Navigating Leave Without Pay: How Should Weekends and Optional Holidays Be Treated?

Respected seniors,

We are a Public Ltd. Co. situated in Mumbai having just one office in Mumbai and governed by the Shop & Establishment Act. I'm attaching my leave policy, and I have two queries:

1. We have a 5-day week, with Saturday and Sunday as weekly off. If Friday is treated as Leave Without Pay (as there is no leave balance) and an employee resumes on Monday (the next working day), how should Saturday and Sunday be treated – as paid weekly offs or on a leave without pay basis?

2. Now, we have 7th April 2009 and 10th April 2009 as optional holidays. If an employee takes leave as follows:
- 6th April, CL
- 7th April, OH
- 8th and 9th April, CL
- 10th April, OH
and resumes on 13th April (11th and 12th will be loss of pay), is it permissible? Please refer to the intervening holidays clause in our Leave Rules attached.

Please reply urgently. You can mail me at parinerurkar@yahoo.co.in.

Thanks
Regards
Pari

Hello Pari,

Your company operates on a 5-day workweek (Mon. to Fri). If an employee takes leave on Friday and resumes duty on Monday, in this case, only one day of leave or Leave Without Pay (LWP) is counted. However, if the employee takes leave on both Friday and Monday, then in this case, four days of leave or LWP is counted.

Regarding your second query, I am having trouble understanding the concept of optional leave.

Thank you,
Pankaj Sharma
Sr. H.R. Executive
09891858587

Dear All,

As per Indian laws, there is no act defining the leave procedure except National and Festival Holidays. The rest of all leave rules and regulations were made based on industrial practices just to control absenteeism. Prefix and suffix leave are considered as total leave, either LWP or paid leave. However, in new practices, industries are not following the practice of prefix and suffix. It's up to you how you are managing your show with employee motivation in a disciplined manner.

Thanks & Regards,

Arun Gupta
09312010127

Hello,

1. Intervening holidays are to be counted as leave.
2. If an employee takes leave on Friday and reports on Monday, either in the forenoon or afternoon, then Saturday and Sunday need not be counted as part of the leave period.
3. No two types of leaves - Casual Leave, Privilege Leave (EL), or Sick Leave - can be combined.
4. Casual Leave, as the word "Casual" denotes, should not exceed 2 days at a time and is meant for addressing sudden or short-term commitments.
5. Privilege Leave (EL) needs to be applied for well in advance, and approval must be obtained.
6. Sick Leave should be accompanied by a medical practitioner's certificate for an extended absence or at least a prescription for one or two days of illness.

Thanks and regards,
Mohan

Hi Pari,

Mohan has explained it very nicely. Just to add on:

1. Friday is considered as LWP, you should pay the employee for Saturday and Sunday as he has resumed work on Monday.

According to your leave policy, "The optional holidays are to be availed of only with previous sanction. It can be clubbed with all types of leave except as a suffix to Without Pay Leave and Casual Leave if the total absence exceeds six days. Combination of leave: Casual leave cannot be availed of in conjunction with any other kind of leave."

As per this clause in your policy, the employee cannot combine the OH with CL. So his leave should not be approved in the first place. As Arun mentioned, industries are not following the practice of prefix and suffix to keep up the morale of the employee. One way to resolve this is to ask the employee to avail PL instead of CL. This way, the employee is happy that he gets leaves and you as an HR person have acted according to the policy of the company. :)

Regards,
Suman

Dear Suman,

You see, in here it's neither like the public sector nor like private. The policy states that OH can be availed in combination with CL if the total absence exceeds 6 days, as in our policy CL cannot be availed for more than 6 days at a stretch.

So, in short, the result of our discussion is if an employee resumes on the next working day after a public holiday and/or weekly offs, then he is to be paid for those holidays also even though the very previous day of these holidays was treated as a loss of pay. For example, if an employee resumes on Tuesday after Tue to Friday Loss of pay, Saturday and Sunday weekly off, and Monday Public Holiday, then he will be paid for Saturday, Sunday, and Monday.

Thank you.

Regards,
Pari

Thank you for sharing such valuable knowledge regarding leave rules in the private sector. Could someone provide me with clarity regarding leave: if an employee leaves the company in the middle of the year of the leave policy, will the leave encashment be done according to the PL leave balance? If there is no PL leave balance available, can we deduct the salary in the full and final settlement as well?

Please reply.

Thanks,
Keerti