for interviews. In case of inability to appear for the same, the associate is mandated to
inform TSC POC in advance. Inability to do so, will lead to appropriate Consequence
Management.

4.7 Others
Once an associate is allocated to a project, future releases will be governed by clauses
mentioned in this Policy. An associate, who is selected by a business unit and allocated will have
to be retained for a period of 90 days from the date allocated, before releasing the associate
back to deployable pool.
i. An associate once released by a particular account, shall not be deployed by the same
account under the same BU for the next 90 days.
ii. Relocation and travel costs for associates will be borne as per company's policies.
iii. While in ADP, no cost related to infrastructure/visa/facility will be borne under ADP.
iv. Any deployment start date has to be immediate or within 7 calendar days of confirmation,
whichever is earlier.
v. Global Head – TSC reserves the right to decide and action on any exception to the above
clauses

16
Cognizant reserves the absolute right and discretion to change/amend/withdraw in full or part, its policies from time to time with or without any notice. Nothing contained in this policy
shall deem to confer any special rights or privileges to the associates of Cognizant. Cognizant may at its sole discretion and subject to the applicable statutes and contractual
obligations may adopt any special proceedings or deviate from the process to protect its interests, rights and remedies. This is the confidential private property of Cognizant and any
copying, disseminating, altering or use of it without the written consent from an authorized representative of Cognizant shall attract legal consequences.
 ASSOCIATE DEPLOYABLE POOL POLICY - INDIA

5. Consequence Management

For any non-adherence by the associates on orientation, deployment, skilling and assessment,
IJF, attendance, or other terms of this Policy, the associate will be mandatorily routed through
the Consequence Management procedures. Incidents leading to any kind of non-compliance
or indiscipline or dis-qualification in assessments or misconduct, are listed below -

5.1 Consequence Management for Opportunity Loss

5.1.1 Failure to complete Mandatory ADP Orientation Course, the associates are informed
through an email with the Orientation Course code to socialize them with the activities,
policies and procedures of ADP. It is mandatory for an associate released to ADP to
complete the Orientation Course. Failure to complete the mandatory ADP Orientation
Course within 48 Hrs of release date, would tantamount to misconduct and will be
governed by India Addendum to Global Workplace Misconduct and Remediation Policy.

5.1.2 Failure of an associate to be present for assessments will count as an Opportunity

Loss for the associate. Outcome to assessment absence disciplinary action as per India
Addendum to Global Workplace Misconduct and Remediation Policy. Assessment will
be based on CCA role (Role/Skill Family/ RSC tagged).

5.1.3 Failure of an associate to qualify in assessment will count as an Opportunity Loss for
the associate. Outcome to assessment absence disciplinary action as per India
Addendum to Global Workplace Misconduct and Remediation Policy. Assessment will
be based on CCA role (Role/Skill Family/ RSC tagged)

5.1.4 Failure of an associate to complete assigned Skilling programs will be considered

as an Opportunity Loss for the associate and will be governed by provisions of this Policy.
In such cases, the associate will be governed by process and procedure as stated in
India Addendum to Global Workplace Misconduct and Remediation Policy.

5.1.5 Failure of an associate to report to Cognizant facility regularly during the tenure of
the deployable pool. Unless otherwise instructed by Cognizant, “Presence and time-in-

17
Cognizant reserves the absolute right and discretion to change/amend/withdraw in full or part, its policies from time to time with or without any notice. Nothing contained in this policy
shall deem to confer any special rights or privileges to the associates of Cognizant. Cognizant may at its sole discretion and subject to the applicable statutes and contractual
obligations may adopt any special proceedings or deviate from the process to protect its interests, rights and remedies. This is the confidential private property of Cognizant and any
copying, disseminating, altering or use of it without the written consent from an authorized representative of Cognizant shall attract legal consequences.
 ASSOCIATE DEPLOYABLE POOL POLICY - INDIA

Office” will be tracked through TruTime records. JA will be raised post 3 working days
of absenteeism as per the JA Policy. *Clause is not applicable for Prevalent Situations
as per Org discretion
5.1.6 Failure of an associate to attend IJF. This incident will count as an Opportunity Loss
for the associate. Outcome to IJF absence shall be governed by the process and
procedure stated in India Addendum to Global Workplace Misconduct and Remediation
Policy.

Consequence Management for Opportunity Rejected

5.2.1 Failure of an associate to be present for an interview for deployment into an

opportunity will count as Opportunity Rejected for the associate. Opportunity here
means a deployable opportunity provided by the Company, which is aligned to the CCA
Role (Role/Skill Family/ RSC tagged) of the associate. Outcome to interview reject will
lead to disciplinary action as per India Addendum to Global Workplace Misconduct and
Remediation Policy.

5.2.2 Failure of an associate to receive phone calls or respond to emails intended to

reach the associate on 3 valid attempts by Cognizant (TSC/HR Representative & Hiring
Managers) on 3 different days, will be considered as a loss of job opportunity for the
associate and will be deemed to be counted as “Opportunity Rejected”. Outcome of this
shall be governed by the process and procedure stated in India Addendum to Global
Workplace Misconduct and Remediation Policy.
5.2.3 Failure of an associate to accept deployment for any reason; provided by Cognizant
through normal deployment process. This incident will count as a loss of opportunity for
the associate and will deemed to be counted as “Opportunity Rejected”. Outcome to
refusal of deployable opportunity will be governed by the process and procedure stated
in India Addendum to Global Workplace Misconduct and Remediation Policy.
5.2.4 Without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, if it is found that failure to comply
with any of the mandated activities mentioned above, by the associate, is intentional in
nature and the occurrence of the incident, is not due to any unforeseen or unavoidable
18
Cognizant reserves the absolute right and discretion to change/amend/withdraw in full or part, its policies from time to time with or without any notice. Nothing contained in this policy
shall deem to confer any special rights or privileges to the associates of Cognizant. Cognizant may at its sole discretion and subject to the applicable statutes and contractual
obligations may adopt any special proceedings or deviate from the process to protect its interests, rights and remedies. This is the confidential private property of Cognizant and any
copying, disseminating, altering or use of it without the written consent from an authorized representative of Cognizant shall attract legal consequences.
 ASSOCIATE DEPLOYABLE POOL POLICY - INDIA

