Starting from Scratch: When Can Employees Begin Taking Privileged Leave in a New Job?

Hi members!

I have joined a new organization today and I find that there is no HR department here. It is rather strange, and I have to start everything from scratch. Initially, I want to know after how many days/months the privileged leave can be issued to the employee. i.e., is it after the probation period is over or it may start after some time of joining (60 days or something). In my opinion, it is after 60 days, even if the probation period is on. Kindly clear my doubts.

Thanks in anticipation............................

Prachi

Hi Prachi,

I am in a public sector job, and I got my leaves just after joining. The same is the case in the government sector. It doesn't matter whether you are in the probation period or the training period.

Dear Prachi,

As far as I know, PL (Privilege Leave) can be credited to the employee's account only when they receive confirmation after 6 months or 1 year. After confirmation, you should credit their leave account with PL based on the number of months they have served in the company and according to the HR policy.

For example, if according to the company policy an employee needs to complete a 6-month probation period and the company provides 21 PL days in a year. Let's consider a scenario where an employee has an extension of the probation period and gets confirmed after 9 months instead of 6 months. In this case, only after the confirmation, you can credit their leave account with 12.25 PL days as they have worked for the last 7 months.

I hope this explanation helps you. If you have any queries, feel free to ask.

Regards,
Namrata

Dear Prachi,

As far as I know, PL can be credited to the employee's account only when they receive confirmation, be it after 6 months or 1 year. After confirmation, you will credit their leave account with PL based on the number of months they have served the company, following the HR policy.

For example, if, according to the company policy, an employee needs to complete a 6-month probation period, and the company provides 21 PL days in a year. Let's consider a scenario where an employee's probation period is extended, and they are confirmed after 9 months instead of 6. Only after confirmation can you credit their leave account with 15.75 PL, as they have worked for the last 7 months.

I hope this explanation helps you. If you have any queries, feel free to ask.

Regards,
Namrata

Hi,

It's wrong that a person cannot take Paid leaves before 6 months. After joining the company, he is eligible to take a minimum of 2.5 leaves per month if he is coming regularly.

Regards,
Amit
HR Consultant

Hi Prachi,

Congratulations on your new job!

I assume you are in Delhi. Here, the Delhi Shops & Establishment Act, 1954 is applicable, under which 15 Privilege Leaves (paid leaves) is the statutory requirement. An employee who has completed a period of four months in continuous service shall be entitled to not less than 5 days of privilege leave for every such completed period.

The privilege leave shall not be credited in advance at the beginning of the financial year. Since this is earned leave and becomes due only after working, in each financial year depending on attendance records, privilege leave shall be credited at a rate of 5 days for every four-month cycle on 1st August, 1st December, and 1st April. Privilege leave can be encashed, keeping 30 days in balance.

You can consult the Delhi Shops & Establishment Act manual for more information on the same.

Regards,
Abhishek

Dear Amit,

As per my knowledge, Privilege Leave is known as "Earned Leave," and for that, one has to work for 240 days in the year under the Factories Act. On probation, one is eligible for earned leave but not entitled until he/she has earned it! So, during probation, you cannot avail of earned leave as you have not earned it. However, should you resign during probation, you are given the benefit of encashment of the leave you would have earned had you completed the requisite period. This benefit is extended by the Factories Act.

Please revert back with your valuable comments.

Thanks and Regards,
Namrata

Dear Namrata,

You might be right in that perspective, but in Delhi, all companies are covered under the Delhi Shops and Establishment Act, 1954, except for the exempted ones. One can avail of PLs after four months of continuous service, irrespective of his/her being on probation. Besides 15 PL, one can get 12 CL annually. An employee who has completed a period of one month in continuous service shall be entitled to not less than one day's casual leave.

Regards,
Abhishek

Dear Namrata,

Do you know that earned leaves are calculated after one year, but it doesn't mean that an employee cannot take leaves during that period? After one year, any extra leaves taken are subtracted from the earned leaves, and the remainder is carried forward to the next year, depending upon company rules, whether in negative or positive. The extra leaves do not include CL or SL and are also paid to employees. I have studied many companies, and the result is the same.

Regards,
Amit

Hi,

It depends on the company's policy whether the company is willing to allow an employee to avail PL on a pro-rata basis. Actually, during probation, some companies do not allow employees to take leave, and after confirmation, an employee can avail CL and SL. But as far as PL is concerned, only after completion of 240 days of working is an employee allowed to do so.

