Can Employees Use Their Casual Leave Balance During the Notice Period? Seeking Advice

Dear All, I need advice on whether an employee can take casual leave (if they have a balance) during the notice period.

Regards,
Shikha Agarwal

Casual leaves usually cannot be accumulated or encashed. So, if a staff member is serving a notice period and has a balance of CL, the only thing that his CL approval should be dependent on is his work requirement and nothing else.

Best regards,
Adhrua

Leave Rules and Notice Period

I would love to know if the organization has published "Leave Rules." Additionally, I would like to know if the organization has any specific provisions in this regard in their "Service Rules (if any) and Contract of Employment."

Assuming that no such provisions exist, I will proceed to answer your query.

1. First, no leave is a right to be enjoyed whenever the employee wishes! Leave is a privilege and can be used depending upon the exigencies of work. Whether there is a positive leave balance or not is an irrelevant issue.
2. There is no harm if casual leave (CL) is granted to an employee who is serving the notice period. After all, the organization has granted the entitlement for utilization during the tenure of employment. However, if it cannot be granted for legitimate reasons, that would also be acceptable, although the employee may have a grievance about it.
3. Some organizations grant annual entitlement but limit the maximum during each quarter. In such cases, the employee will be able to claim only what is due up to that quarter. Some organizations permit the encashment of all types of leaves at the time of separation for any reason whatsoever.

The standards of reasonableness prompt a question, "Why not grant it?" Are the heavens going to fall if such leave during the notice period is granted? Oftentimes, we tend to act "penny wise, pound foolish."

I recommend that this issue be treated as a "C" class issue and resolved accordingly. As HR, we have better things to do than getting entangled in such issues!

These personal and professional views emanate from my convictions, experience, and commitment to the profession. You are free to reject them!

Regards,
Samvedan
December 17, 2010

The basic purpose of the notice period is to give time for the employee leaving service to hand over the documents handled by them and to give time to the HR department to source a new candidate in their place.

In this context, generally, organizations do not encourage leave during the notice period. However, in the event of any emergencies, of course, casual leave (CL) can be considered. But the leave availed should be compensated by extending the notice period to the extent leave has been availed.

Regards,
M.V. Kannan

An employee can't take leave during the notice period because it is the time when they must hand over records to the new employee. As per company policy, he/she can't take leave during the notice period.

Thanks & Regards,

Sunil Sharma
Sr. Executive HR
V3S Group