Can Casual Leave Be Carried Over to Next Year? Seeking Advice on Management's Proposal

Is there any rule to carry forward the balance Casual Leave to the next year until a certain period? In general, as per the leave rule, the balance CL lapses at the end of the calendar year. However, our management is proposing to carry forward the CL until March 2012.

I need your expert suggestion on the above.

Regards,
Vijay Kumar
Silvassa

It's right to clear leaves before the calendar year ends. I appreciate the support from your management in allowing leaves to be carried forward until March 12.

Regards,
Pravin Patil
Bhilad

Subject: Casual Leave - Carry Forward

Casual leave is meant to meet an emergency or unforeseen circumstance and thus has no long-standing purpose to serve like annual leave/earned leave. Therefore, it is not allowed to accumulate and be carried forward under statutory leave policies, such as Model Standing Orders/Sales Promotion Employees Act or Apprentices Act, or even under the leave policies within a contract of service.

However, I understand that in public sector banks, unavailed casual leave is permitted to be carried forward to the next year as special sick leave, to be availed on sickness grounds only. Nonetheless, if such unavailed casual leave is not utilized in the following year, it will lapse.

Thus, your management's decision to provide this facility for casual leave benefits the employees and is, therefore, commendable.

Regards,
B. Saikumar
HR & Labour Law Consultant
Chipinbiz Consultancy Pvt. Ltd
Mumbai
Tel: [Phone Number Removed For Privacy Reasons]

It is nice that your management is carrying forward CL for next year; however, as per the Factory Act - 1948, CL is for emergencies or some casual purposes that come under urgent cadre, and it has a short purpose. Therefore, it will lapse at the year-end. CL cannot be carried forward to the next year.

Regards,
Tejas Chikshe
Asst. Manager - HR & Admin
BSc, MBA - HR, DLL

Leave Rules in Non-Government Organizations

Leave rules in non-government organizations are generally based on what is minimally prescribed by law. There is no problem, legal or otherwise, in carrying forward Casual Leave (CL) to the next year. It has been correctly pointed out that generally, CL is not carried forward for the basic reason that it is meant to cater to emergencies or unforeseen circumstances. However, if an organization wishes to allow it to be carried forward, then why not? It certainly is a wise step.

Regards,
Col. Suresh Rathi

Casual Leave - This term is borrowed from the Colonial era.

British citizens working in India (and elsewhere outside the UK) had Earned Leave (or Annual Leave) when they visited Britain. Annual/Earned Leave used to start once they landed in Britain and ended when they boarded the ship back. This leave is for once a year (hence 'Annual' leave). This practice still exists in Indian government/companies, usually coupled with the LTA/LTC. Part or full of this leave is encashable because it is an 'earned' leave.

Casual Leave was taken when the families of the employees visited them during school vacations from Britain. The employees took this leave to entertain their families for a short duration, accompanying them on a trip to nearby tourist places which involved more days than the weekly offs. Sometimes, this leave was taken for urgent/non-planned events like a family/friend's wedding, bereavement, etc., near the employment location. Obviously, this leave is for the calendar year and lapses at the end of the year.

'Earned' Leave per year should be dictated by the laws of the land. There should be compensation in case it is not availed. Many companies have a cap on the encashable days of the Earned Leave in a year (if not full - like in the Central Government, but there is a cap on the encashable days upon retirement/premature retirement of 300 days).

Regards,
Rajusiachen

I want to know about the leave pattern. Please help me out regarding every kind of leave (casual leave, sick leave, earned leave, etc).

In private sectors, leave policies are flexible and vary from company to company. In my company, they automatically encash the unused casual leaves through payslips in January.