The management can extend the facility of PL after the completion of the probation period on a pro-rata basis.

Suresh

Hi Prachi,

The same thing happened with me also. I joined a company that became a limited company on 1st April 2007. There was no HR dept when I joined. I am supposed to introduce everything from scratch. You can just see what all the employee benefits are also at the same time. If the benefits are very less for employees, then you can give them earned leave from the date of joining. Otherwise, it depends case by case. In some cases, employees are eligible to take earned leave after 1 year. In other cases, after the confirmation of the employee. In my company, I have introduced that an employee can take earned leave after confirmation. You can provide either 15 EL, 7 days CL, and 8 days SL or 18 days PL, 6 days CL, and 6 days SL. The total should sum up to 30 days. See what is happening in your case and accordingly give the employees leaves. However, leaves are given on a pro-rata basis from the date of joining. I have introduced that the leave cycle starts from 1st April, the beginning of the financial year and not 1st Jan. Please revert back in case of doubts. Thank you.

Regards,

Srikanth

Hi Prachi,

Our HR policy does not allow any leave benefits to start until after the completion of the mandatory 3-month probation. Any leave taken during the probation period is considered leave without pay. After probation, the leave is pro-rated. As of now, we provide the following types of leave:

Annual Leave: 17 working days with only 5 days carry over into the next CY
Sick Leave: 12 working days with no carryover into the next CY
Maternity Leave: 140 calendar days
Paternity Leave: 5 working days
Emergency Leave: 5 calendar days

Sylvia Francis
Asst. Country Director
CARE Tajikistan

Hi Members,

Currently, we only have 18 days of leave in a year, and employees have to earn 1.5 days of leave each month. We do not have any leave categories.

We are in the process of revising the Leave Policy. As I understand it, according to the Bombay Shop Establishment Act, companies are required to provide a mandatory 21 days of leave. Is that correct?

If 21 days are mandatory, what is the distribution in terms of how many are for PL and how many are for SL?

Please share your inputs with me.

Thanks,
Tripti

Hello Namrata,

May I know from your end regarding statutory leave, i.e., PL (Paid Leave), SL (Sick Leave), EL (Earned Leave), or CL (Casual Leave) to be granted in favor of the employees working in the industrial sector/private sector? Can you elaborate in detail on the number of leaves to be sanctioned for different categories of leaves? I just want to know whether the number of leaves for different categories differs from organization to organization or if it's fixed for every organization as per industrial laws. Also, I would appreciate it if you could inform me about the number of leaves for different categories allowed in the government sector. Additionally, could you clarify when the leave calendar starts? Is it from 1st January to 31st December or from 1st April to the next 31st March?

Thanks & hope to receive a reply as soon as possible.

With regards, [Biswajit Pani] E-mail ID: [Login to view]

Well, as the title itself implies, first, you need to earn those leaves, and then only you can take them. Even as per the Factories Act, 1948, a person first needs to work for at least 240 days before proceeding for "Earned Leaves."

However, in the process to retain employees, companies do allow the employees to take "Earned Leaves" after the completion of the Probation Period. I hope this will clear your doubt.

Even fresh HR professionals need to have clarity on basics.

Regards,
Sanjeev Sharma

Ranjan, have you done your MBA? Have you ever cared to read the Factories Act, 1948? How long have you been in this profession? Don't behave like an uneducated person.

Regards,
Sanjeev Sharma

Sanjeev,

Does it mean that if an individual is not an MBA, he or she is uneducated?

I guess Citehr is all about sharing views and ideas at all levels. Rajan might be a fresher in this industry, and for that reason, he is clearing his doubts. So what's wrong with that? If you are not ready to help or share your views, then I would suggest it's better not to comment.

Roma

Roma, the different types of leaves that an employee can avail, how many leaves he can avail, etc., are very basic aspects that every HR person, even at an entry level, should know.

Secondly, when you do not know something and you seek information, you should be humble and ready to accept knowledge. Someone should not behave the way he did: "I don't know X, Y, Z things. Kindly send this to my email ID. This is my email ID." One should at least know how to learn and how to seek knowledge.

Regards,
Sanjeev Himachali

Hi all,

When can an employee avail EL? Is it after getting confirmation or after the completion of one year?

