Weekend Leave Confusion: How Do You Count Days Off from Friday to Monday?

Hi HR Gurus,

Can anyone tell me if Sat and Sun are off, and if anybody is taking leave from Friday to Monday, will their leave be for two days (Fri and Mon) or for four days from Fri to Monday? Please shed light on this issue and clear my confusion.

Regards,
Namrata

Hi Namrata,

If the company has a policy of giving Saturdays and Sundays off, the number of leaves would be 2 (Friday & Monday).

Regards,
Debi

Hi Namrata,

Usually, it is followed that if the off days fall in between the leave days, then a total of all days is marked as leave. For example, if Friday and Monday are leave days, then it comes to 4 leaves, i.e., we include Saturday and Sunday. However, if the leave is either on Friday or on Monday, then the off days are not included.

Here is a clause from my company's leave policy:

"For all types of leave, weekly off days/holidays will be considered as leave if they fall within the total leave period. However, they will be excluded if they prefix or suffix the leave period. If leave is taken on both sides of the holiday(s), it will be included."

If you do not follow this, employees would plan their leaves in such a way that they would always try to include the off days in between their planned leaves, and this would become a common occurrence within most of the leave requests. To discourage this, we follow the leave policy stated above.

Hope this clarifies your query.

Neha

Hi,

Please tell me if there is a statutory obligation on the employer to provide certain minimum leaves to the employee and which act covers it. Also, shed light on how leave policies are formulated by organizations.

Thanks and Regards,
Vikram Bhardwaj

Hi Vikram,

You can type in 'Leave policy' in the quick search on CiteHR, and you will get all the links to leave policy details available on this site. There are a huge number of posts already available about the same on this site.

Welcome to CiteHR.

Neha :) :)

Namrata,

This depends on the leave policy of the company; it may vary from company to company. However, what is widely followed is that if Friday and Monday are leave days, then it amounts to 4 days of leave, i.e., Saturday and Sunday are to be included. But if the leave is either on Friday or on Monday, then it won't include the off days.

Dear Namrata,

You have already received many ideas and answers to your query. It's true that it completely depends on the policy of the company. Many companies only count the number of working days, but a few also count Saturdays and Sundays included.

Thanks and Regards,
Anuradha

Hi all,

Now, coming to the legal part, first of all, one has to check their registration, whether the company is registered under the Factory Act 1948 or the Shops & Establishment Act (concerned State). Then, see the applicable act, and in that act, there is a chapter on Leave Policy. You will get the exact details from there only, and no one can provide you with the correct details. Sorry to use such harsh words, but to be on the safer side, always refer to the Act.

Regarding Saturday and Sunday, it is at the discretion of the company only; it is not mentioned in the act. I hope this information will serve your purpose.

With Regards,

Nirmal Kumar Sahu

Hi Namrata,

Leave policies vary from company to company; some are liberal, while some stick to legal aspects. As a welfare company, one can make a provision for as much leave as it wishes to provide to its employees. However, legally, employers are obligated to offer a minimum level of leave as prescribed by the law.

From a legal perspective, the amount of leave provided depends on the nature of the leave. For annual leave or medical leave, both Saturday and Sunday are considered part of the leave period. However, for casual leave, neither Saturday nor Sunday are counted as part of the leave, at least in the Indian context.

In contrast, in Australia, for all types of leave, weekends are not considered part of the leave period, even if they fall within the leave duration.

Best regards,
Bibhutosh

Dear Namrata,

If the employee mentions that he will be on leave from Friday to Monday, then whether Saturday & Sunday or other holidays cannot be considered as time off but will be counted as leave. It will be a total of 4 days of leave. Most companies' leave policies and different states' shops and establishment acts instruct that any leave falling between the weekly off or company-declared off days shall be considered as part of the leave taken and not as time off. Therefore, Saturday and Sunday, in your case, should be considered as part of the leave days.

Shailendra.

Hi dear Namrata,

To add to the already shared views, please note that usually the intervening holidays/weekly off days (intervening means Saturday and Sundays in this particular case) shall be treated as leave, which shall be deducted from the leave balance at the credit of the employee.

In your cited case, Friday through Monday - both the days inclusive shall be treated as leave, and 4 days shall be deducted from the employee's balance kitty. However, some organizations specifically indicate that the intervening holidays shall not be considered as leave, in which case each day will be considered as a separate day, and only 2 days will be deducted from the leave kitty.

Hope you got me.

Regards,
Dhinakaran

Dear Narmatha,

With reference to your email, I am providing some information for you. The Leave Calculation will be done on a pro-rata basis. For Casual Leave, in that situation, 2 days of holidays will be allocated. However, in the case of long leave or medical leave, it will be calculated as 4 days.

Regards,
Madhav

Hi,

If you have leave on Saturday and Sunday and you take leave on Friday and also on Monday, then your total leave would be 4 days. But if the same, if you have a holiday on Saturday and Sunday and you take leave on Monday and Tuesday or you have leave on Thursday and Friday, then you will have a loss of leave of 2 days only.

Hope you got clarified with your query.

Pallavi.

Dear,

It can be considered a 4-day leave, but it depends on the company. It's not compulsory.

Best Regards,
Vandana