Leave Dilemma: How to Handle an Employee's Half-Day Leave and Absences Around a Weekend?

Hi Sudhanshu,

If Sunday is the weekly off in the organization, but an employee takes a half-day leave on Saturday and is also absent on Monday and Tuesday, how should we consider their leave?

Thank you.

If it is casual leave, then we cannot consider Sunday as leave. But if you are taking sick leave, then Sunday will also be included in that.

As per my knowledge, if anybody takes leave (half day or full day) immediately before or after a day off, the day off also counts as leave. This means, as per your above query, the total leave taken would be 3.5 days.

Best regards,
Rohit Rana

Hi Raj,

Leave calculation depends on the industry and varies from company to company.

Regarding your question, every leave must be approved in the first place; otherwise, it is considered as Leave Without Pay (LWP).

Paid Leave (PL) should be applied for in advance and approved - Sundays are included in the calculation. The same applies to Casual Leave (CL) if taken between weekdays, for example, from Friday to Tuesday.

Sick Leave (SL) - Sundays are taken into account as the doctor's certificate specifies the days of rest.

I hope this clarifies things.

Regards,

Gaurav Vedak

Dear Sudhanshu,

It depends upon your company's leave policy. As per my company's leave policy, the person has to take half-day leave for Saturday and two days off for Monday and Tuesday. Sunday will remain as a day off. No need to take leave for Sunday.

Thanks,
Bhupesh

The type of leave depends on the choice of the individual vis-a-vis company rules. Neither is clear from the query raised. The general rule is that intervening weekly off or holidays are not included for CL purposes, but for EL/PL and medical leave, it is included. If you have no leave rules, follow what is given in Model Standing Orders if you are a factory or Shop and Establishment rules if you are a commercial organization or S/W company.

Regards,

KK

Please read and understand your labor laws more carefully. You seem to have a misplaced understanding of the same.

Best Wishes,

Vasant Nair
Director
Karma-HR

Hi,
Greetings.

If I take leave due to some exigency or personal work, I apply for half a day of casual leave. If I meet with an accident on a Sunday, I will apply for sick leave. Logically, you cannot penalize me for taking approved leave by deducting my wages for that Sunday.

Please apply the same rules to yourself first and evaluate if it is ethical before making it a policy.

Best wishes,
M

Dear Sudhanshu,

Information provided by you is not sufficient. There is always a difference in the kind of leave (Earned Leave, Privileged Leave, Medical Leave, Commuted Leave, Half Pay Leave, Leave Without Pay, or Casual Leave, etc.) and rules for granting, combination, and the treatment of one kind of leave with the other kind of leave period including Sunday/off day and holidays with each other. At first, you need to know what kind of half-day leave was there before Sunday/weekly off day?

It must be remembered that casual leave is not recognized as leave like the other kinds of leave and cannot be combined with any other kind of leave. Also, a fraction of leave (half-day) is never granted under any of the leave rules, except as a part of casual leave. Casual leave, if granted for a FULL DAY followed by any kind of regular leave will also be treated and counted as a part of the kind of leave applied for by the employee. But if casual leave is granted for half a day, it cannot be treated or counted as the kind of leave that followed by any kind of regular leave.

About Sunday, if it precedes or succeeds any kind of regular leave, it is permissible to be prefixed or suffixed with the leave but cannot be treated as part of leave. Sunday is treated as leave ONLY if it happens to be in between the period of leave.

Now the question arises, if Sunday/weekly off day falls in between a casual leave and regular leave, how that should be treated or counted? So, it is very simple, when casual leave is for a full day, only then Sunday/weekly off day can be treated as a part of regular leave, and if the casual leave of half day is not treated as a part of the regular leave, Sunday/weekly off day can also not be counted as a part of regular leave or absence.

So, in your case, Only Monday and Tuesday can be treated as absence or the kind of leave granted.

PS Dhingra
Vigilance & Transformation Management Consultant
Dhingra Group of Management & Educational Consultants
New Delhi

Dear Raj,

It would have been better if you had mentioned the kind of leave applied for and granted to the employee. In its absence, I assume it to be casual leave, all 2.5 days. Sunday in between two casual leaves is not to be considered as leave. This is the general practice in almost all industries except those that have specifically provided in their leave rules. In my 40-year service career, I have not come across any company that treats a Sunday/holiday intervening two casual leaves as leave.

Some companies have the system of even allowing half-day PL in certain circumstances. In that case, if the leave is treated as PL, then the intervening Sunday/holiday will be treated as leave.

I hope that clarifies your question.

A.K. Bhuchar

Please also check the concerned Act and State Rules. For example, if the employee is covered under the Factory Act, follow the directions regarding leave and weekly off given in that Act and State Rules.

Manjula VT