Please clarify my doubt! 😊

Dear All,

I hope this discussion will continue. As per the Shop & Establishment Act:

1. 15 paid leaves are granted to an employee if he/she completes 240 days in a year.
2. This may also be calculated on a prorated basis; for example, after completion of four months, the employee will be eligible for 5 days of paid leave.
3. A company has the right to grant these paid leaves after the probation period or starting from day one, but in the case of probation, the period should not exceed a year.

Please correct me if I am wrong.

Note: The mentioned facts are based on the Shop & Establishment Act applicable in Delhi/NCR areas.

Dear All,

I really see a lot of replies in Cite HR and queries that are really silly to me. I guess most of the persons working in the HR department must have done an MBA in HR. During this course, you must have read various acts which explain most of the things.

Most of the replies that I see here are not accurate, i.e., based on individual whims and fancies. Why is this? Please read books. Don't always look for ready-made answers.

Someone said that all companies in Delhi are covered under the Shops and Establishment Act. Does everyone know what the Shops and Establishment Act is and what its applicability is?

For informational purposes, one department of the same premises can be covered under the Shops and Establishment Act and the other under the Factories Act.

I agree with Sanjeev that basic study should be done before asking for answers.

EL/PL is earned. You earn this leave not by joining a company but by working there. Both the Shops and Establishment Act and the Factories Act have provisions for it. Please read it.

Normally, PL is given as a ratio of the number of days worked. During probation, normally all companies give a fixed quota of leave which can be availed until an employee becomes eligible for PL/EL.

This is enough hint. Now, please read books for further clarification. Learn things the hard way and not the easy way.

Regards,
Nilendra

Nilendra,

Cite HR is all about sharing your knowledge. If you are not ready to help or share your views, then I would suggest it's better not to comment.

Availing leave has nothing to do with confirmation. I agree with Abishek to go through the relevant Act applicable in this case, the Delhi Shops and Establishment Act.

Siva

Can anyone let me know if the company has declared a holiday or a public holiday falls in between EL's? Should we count that holiday as EL's or separately? For example:

1 2 3 4 5 6 ---- Date
EL EL H EL EL EL

or

1 2 3 4 5 6 ---- Date
EL EL EL EL EL EL

Regards,
Jogendra

Hi members,

I am working as an HR in an IT Company. Till now, there is no firm leave policy here. Presently, all confirmed employees are entitled to 2.5 days of leave every month from the month of confirmation, which can go up to a maximum of 30 days of leave. Employees receive cash benefits at the end of March for any unavailed leave. Moreover, they also receive leave or cash benefits for working on holidays and Sundays.

Now, I would like to design a suitable leave policy.

1) Please tell me the difference between a) privileged leave and earned leave, b) sick leave and medical leave.

2) Which type of leaves tend to lapse if not availed in time?

3) For which type of leaves should the employees receive cash benefits?

4) What should be the total number of leaves?

Thanks,
Sharmishtha

I want to know how many days of earned leave are provided by a multinational company, how this is calculated, and how leave is deducted when taken urgently.

Earn Leave as per the Factories Act

Earn leave as per the Factories Act is 1 day for every 20 days worked, and it can be availed after 240 days. This is the bare minimum legally required; however, the company can offer more leave as per their own leave rules.

Regards,
P. K. Mishra

Dear all,

It is most important to verify which Act is applicable to your establishment. Whether it is a Factory under the Factories Act or a Commercial Establishment under Shops & Commercial Establishment Act. If Comm. Estab., in which State are you located?

In either case, the status (Temporary/probationer/permanent, etc.) of an employee/workman is not important for crediting leave to his account. Under the Factories Act, leave is calculated on 31 Dec. and credited to the individual leave account on 1 Jan. { The number of days worked in the calendar year divided by 20 = leave earned. } For example, an employee who joined on 1st Dec. is entitled to 1 day of leave on 1st Jan. as a matter of right. [ Qualifying level - 240 days of actual working, if in employment for the full year or 2/3 of Factory working days if in employment for part of the year. ]

Under the Shops and Commercial Establishment Act, generally (there may be a slight difference from state to state), leave is calculated at the end of each quarter and credited to the individual account on the 1st day of the next quarter. [ Qualifying level - 60 days of actual working = 5 days of leave, if in employment for the full quarter i.e., 3 months or 2/3 of Establishment working days if in employment for part of the quarter; there is a makeup provision as well: if not worked for 60 days in any quarter but worked 240 days in a year, the full leave will be granted. ]

Thank you.