What Happens When Employees Take Leave Without Permission? Seeking Advice on Policies

Dear Friends,

Please tell me what the rules are for employees when they take leave without permission. Also, please let me know if they are eligible for the leave policy.

Rajgor

Dear Ghanshyam,

By protocol, an employee must get leave sanctioned by his immediate superior. However, there may be situations where prior approval is not possible. It should be mentioned in the HR Manual/Employee Handbook that if an employee is absent for more than 3 days without prior approval, it would be considered as absconding. Strict action could be taken if the employee does not inform by phone/email during the period of absence. If it is an unformed leave taken on medical grounds, then a doctor's certificate must be submitted on the return of the employee in case it is leave beyond 3 days.

These leaves could be adjusted with the leave balance if he/she is a confirmed employee. Otherwise, I suggest it should be counted as Leave Without Pay.

Thanks and Regards,
Karan.

Dear Ghanshyam,

No person in regular employment is authorized to take leave without prior approval unless it is a case of emergency. You need to have a leave policy within the organization which clearly spells out the kinds of leave the organization provides and the number of days associated with each. For example, annual leave for 17 working days, sick leave for 12 working days, emergency leave, etc.

The policy should also clearly state how many days in advance annual leave should be applied for, how many days can be taken without formal approval, the maximum number of consecutive leave days that can be taken without prior approval, etc.

Cheers,
Sylvia

Hi,

Can you clarify more what do you mean by permission hours? Is that the number of days leave a person can avail in a month?

Anybody going on leave should get prior approval from the concerned manager/supervisor. At times, it becomes difficult to communicate, i.e., personal issues. In such a condition, it has to be clearly mentioned in the HR Policy that you may either pass your message through someone, i.e., a colleague, or it may be in the form of an email or SMS to the reporting manager.

Rgs.