Confused About Sandwich Leave Policy? Seeking Clarity on Weekend Leave Deductions

Hi, as we are aware, nowadays in most companies, if we take leave on Saturday and Monday, Sunday is also counted and calculated as leave, and deductions are made. I am working in a consultancy.

First Case: Half-Day Leave on Saturday

In the first case, I had taken half-day leave on Saturday and had taken leave on Monday also. The HR treated leave for Sunday also, even though I was present till half of Saturday. I discussed this matter with HR, but she told me it's according to policy, while the Accounts department is saying it's up to HR to decide. Seniors, please clarify.

Second Case: Optional Leave on Saturday

In the second case, if Saturday is optional leave (we are entitled to 2 optional leaves in a year) and we take leave on Monday also, will Sunday be treated as leave and deducted? I am planning to take optional leave for 16th April - Mahavir Jayanti and subsequent leaves from Monday. Kindly suggest.

Regards,
Suvi.

Hi experts, please give a comment on this. The big MNC does not follow this policy. If you take leave on Friday and Monday, then you get only two days deducted. What is the exact legal position?

Regards,
CS Mukesh Tank

What your HR said is right. If you take leave on Saturday and Monday, then Sunday would be treated as sandwich leave. It does not matter under what heads you had taken those leaves.

We don't count Sunday as a sandwich leave if Saturday was only a half-day leave. In the case of optional leave, it can be counted as sandwich leave since it's not a holiday in the office; you will only be on optional leave. So, it's better to plan it on Tuesday instead of Saturday.

Regards,
Nishu

Dear Suvi, you mentioned that you took a half-day leave on Saturday. If you took the first half leave on Saturday, there is no point as Sunday will not be added. However, if you took the second half off, then Sunday will definitely be included.

Regarding Optional Leave

It depends on the company policy. Some companies treat it as a different kind of leave with no provision for adding it to your weekly offs. In your case, when you opt for an optional leave on Monday and take a leave (e.g., CL or ML - Sick Leave), there is no provision for attaching Sunday here.

Thanks & Regards,
Anupam Anurag

Hi, Theoretically, it is correct to consider Sunday for leave counting. Since you had worked for half a day on Saturday, it becomes a question of human touch to the subject, and certain companies give the benefit to employees, while others do not. It is advisable to speak to your HR department for clarification.

In the case of optional leave, Sunday will be construed as a sandwich leave.

Regards, VM007

In my current company, I also have the same rule. As you have mentioned that you took a half day on a Saturday and a holiday on Monday, they should not consider Sunday as an off. So kindly recheck with your HR about the company's rules and regulations.

Regards

Clarification on Leave Policy for Weekends

If you work half a day, there should be no issue with counting Sunday as leave. However, it's best to ask your HR department if there are any written instructions about this. The general instruction is that if you are on leave (i.e., not working or not present at the workplace) on both Saturday and Monday, then Sunday counts as leave.

Suppose you inquire with the HR department about working on Sunday between these leave days. Is it possible for them to accommodate this? Or, if you know the rule and therefore came on Sunday and waited for an hour but nobody else came, does it mean that the entire staff was on leave that day?

This is a debatable issue and should be resolved with the help of the HR department only.

Regards,
Mitesh

Let me clarify things step by step:

1. As per your first query, if you have availed leave for the first half of the day, then it would be considered as 1.5 days of leave, which includes half a day of Saturday and a full day on Monday. In the latter case, if you have availed the second half of the day as leave, then it would be considered as 2.5 days of leave, which includes half a day of Saturday, Sunday, and a full day on Monday. Now, if you have availed the first half of the day as leave and your HR has counted Sunday too, then please go and talk to your HR. If you have availed the other half of the day as leave, then your HR is correct.

2. In accordance with your second query, any optional leave cannot be clubbed with your leave balances as well as the weekend. However, this policy may differ from one company to another based on their specific policies. According to our HR policy, if any of our employees want to avail such leave, we only allow it if the employee applies at least 10 working days prior to the intended date of leave. Please check with your HR to see if this is possible.

