Understanding Our Leave Policy: How Does It Affect Your Work-Life Balance?

Hi there,

The Leave Policy Document is attached. I hope this would be useful.

Regards,
Priya

Hi,

As you have mentioned, there should be 8 sick, 8 casual, and 8 earned leaves in addition to 10 or 11 national holidays. Is leave management guided by the Companies Act or is this your company policy? We are provided with 28 EL, and here no division is given. Moreover, at some places, only 12 paid leaves are allowed along with sick leaves. I wanted to know how many leaves (minimum) the organization has to avail to its employees under the Companies/Factory Act. Kindly give your views on this.

Hi Leo,

Our company is UK-based. We have designed our leave policy in cognizance of theirs, but not completely. We provide almost 24 days of paid leave along with 10 national/festival holidays and 2 RLs.

Regards,
Priya

I have attached it again. Hope it works; else, please do let me know.

Regards,
Priya

Hello,

I have a query in this regard regarding how to manage CL, SL, and Earned Leave. If an employee takes 1 day of leave, will it be treated as CL/SL? If an employee takes more than 2 days of leave, can it be treated as EL?

Then, if CL and SL are exhausted and the employee still takes leave for 1 day, will it be LOP or can it be adjusted with EL?

Please confirm for me what the basic line of distinction is between CL, SL, and EL.

I am waiting for your early reply.

Thanks,
P. Chatterjee

Hi Chatterjee,

I would like to explain with an example.

Say emp-A (as a senior Engineer) joined the company in Jan 2008, probably before the 15th of Jan. For that month, we will have almost 1.5 days credited to his leave balance (i.e., 0.5 days of EL, CL, SL).

If he avails 1 day of leave due to sickness, he can apply for 0.5 days of CL and 0.5 days of SL (EL cannot be taken as a half-day). If he takes 1.5 days of leave during the month of Jan, then 0.5 days become LOP for emp-A.

This practice is followed as a precautionary measure since we directly credit 24 days of leave at the beginning of the year. If the emp plans to leave by May, he might exhaust all the leave, which would not be favorable for the company.

EL can be encashed or carried forward, and SL could be carried forward as special SL, making everyone feel comfortable with this arrangement.

Every last month of the quarter, employees will be credited with 3 days of leave: 1 EL, 1 SL, 1 CL, and the unused leave accumulates in their account.

Hope this answers your query. In case you need any clarifications, please revert back.

Many Thanks.

Regards,
Priya

Thank you, Priya, for your information.

I would like to provide you with a clear picture of our company's leave policy, which consists of 6 CL, 6 SL, and 12 EL. On a pro-rata basis, employees are entitled to 2 leaves every month. If an employee takes more than 2 leaves in a month, will it result in Loss of Pay (LOP)?

Secondly, how do we calculate Earned Leave (EL)? Is it considered when an employee takes more than 2 days of leave? Can Casual Leave (CL) and Sick Leave (SL) be taken for only one or two days? If CL and SL are exhausted, can they be adjusted through EL? If so, does the employee need to take leave for more than 2 days to avail EL?

Could you assist me in resolving these queries?

Thank you,
P. Chatterjee

Hi Priya,

Very useful material for me as I am just starting in general HR, and I was searching for the same. But I wanted to know that whatever you had written in the Word document, is it for your company, or can anyone implement the same? My company is an IT company with 20 employees, and it is a private limited company.

Thanks,
Grishma

Hi Grishma,

This leave policy is tailor-made for our company. I feel this will also be applicable to your company since my company is also a software company with around 50 employees in India.

Regards,
Priya

Hi Chatterjee,

Can you please let me know if your holiday year is a calendar year or from the 26th of December to the 25th of December the following year? Do you carry forward your Sick Leave (SL) and Earned Leave (EL)? How is the leave credited? Is it credited every month? If so, how are the 2 days divided between the 3 different types of leave? Please let me know.

Regards, Priya

Yes, it's very useful for me to restructure the Leave Policy. 😛

But, one thing I wanted to know about Maternity Leave, is it 90 days or 180 days?

Yes, it's very useful for me to restructure the Leave Policy. :-P

But, one thing I wanted to know about Maternity Leave, is it for 90 days or 180 days...?

Hi Priya,

Very useful, thank you.

Please tell me, do our Indian laws have any minimum leaves to be given by an organization that is mandatory to follow? I work in a proprietorship. Can you suggest the minimum leaves this company needs to provide?

Thank you.

Hello Priya,

We are a Software Development Company with an employee strength of 68.

1. For leave, we maintain the calendar year from Jan-Dec.
2. Sick leave (SL) cannot be carried forward, while earned leave (EL) can be encashed after accumulating to 24 leaves.
3. Leaves are credited every month (2 days every month, i.e., 1 CL and 1 SL).

I am really confused about the leave calculation. Can you please guide me on how I can manage it entirely while also ensuring employees are not taking too many leaves?

Waiting for your reply.

Thanks,
P. Chatterjee

The Maternity Benefit Act, 1961

4.4 This Act provides for maternity benefits like 12 weeks leave for childbirth, one-month medical leave on Medical Certificate, 6 weeks leave for miscarriage.

