Leave Dilemma: How Should Holidays and Absences Be Counted in This Situation?

Leave Policy Clarification

I am working in an IT firm as HR. My question is, if any employee has taken leave in a week up to Thursday and their reporting day is on Friday, and even if they reported on that day (came on Friday after the leave), but then were absent on the following Monday, where the previous Saturday and Monday were declared official holidays.

So, my question is, whether Saturday, Sunday, and Monday will be considered as leave or only Monday will be counted as leave. Please clarify my question at your earliest convenience.

Eagerly waiting for your reply.

Regards,
Shweta Singh

Hi Sir, Actually, my question is that an employee has taken 13 days of leave in the month of June. She was supposed to report on Friday, which means her leaves ended on Thursday. In my organization, Saturday and Sunday are official holidays. However, in her case, she reported on Friday and then was on leave again the succeeding Monday.

So my question is whether only Monday should be considered as leave or if the preceding days, Saturday and Sunday, should also be counted as leave.

Please clarify my queries.

Regards, Shweta Singh

Thanks for the response. She reported on Friday, but it was for half a day only. So, in this case, would Saturday and Sunday also not be considered as leaves? Please come forward with your suggestions. Eagerly waiting for your reply.

Regards,
Shweta Singh

Sunday and holidays cannot be counted as leave in the situation you have mentioned. Only Monday will be counted as leave.

Regards,
Riyaz

- Is the leave authorized? Have you given permission to avail leave from Monday to Thursday? If the leave is authorized, the total leave is 4 days.
- The employee attended duty on Friday after availing 4 days of leave; therefore, you allowed the employee to work on Friday.
- Saturday and Sunday are declared as holidays.
- If the employee does not turn up for duty on Monday without intimation, do not sanction leave on Monday, mark them as absent, and adjust the wages accordingly.
- If the employee asked for permission for Monday and informed the authority with a reasonable cause, sanction leave on Monday.
- Remember, if the employee did not work 40 hours per week, adjust their wages accordingly in accordance with the organization's policy and terms of engagement.

Regards,
Ramana Rao

Since the employee reported on Friday, although it was a half-day working, the succeeding Saturday and Sunday are covered for payment of salary purposes. The fact that the employee was on leave again on Monday doesn't make any difference. Hope this clarifies.

Regards,
KK

As per my understanding of your statement (where the previous Saturday and Monday were declared official holidays), Saturday, Sunday, and Monday will not be counted as leave because the company has declared official off for Saturday and Monday. Please correct me if I am wrong anywhere with proper comments.

Thanks,

It's very simple: if he or she takes leave up to Thursday and reports on Friday, whether for half or a full day, and as per your official schedule Saturday and Sunday are holidays, then he or she can also avail of those holidays because they are present on Friday. If he or she is absent on Monday, then they should apply for a leave. Therefore, the conclusion is that Saturday and Sunday are part of the holiday, and Monday counts as a leave.

Regards,
Ram

Leave Policy Clarification

Saturday and Sunday should not be included in leave, as they are declared holidays in your organization. Therefore, leave for Monday will be counted.

Only Monday can be counted as leave because leaves are considered only on working days, not on Sundays and public holidays.

Dear Shweta,

If Monday is declared as a holiday beforehand (planned holiday), then the employee is on holiday and not absent from work. Otherwise, the employee's leave balance should be deducted for one day (Monday).

Regards,
Srini

The employee will be paid a salary for Saturday and Sunday since there was a break in his leaves. Monday will not be counted as continuous leave from the past 13 days.

If an employee is taking leave before and after the official holidays, then the holidays in between are counted as leaves. For example, if someone is taking leave on Friday and Monday (and Saturday and Sunday are gazetted holidays or official holidays), in that case, all four days will be counted as leave. However, in your case, Saturday and Sunday will not be counted as leave as the person was present on Friday.

Thanks,
Garima

The counting of interim holidays as leave also depends upon the company policy. A couple of common scenarios I have come across are:

1. **Prefix/Suffix:** If the employee takes a day off on both days preceding or succeeding the declared holiday, then the declared holiday will be counted as leave. For example, like Garima stated above, if the weekly off is on Saturday and Sunday, and the employee takes off on Friday and Monday, then all 4 days are counted. This will not occur if the employee is present for either of the days before or after the holiday. For instance, if the employee takes a day off on Monday and not on Friday, then Saturday and Sunday will not be counted.

2. Some organizations (like my current and previous ones) have a simple policy. No intervening holidays will be counted for employees' leaves. Only actual working days will be taken as absent, not the holidays falling in between. The latter is a more progressive and simpler approach in my opinion. It's fair to the employee too.

First, I want to tell you that depending upon the leave policies of the company, the action will be taken. So, first, go through your company policy regarding the clauses that you have mentioned in the case. Then, come up with a doubt which will be clear for others. You are adding more and more new links to the existing case as the answer was delivered by the dignitaries in the citehr. Please quote with a full case and also mention why she has taken bulky leaves, which was uncommon without any disease or something else. Please confirm which type of company you are working for. Additionally, if she took leave for so many days, it may shift to other types of leaves as per the act. So, clarify your case completely.

Regards,
CHANDRA KANTH, HR TRAINEE, GKCPL, [Phone Number Removed For Privacy Reasons]

Hi All, Saturday and Sunday should not be counted as leave because the concept is that leaves are to be considered/counted only on working days.

Regards, Firoz

If the employee is on leave in the second half of Friday and also on leave the following Monday, and is applying for EL/PL, then Saturday and Sunday will be calculated as leave. Therefore, she has to apply for three and a half days of leave, starting from the second half of Friday. In the case of applying for CL, then one and a half days of CL will be applicable.

However, if the policy states that no intervening holidays will be counted for employees' leaves, then only one and a half days of leave are applicable.

Regards,
Meena

If she reports in the second half, then Saturday and Sunday will not be treated as leave.

Regards,

Types of Leave in Companies

There are different kinds of leaves in each company. The EL means Earned Leave or PL (Privilege Leave). If someone takes these leaves, then any holiday or weekly off is included in the leave if the person is on leave on Friday and Monday also. The total leave in this case will be 4. In CL (Casual Leave), the employee can take leave on Friday as well as on the oncoming Monday, and Saturday/Sunday will not be included as leave. The total leaves in this case will be two only.

Leave Calculation for Partial Days

Now the 2nd point. If the employee has taken the 2nd half off (after lunch he is not in the office) on Friday and he is absent on Monday, then Saturday/Sunday will be included in the case of EL, but not in the case of CL applied. But if he is present in the 2nd half on Friday, then Saturday/Sunday will not be included as leave, even if he takes leave on Monday.

I hope this clarifies everything.

Regards,
Meena

As per my experience, in our organization, if any employee takes leave until Thursday and reports back on Friday, and then takes leave again on Monday, the situation is handled as follows: Saturday and Monday were declared official holidays. In this case, the employee is not considered on leave, and no leave needs to be deducted from his/her leave account.

Hi Shweta,

Actually, it depends on your leave policy, which you have mentioned. If the employee comes on Friday, then only Monday can be considered as leave.

General Leave Policy

Generally, we follow the policy as below:

CL cannot be prefixed and suffixed to Sundays or holidays. For example, if leave is availed on a Monday, with Saturday and Sunday being off days followed by Tuesday, which again is a holiday, then in such a situation, one extra day will be treated as CL.