Regards,
Babu

Dear All,

Understanding Leave Policies: The Sandwich Leave System

It purely depends upon the Leave Policy of the company. In my company, we have the same system of Sandwich leave. If we attend the office even for half a day (either 1st half or 2nd half) and take Monday off, then Sunday will not be considered as an off day. Furthermore, if we take leave on Saturday and attend work on Monday, even in the 2nd half, then Sunday will not be considered an off day.

We are in the BPO sector. During festive times such as Christmas, Diwali, etc., we advise employees who want to go to their native place during the festival time or even the weekend to come early to the office, like at 6 a.m., and leave at 2 p.m. If they finish their work early, they can leave early. This way, we ensure the work is completed, and employees can also enjoy celebrating the festival or weekend.

Anyway, you better check with your HR Department about the leave policy of your company.

Cheers,

Princey HR

First Case

I had taken a half-day leave on Saturday and also took leave on Monday. The HR department treated Sunday as a leave day, even though I was present until half of the day on Saturday. I discussed this matter with HR, but she said it's according to policy, while the Accounts department stated that it's up to HR to decide.

You can take a half-day leave only as casual leave, and it can be taken only at the same time, i.e., when you need to go on leave urgently. If you took leave on Monday and it was sanctioned before Saturday, then it seems that you took Saturday's leave intentionally. Therefore, Sunday and Monday will count as leave. If you have leave sanctioned on Monday, then Sunday will not count as leave.

Second Case

If Saturday is an optional leave (we are entitled to 2 optional leaves in a year) and we also take leave on Monday, will Sunday be treated as leave and get deducted? I am planning to take optional leave for 16th April - Mahavir Jayanti and subsequent leaves from Monday. Kindly advise.

Sunday will not be counted as leave.

Understanding Sandwich Leave Policy

The HR policy regarding sandwich leave should clearly outline the guidelines. If the HR manual states that sandwich leave is to be counted not only between the last day of the week and the first day of the week, but also if any declared holiday falls in between, it will be treated as an extra leave. The HR manual should not have any ambiguity, and the rule should be the same for everyone. I also think we should all respect the policy makers as they are also sailing in the same boat.

Dear all, good afternoon. I think there is something not clear to me as below:

1. Do you have leave as a number of working days per year, or do you have one month's leave per year?
2. What is the process if you apply for leave for six days starting from Monday?
3. Do you mean it's the same if you apply for three days from Monday and apply for three days from Saturday? Are they going to deduct 7 days or 6 days?

I think the process is not fair and not right.

Understanding Sandwich Leave Policies

Sandwich leaves purely depend on the HR policy of the company. Some companies also impose restrictions on prefixing and suffixing holidays, meaning you can only prefix or suffix a holiday with the total number of leaves you are availing. Whatever the policy states serves as the rulebook for all employees of the company. Until the appropriate authority in the company reviews and modifies the policy, all of us must adhere to it.

In your first case, if you have taken a half-day leave on Saturday and leave for Monday also, then your Sunday should not be counted as per my company's HR policies. Alternatively, if you take leave for Saturday and attend half-day office on Monday, in that case also, your Sunday should not be deducted. If you are absent for three consecutive days, i.e., Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, only in this case, your Sunday will be deducted.

Regards,
Ruchika HR Manager

Clarification on Leave Policy

Ruchika, in this scenario, Suvi took the first half of Saturday as leave followed by leave on Monday. He was not present in the office for the second half of Saturday, the full Sunday, and the full Monday. Therefore, Sunday would be counted as leave. If he had been present in the office for the second half of Saturday or the first half of Monday, that would have been a different matter.

Understanding Leave Policies Under the Factory Act

As per Sections 52 and 53 of the Factory Act, 1948, one full day of leave with wages must be given if any employee works for six days. However, the act is silent on cases where employees work less than six days, leading to potential manipulation.

