Election Day Dilemma: Should We Declare a Holiday or Offer Half-Day Leave?

We are a Pvt. Ltd. Co. promoted by Govt. Financial Institutions, covered under Shop & Establishment Act and SEBI Registered. We observe Public Holidays declared under NI Act. Situated in Mumbai with one office in Satara.

My questions are:

1. Do we have to declare a holiday on the Voting - Election Day?
2. Or can we give a half-day concession to people, such as coming in at the usual reporting time of 9:30 a.m. and leaving by 2 p.m. to vote?
3. In case we declare a holiday for staff on Election Day, does the Management have the right to ask the staff to work on some other holiday?

We don't have any specific rules/regulations laid down, no written policy. Please tell me the legal and right thing to do.

Dear Pari,

You may be required to provide a holiday for the election day and you can fix a compensatory working day on behalf of the loss of a working day. The respective state government/labor department will circulate a notice to all shops and establishments before the election day.

Hope there is no notification released by any of the labor departments for the elections till now, but it will be released at the earliest.

Madam Pari,

Election is compulsory for all. Voting is a fundamental right of all Indian citizens, but at the same time, we cannot give complete leave to all employees because it is a loss to our company. The alternative is either to give 4 hours leave or one day leave and compensate with any other day.

Thanks,
A.K. Kothari

Dear Pari,

There is no provision for declaring a holiday to exercise the franchise by voters. However, the government and the Election Commissioner appeal to private sector employers to provide sufficient time for employees to cast their votes. If your company operates in three shifts, you may schedule general shift employees for the first shift and allow them to end work at 1430 hrs. Employees can then cast their votes between 1430 hrs and 1700 hrs. I have implemented this practice in the past, and there were no objections from any political party, government, union, or employees. You may consider trying this approach.

Thanks,
Avinash Kanoray

Dear All,

I completely agree with Avinash. There is no provision in the Shops and Establishment Act that requires an employer to give a holiday on the election day. However, the employer cannot force any employee not to go for elections. Hence, some concession should be given with regards to the timelines. Requesting all employers to encourage their employees to vote.

Regards, Shailesh

Dear Pari,

As per Section 3-A of the Karnataka Industrial Establishment (National & Festival Holidays) Act, 1963, it is mandatory to declare a paid holiday on the day of polling. This is for your reference.

Sumana

Dear,

Election Day is not a paid holiday. As usual, the government, under the State Shop & Commercial Establishment Act, declares this day of the election as a close day and allows shops to open on the already declared close day under this Act during that particular week. Similarly, under the provisions of the Factories Act, 1948, the government gives exemptions regarding the change of the weekly holiday in that week so that every employee can cast his/her vote. Thus, it cannot be considered a statutory holiday.

Regards, R.N.Khola
Skylark Associates, Gurgaon (Haryana)
(Labour Law & Legal Consultants)
09810405361

Here is the attachment issued by the Election Commission of India regarding the holiday on election day.

Regards,
Pradeep Nalluri

Thanks, Pradeep.

Dear All,

The notification has been authenticated with the relevant provisions in Election Laws. I have attached the related section for further reference.

AP Government declared holidays on 16th and 23rd April for voting.

Warm Regards,
Satya

Thank you all,

I tried to post this in the morning but it seems it has not been uploaded.

To summarize the above views on Holiday on Election Day:

1. We have to declare a holiday as per the Election Commission and State Govt. notifications.
2. Management does not have the right to call employees to work on any other weekly off day. It would be wrong to have a compensatory working day.

Please confirm with a definite yes or no.

Thanks,

Regards,
Pari

Dear All,

Reference to my previous comments/opinion dated 13.04.2009, I am changing my opinion due to all these attachments of different HR members. After going through all these attachments, it is clear that factories, industrial units, shopkeepers, etc., have to declare a paid holiday to the workers/employees of their units. They are not supposed to change the weekly off day. Moreover, what I have observed in the past has been described by me. Meanwhile, one of our HR friends has emailed the latest letter of the government in this regard, which also shows that we have to declare a paid holiday on the day of the poll. Instructions are attached herewith for information and action in the matter. Please take appropriate action after going through these letters/instructions.

Revised opinion submitted with attachment. People having diverse opinions are also requested to give their comments with proper reasoning.

Regards,

R.N.Khola
Skylark Associates, Gurgaon
(Labour Law & Legal Consultants)
09810405361

Dear Sir,

Taking this discussion further, till now we have established the following:

1. Every unit under the Shop & Establishment Act has to declare a paid holiday on Election Day.
2. No management can instruct employees to work on the weekly off as a compensatory working day.

