Hiring and contracting field staff

Raising field staff hiring request on the portal

Research team can initiate support request for hiring field staff on the portal, please use this link to raise a hiring request

Contracting Field Staff

Survey Coordinators are responsible for getting Field Staff contracts prepared and approved, the project level documentation is done by the Project Associate. As a thumb rule, it takes about 1-2 days to prepare the contract (documents verification and field staff registration into the portal) and about 3 days for A&F to generate the contract. The research team should not allow field staff to go out in the field unless a contract is generated and a signed copy is received at out end.  

Short term assignment

An “Assignment” can be a baseline, mid line, end line, process monitoring or intervention monitoring or any other ‘appropriate’ work piece that essentially is a component of the project implementation and field operations. The duration of the contract should not be more than 3 months, so if you think that the person you wish to appoint will take 15 working days, you may draw a contract for 30 days.

Field Staff Hiring Process:

Short-Term Contracts:

• • You should issue short-term contracts of 89 days or less with a six-day cooling off period between contracts.

  • After a six-day gap, you can rehire the same field staff.

  • Existing staff on the bench can be hired by generating a new contract request, which takes three working days to process.

  • First-time staff requires registration into the database, the steps include verification of the following documents:

    1. PAN card 

    2. Bank Details  

    3.  2 Passport Photos, 

    4. Photo ID, and 

    5. Address Proof, 

The process may take 2-3 days to complete and is carried out by RO before being able to issue a contract. 

Aadhar and PAN linkage verification

One of the recently incorporated process is the linkage of Aadhar with PAN card, it is mandatory to get Aadhar and PAN linked for all field staff beforehand. This is essential else a penalty of 20% is imposed by the Government department and is part of compliance, therefore non-negotiable. The verification team might need an extra day in case a project is hiring a large team. Therefore, the project team should plan accordingly.

Contract Generation:

• • Fill out the contract generation request form on the portal with details such as Start and End dates, Grant code, Designation, Base Station, Stipend, Local TA/Outstation TA or Bike Log, Outstation DA, Mobile Allowance (if any), along with PAN and Bank Details.

  • Base Station refers to the operational location of the field staff and affects outstation DA.

  • AF may reject requests due to financial issues or if the end date exceeds the grant code end date.

  • Any errors must be corrected five working days before the attendance cycle.

Renewal Process:

• • To renew a contract, file a closure letter for the existing contract on the portal and request another contract with a revised work period.

Special Situations:

• • Seek approval from IFMR for exceptions such as the inability to afford the mandatory cooling period in rare cases where the project urgently needs to close a field survey.

  • Contact Senior Manager (Research Operations) for advice on waiver from the cooling period.

Submission and Closure:

• • Submit mutually signed contracts within three working days of receiving them.

  • All contracts need a closure letter to close any live contract; otherwise, other projects won't be able to access the field staff in the database.

  • Do not allow staff to operate in the field without a signed contract. The RA and SC are expected to comply by this and ensure no one goes in the field without signed contract. This is a non-negotiable condition

Work Completion Certificate:

Short-Term Assignment:

• • Ensure a work completion certificate is obtained for any short-term assignment to process the final payment for field personnel.

  • Draft a new contract for personnel only after a one-week cooling off period and obtaining a work completion certificate against the last contract.

Training Contracts:

• Training Process:

  • Before fieldwork, hire field teams that require training in a classroom setting followed by outdoor field practice.

  • Training contracts, lasting between 4 to 15 days, are issued and counter-signed by the RA or RM and trainee staff.

• Payment Process:

  • Details of payments for trainees are sent to the AF team in Chennai after training completion for processing within a week.

  • Payment processing at IFMR takes 3-5 working days after approval by the Research Manager.

  • AF team notifies once payment is done using the UTR number for tracing.

  • Individual cheques are allowed after two failed wire transfer attempts, and no cash payments are permitted unless specifically approved by IFMR.

• Key Contacts:

  • Prakash L, Mohamed M, Deepanshu, Survey Coordinators are key contacts for field contracting and payments