The best practice is that if any employee works for more than three days in any week (from Monday to Saturday), they are eligible for a paid weekly off on Sunday.

As far as leave is concerned, if a person is on leave with wages on Saturday and Monday, their Sunday should not be counted as leave since they worked from Monday to Friday (five days, which is more than three days). However, this depends on the company's policy.

Being HR professionals, we should adopt a humanistic approach while making leave rules. Just think, if a person worked for five days and, for any reason, is unable to come to duty on Saturday and Monday, why should we deprive them of availing a weekly off?

Regards

Truly said, Mr. Praveen, you are absolutely right. To add on, please note that:

Understanding Daily Wage Calculation

According to the Payment of Wages Act, the daily wage salary is calculated as Gross/(Working days in a month).

For example, if the monthly salary of an employee is ₹3300, then in January, which has 31 days with 5 Sundays and 1 National Holiday, the daily wage will be ₹132.

Case Scenarios

1. If worked for 23 days, then the salary will be: 132*23 + 132 = ₹3168. No matter of Sunday or anything like the sandwich term exists in LAW. (Most companies calculate this as ₹3087 or even less by way of 'sandwich term,' but they are wrong.)

2. If worked for 9 days, then the salary will be: 132*9 + 132 = ₹1320. (Most will calculate this as ₹852 or even less, but refer to the Payment of Wages Act and Minimum Wage Act.)

Sundays and holidays are paid leaves. Nobody can deprive you of these benefits unless as punishments by way of charge sheet and domestic inquiries.

I suggest you go to labor court and get your right. It will teach your HR department to gain more knowledge on leave laws before using such ambiguous terms.

Regards,

Manish Gupta
Admin & HR Manager
Gini and Jony Ltd

Yes, it is correct, but the leave policy statement is a little bit different. It goes like: "Same nature of leaves before and after a holiday will result in sandwich leaves of all the days, i.e., including holidays." For example, if you take a CL on Saturday and a CL on Monday, then Sunday will also be considered as a leave. However, on the contrary, if one takes Medical Leave or some other nature of leave, i.e., E.L., on Saturday and a CL on Monday, then Sunday will not be considered as a leave.

I think the provision of Sec 52 1(a) is made only for the purpose of availing a weekly holiday. But here the question is when an employee does not work for a W/off and both days suffix and suffix to W/off or weekly holiday. Nothing is mentioned in the Factories Act. It totally depends on management policy.

Rahul Shukla

Hi,

I have a query. I took leave on a Saturday and Tuesday, and Monday was a public holiday. Is Sunday still treated as sandwich leave? Please advise.

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am working in a Pvt. Ltd. firm as an HR Executive. One of our employees took leave from October 17th to October 21st. The company declared holidays on the 19th and 20th for the Deepawali festival. Could you please advise if this situation falls under the sandwich leave policy as per legal regulations? Can I consider the 19th and 20th as part of the employee's leave entitlement as per the legal policy?

Regards,
Sandeep Sharma

Dear Madonna and Sandeep,

As per my knowledge, there are no specific rules for sandwich leave (Saturday, Sunday, Monday); it completely depends on the company's leave policy.

Thank you.

Hi, I had a query. I had taken leave on a Saturday and Tuesday, and Monday was a public holiday. Is Sunday still treated as a sandwich leave? Please advise.

If an employee continues to be present on Saturday and then continues to be absent for the last month, is Sunday still treated as leave?

Here, the point of discussion is not whether it is a company policy or not. The discussion point must be whether it is enforced by law. As I know the same rule is applicable in government sectors as well, so does this mean that it is a government policy? If the government is following this rule, it implies that there is a provision under the law.

If Government following this rule it means there is a provision under law.

Hi, I have a similar type query. An employee was on continuous leave and joined the office on Monday. Is Sunday considered as leave or a weekly off for him?

Regards,
Preeti