> looks like
> TABLE[@NAME='XLATTABLE_EMPL_STATUS']/ROWS/ROW/COLUMN[@NAME='ST
> ATUS']" is not working.
> 
> Approaches I followed.
> 1)  
> ../TABLE[@NAME='XLATTABLE_EMPL_STATUS']/ROWS/ROW/COLUMN[@NAME=
> 'STATUS']"
> 2)
> parent::node()/TABLE[@NAME='XLATTABLE_EMPL_STATUS']/ROWS/ROW/C
> OLUMN[@NAME='DESCR']
> 

I would write it as a rooted path: /root/TABLE/.....

Your first try doesn't work because TABLE is not a child of the context node
(an employee element).

Your second try doesn't work because TABLE is not a child of the parent of
the context node (an employees element).

Regards,

Michael Kay
http://www.saxonica.com/
http://twitter.com/michaelhkay