circumstance as decided by Cognizant in its sole discretion, then such incidents would
be considered as an Opportunity Loss and will attract timeline actions as per relevant
policies of Cognizant.

5.3 Consequence for associates breaching bench period

5.3.1 On completion of bench period, any associate who fails to obtain any deployable
opportunity using all possible options provided by the Company through skilling
(upskilling/cross-skilling), proposals (TSC/Hiring-Manager/Self) and IJF (as and when
applicable) to get deployed in Cognizant will be considered as non-deployable and shall
be referred to HR for next course of action.

5.4 Consequence Management for Project Managers

5.4.1 For Unbilled associates who were committed to be made billed by project
managers and the same commitment has not been met by the project managers, then
explanation will be sought from the defaulting project/ESA managers within 72 hours
from issuance of the written explanation notice given to the project managers. Outcome
of this incident or response from the project managers shall be governed by the process
and procedure stated in India Addendum to Global Workplace Misconduct and
Remediation Policy.

6. Leave Guideline for deployable associates

6.1 Accrued vacation may be utilized before release to ADP with supervisor approval. However, such
vacation availed during the time in ADP will be accounted as part of the ADP timeline.
6.2 Associates going on approved maternity or any exceptional long leave (greater than 30 days)
shall be accepted to the CDP Leave Project from the approved start date of the leave. Such
associates cannot be released into ADP for the duration preceding the leave start date. Please
refer to Be Cognizant for the relevant policy.

19
Cognizant reserves the absolute right and discretion to change/amend/withdraw in full or part, its policies from time to time with or without any notice. Nothing contained in this policy
shall deem to confer any special rights or privileges to the associates of Cognizant. Cognizant may at its sole discretion and subject to the applicable statutes and contractual
obligations may adopt any special proceedings or deviate from the process to protect its interests, rights and remedies. This is the confidential private property of Cognizant and any
copying, disseminating, altering or use of it without the written consent from an authorized representative of Cognizant shall attract legal consequences.
 ASSOCIATE DEPLOYABLE POOL POLICY - INDIA

6.3 All associates returning from leave shall be allocated back to the releasing BU - either in previous
project/account or some other project/account in the same BU and cannot be released into ADP
for a period of at least 90 days from the leave return date.
6.4 Associates on/going to avail CDP Leave Project for maternity, medical & other condition shall be
governed by the clauses contained in the Cognizant Leave Policy.
6.5 While on ADP if any associate, is moved to long leave and departs from his/her base location /
country of employment and makes any domestic or international travel during the long leave
period, he/she has to mandatorily join back in his/her base location / country of employment on
completion of leave duration. There cannot a location/geography transfer for an associate while
on long leave and bench.

7. Responsibility Matrix
Follow-up Follow-up
Profiling Opportunit Associate
Operational ADP Opport Questions Answers
& Other y Search Status
Role Process for Orienta unity on on
Update in (Aspire, Update and
Release tion Applied opportunit opportunit
TMP IJF) Closure
ies ies

Releasing
R,A - - - - - - -
Manager

Associate C,I R,A R, A R,A R,A R C R,A

ADP Champ - - C, S, I S,C S S A R, C

Hiring Manager - - - - C,S,A - - R,C

TSC Team - - - S,C I - - S,C,I

R Responsible A Accountable S Support C Consulted I Informed

20
Cognizant reserves the absolute right and discretion to change/amend/withdraw in full or part, its policies from time to time with or without any notice. Nothing contained in this policy
shall deem to confer any special rights or privileges to the associates of Cognizant. Cognizant may at its sole discretion and subject to the applicable statutes and contractual
obligations may adopt any special proceedings or deviate from the process to protect its interests, rights and remedies. This is the confidential private property of Cognizant and any
copying, disseminating, altering or use of it without the written consent from an authorized representative of Cognizant shall attract legal consequences.
 ASSOCIATE DEPLOYABLE POOL POLICY - INDIA

8. Exception
8.1 The benefits of this Policy are governed by the terms and conditions of employment in practice
at Cognizant. This is subject to change from time to time. Cognizant reserves the right to amend
its policies as necessitated. All statutory requirements are applicable as mandated by law
8.2 The Policy, including without limitation any exceptions thereto, is administered at the discretion
of the Talent Supply Chain and HR teams.

------------------------------------End of Document------------------------------------

21
Cognizant reserves the absolute right and discretion to change/amend/withdraw in full or part, its policies from time to time with or without any notice. Nothing contained in this policy
shall deem to confer any special rights or privileges to the associates of Cognizant. Cognizant may at its sole discretion and subject to the applicable statutes and contractual
obligations may adopt any special proceedings or deviate from the process to protect its interests, rights and remedies. This is the confidential private property of Cognizant and any
copying, disseminating, altering or use of it without the written consent from an authorized representative of Cognizant shall attract legal consequences.