Is It Fair to Count Weekends as Leave Days? Seeking Advice on Leave Policy Dilemma

Hi,

I work for a small IT firm, and we have 7 days of Casual Leave and 7 days of Sick leave. Besides this, if the employee completes 1 year, they will be eligible for 14 days of paid leave. We also have 12 days of Holidays.

According to our rules, if an employee goes on leave on Friday and returns to work on Tuesday, it will be considered 4 days of leave. Is this valid? Is it ethical to include Saturday and Sunday as working days, considering both days are off for us?

One of our employees was down with Chicken Pox and was on leave for 10 days. He had 7 days of SL, 7 days of CL, and 1 day of PL. He is asking us not to include his leaves as LOP. What is the best course of action for this employee?

Kindly provide your suggestions.

Thank you in advance.

Regards, Sundu

Hi Sundu,

Few of the companies account for the Saturdays and Sundays that fall within the leave dates. It is as per their company's leave policy. One of the probable reasons for this is to regulate the number of leaves. Here's what I suggest: You can check with your higher-ups if the policy can be amended for the benefit of the employees. You can tell them that this can act as one of the unique benefits that you give your employees and that it will only increase but not decrease the efficiency of work if the change is made. Ethically speaking, all the employees are anyway entitled to take a day off on Saturdays and Sundays.

Sri:)

Hi Sundu,

It is obvious that if an employee is taking a leave from Friday up to Monday and resumes office on Tuesday, whereas Sunday and Saturday are official leaves, still you have to calculate Saturday and Sunday as leaves. Yes, if he resumes office on Monday or is present on Friday, then he can avail Sunday and Saturday as his official leave. This is a usual policy in almost every firm. An employee has to be present on either of the days to avail the official leaves. I hope this clears your query.

Best Regards, Tina

There is a law of prefix and suffix. Either you can have a prefix (LWP, CL, SL) to a weekly holiday or a suffix to a weekly holiday. But not both prefix and suffix leave (LWP, CL, SL) with a weekly off; otherwise, the weekly off will be calculated.

Now, in your case, when the employee is suffering from Chickenpox, as per my organization and as per thought, you can always help employees in these cases on humanitarian grounds!

Hi,

I think it will depend on the company's policy. Many companies apply the same rule so that absenteeism should be minimal. If the company does not implement this rule, you can see that everyone is taking leave on weekends.

As far as the employee is concerned, you can review the employee's record. If their record is excellent, then you can be lenient. This fosters a sense of belongingness for the employee towards the company. If the record is not good, you cannot be lenient.

With regards, Abhishek Shukla

Hi everyone,

I have gone through the post of Sundu, and I totally agree with Sri and other members. I would suggest reviewing the policy if possible. If you become liberal with this employee, then it may be possible for others to also try to take advantage. If you are not liberal with others, this may reflect a wrong impression and create dissatisfaction.

I do have a query: Is a combination of all leaves, i.e., CL, SL, and PL (as in the specified case), allowed and correct? I want to know if the combination SL-7 and PL-7 would be appropriate.

Or, if anybody has the right adjustment in this regard, please let me know.

Regards,
Revathi

Hello,

I am working in an MNC in the HR & Admin Department. Can you please explain to me Bonus & Gratuity Calculation?

With Regards, Smita