Understanding Bereavement & Privilege Leaves and Company Policies: Insights from HR Professionals

Hi Guys,

Can anybody clarify for me about Bereavement Leave, Privileged Leave, and if these leaves are applicable in every company, especially in IT companies?

Regards,
Soma :P

Hi,

Bereavement leave is granted by the company when an immediate relative of the employee passes away. The number of days granted will vary from company to company.

Thanks,
Kavita

Hi,

There is no such provision or law for Bereavement Leaves; it depends upon the company, or more precisely, the management ethics.

Privilege leaves, as defined by the law, should be 18 minimum per year, i.e., one leave for every 20 days. This would not include any holidays. Moreover, it depends upon the company how many privilege leaves the management wants to give. There are companies giving 21 days, 27 days of privilege leaves.

Suresh

Hi,

Thank you for the great information. I still have a doubt regarding whether a new employee in the organization can actually avail it, or if there is an eligibility requirement of a certain number of days of employment (for example, 240 days) before one can access the paid leaves. Could you please provide more clarification on this topic?

Thank you,
Sashmita

Hi Sresh,

Thank you for the information provided. I would like to learn more about privileged leaves. I am working as an HR executive in a software company where I am responsible for designing policies. My question is, is it necessary to have privileged leave for an IT company? In my company, I have designed the leave policy such that every employee is entitled to two leaves per month, one casual and one sick. They can carry forward these leaves for up to three months.

Please reply to me. My email address is sameeraforuin@gmail.com.

Thank you.

Hi,

No, you cannot do that. Privilege leaves have to be a minimum of 18 days, and casual and sick leaves should be 12 days as per labor laws. An employee is eligible for privilege leaves after completing one year of service and can accumulate them for a maximum of 36 days, meaning privilege leaves can be accumulated for up to two years. As for sick and casual leaves, it depends on the company's policy whether they are to be carried forward, encashed, or exhausted after one year.

You can refer to labor laws for a better understanding of the conditions.

Regards,
Suresh Sharma

Hi Suresh,

As per my knowledge, employees are entitled to one privilege leave for every 20 working days. This is mentioned in the Factory Act. However, there is no information provided regarding casual leave and sick leave in the Factory Act. Therefore, it is not mandatory to provide casual and sick leave to employees. It depends on the company's policy on how much casual and sick leave to give or not give to employees.

Please correct me if I am wrong.

Regards,
Hemant Sailor

Hi Suresh,

I think there is some confusion. The minimum PL cannot be 18. As per the Factories Act, you have to allow one leave for every 20 days of work. In fact, with 52 offs and about 10 holidays each year, the maximum a person can work is about 300 days. Therefore, the maximum leave would be around 15 days if the Factories Act is followed. If you pay more than what is provided in the Act, then it is a different matter. There is no mention of minimum leaves anywhere.

Similarly, there is no provision for sick leave. However, CL is generally mentioned in Standing Orders. If you are referring to some other Act (like the Shops & Commercial Establishments Act), then it could be a different situation.

KKT