Regards,
Priya

samajesamir@gmail.com;580630
Yes, it's very useful for me to restructure the Leave Policy. :-P
But, one thing I wanted to know about Maternity Leave, is it 90 days or 180 days...?

Hi there,

[Laws - Factories Act, 1948](http://www.vakilno1.com/bareacts/factoriesact/factoriesact.htm) felt this link could give you some insight on the same.

Regards, Priya

Hi, Chatterjee,

With my knowledge, I would like to provide you with a sample leave policy.

As you mentioned, your holiday year is calculated from January 1st to December 31st. By the 1st of every month, 0.5 days of CL, SL, and 1 day of EL should be credited.

EL is usually utilized for traveling purposes, as LTA can be availed for EL alone. If a person is on tour for personal reasons and avails CL, they are not eligible to avail LTA.

When you start a year, only SL and EL will be greater than 0.5 days. Please note that no two types of leave could be merged, for example, 0.5 days of CL and 0.5 days of SL.

If a person avails more than 2 days of SL, they should submit a Medical Certificate upon their return. Otherwise, it will be considered as LOP.

Uninformed leave for three days will not be acceptable, and the employee should appear before the disciplinary committee (HR, reporting person, and their reporting person).

If a person plans to avail EL, they must obtain prior permission from their reporting person; otherwise, it will be considered LOP since most travel is well planned.

In the case where the employee reports directly to individuals abroad, they should inform their reporting person in India first. After approval, they can inform the overseas contact, ensuring HR is kept in the loop.

Any non-working day (National Holidays/Festival Holidays/Weekends) falling during earned leave (excluding the prefix and suffix) will be considered part of the leave. For example, if you take special sick leave from Thursday to the following Wednesday, it counts as seven days of absence.

When availing EL for five days, the individual essentially loses almost 9 days (5 days of EL plus 4 days of holidays).

This principle also applies to SL since carried forward SL is considered special sick leave, and the rule of adding holidays applies here as well.

Regards,
Priya

pchatterjee wrote:
"1 CL/SL and 1 EL per month."

Hi Priya,

Thanks for your attachment. But I have the following queries.

1. I'm working in a garments firm in Gurgaon where 22 leaves are given, out of which 15 are E.L and 7 are C.L., and no sick leave is provided. So I want a legal comment on the same, i.e., what is the basis of leave, i.e., C.L., E.L., and S.L. according to the law.

2. Weekly off is paid on the following basis. It is given only in a case when the employee has more than 3 working days in the week just before the concerned weekly off. And in other firms, I have observed that the weekly off is deducted if the employee is on leave before and after the weekly off. On the same, I want your legal view.

Hope you could help me.

Thanks,

Bharat Munjal

Thank you, Priya, for your effort.

Summarizing, if an employee takes 1-day leave, it is CL, and if they take more than 2 leaves for SL, they should provide medical papers, and EL for more than 2 days at a stretch. Now, we credit 2 leaves every month: 0.5 CL, 0.5 SL, and 1 EL. So, if anyone has to take two days leave or one day leave for CL or SL, will it result in LOP?

Secondly, if we allocate 1 EL every month, how does it apply for EL that it has to be taken for more than 2 days at a stretch? Moreover, we are crediting 1 EL every month.

I know I am bothering you, but could you please clarify this for me. I am waiting for your reply.

Thank you,
P. Chatterjee

Hi Chatterjee,

With my knowledge, I would provide you with a kind of leave policy. As you mentioned, your holiday year is calculated from 1st of Jan to 31st of Dec. By the 1st of every month, 0.5 days of CL and SL, as well as 1 day of EL, should be credited. EL is typically used for traveling purposes. Since LTA can be availed for EL alone, if a person is on a personal tour, by availing CL, they are not eligible to avail LTA.

As you start a year, only SL and EL will be more than 0.5 days. Please mention that no two types of leave could be merged (for example, 0.5 days of CL and 0.5 days of SL). If a person avails more than 2 days of SL, they should submit the Medical Certificate upon rejoining; otherwise, it will be considered as LOP.

Uninformed leave for 3 days should not be acceptable, and the employee should meet the disciplinary committee (HR, reporting person, and their reporting person).

If a person is planning to avail EL, they should obtain prior permission from their reporting person; otherwise, it will be termed as LOP. In cases where the employee reports directly to people abroad, they should inform their reporting person in India and, after approval, inform the person abroad, with HR in the loop.

Any non-working day/days (National Holidays/Festival Holidays/Weekends) falling during the period of earned leave (excluding the prefix and suffix) will be treated as part of your earned leave. For example, if you take special sick leave from Thursday to the following Wednesday, this is regarded as seven days of absence.

So, if a person is going to avail EL for 5 days, they are likely to lose almost 5+4 days of EL (9 days). This applies to SL as well since you have to deem the carried forward SL as special sick leave, and this rule of adding holidays can be applied for Special Sick leave.

Regards,

Priya

Hi,

This one is a useful one. I am expecting to know more about HR functions which we need in-depth knowledge of.

Regards,
Anila Varghese