Case Study - our Registered Central Office in Mumbai and we have a Unit in Satara, elections are on different dates.

Naturally, both the offices will remain closed on the respective dates of Elections in the respective Areas - Constituency - as declared by the Government of Maharashtra (Notification Attached).

Now in the Mumbai Office, there are 2 staff members who have voting cards in Pune where elections are on 23.4.2009. What should be done for these two?

I mean the Mumbai office will remain closed on 30.4.2009; if we grant a holiday to these two employees on 23.4.2009, then they will also be getting 30.4.2009 as a holiday. How can we solve this issue?

In my opinion, we cannot go as per individual employee's residence - constituency, meaning where they are registered voters. The Mumbai office will have only 1 holiday, i.e., 30.4.2009, and these two have to take leave if they want to vote.

Please reply and also if anyone can provide wording/draft for declaring a paid holiday.

Thanks

Regards

Pari

Dear Mr. Pari,

I believe that paragraph 3 of the order dated 6.4.99 of the ECI (excluding paragraph 4) - the correspondence regarding which is already in circulation on this page of the column - hampers your efforts to avoid declaring a paid holiday for employees residing within the constituency of your establishment but holding voter cards for constituencies other than where your establishment is located.

Best wishes,
Jpratap

Dear Pari,

It is right that one cannot create hindrance in utilizing the right to vote. Thus, if an employee wants to cast his vote in an area other than the one in which he is working, then allow him to cast his vote with his own leave. Holiday should be granted to employees in the area of the election on the day of the poll. Your attachment relates to the government and semi-government employees. Your opinion and comments drafting clearly show that you can very well draft a notice for the declaration of a holiday for your employees. Your opinion is also not objectionable.

Submitted.

Regards,

R.N.Khola

(Labour Law & Legal Consultants) 09810405361

Dear Khola sir,

I plan to declare via email to all regarding Election Day as follows:

"Dear All,

According to the Poll Schedule announced by the Election Commission of India, the General Elections to Lok Sabha will be held on Thursday, 30th April, 2009.

As per the notification dated 4th April, 2009, issued by the Deputy Secretary, Government of Maharashtra, the polling day is declared as a Public Holiday under the Negotiable Instrument Act 1881. In view of the above, our office in Mumbai will remain closed on 30th April, 2009, to enable all employees to exercise their right to vote."

Thank you,

Yours faithfully,

Pari Manager - HR

Dear Pari, Manager - HR,

This is for your information that the notification dated 04.04.2009, which is issued under the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881, relates to public holidays for Govt./semi-Govt. bodies/corporations/undertaking employees only. This notification does not relate to the private industrial houses/units/establishments' employees. We are to declare a paid holiday as per Section 135-B of The Representation Of The People Act, 1951, which was amended in August 1996. We are to declare a holiday as per the latest instructions of ECI dated 30.03.2009, which have already been attached by me with my opinion dated 16.04.2009.

As this is an important query, I am submitting my comments in the interest of all my HR friends.

Regards,

R.N.Khola

(Labour Law & Legal Consultants) 09810405361

Find attached a Circular from the Karnataka Govt declaring poll days and Paid Holidays. (attachment is in the regional lang...so ppl who don't know Kannada, pls take help:))

Dear,

There is no need to wait for the letter from the government. You are to follow Section 135B of the Representation of Peoples Act. Please go through the latest instructions dated 30.03.2009 of ECI and take action accordingly. There are many attachments that show we are to declare a paid holiday.

Regards,
R.N. Khola

(Labour Law & Legal Consultants)
09810405361

Sir,

What are the employees supposed to do if the company refuses to grant a leave but only approves a half day off?

Dear [Employee's Name],

I am writing to request double overtime in my capacity as an employee.

Regards,

R.N. Khola

Subject: Election Holiday Declaration Email to Employees

Dear Team,

I hope this message finds you well. I am writing to inform you about the declaration of an election holiday for our organization.

As per the company's policy, all employees are entitled to a day off on Election Day to exercise their right to vote. Therefore, the office will remain closed on [Date] to allow everyone the opportunity to participate in the electoral process.

Please plan your work accordingly and ensure that all necessary tasks are completed before the holiday. If you have any questions or require further information, feel free to reach out to the HR department.

Thank you for your attention, and let us all fulfill our civic duty by casting our votes on Election Day.

Best regards
[Your Position]
[Company Name]