Confused About Leave Policy: Why Are My Weekly Offs Counted in My Paid Leave?

I am working with a private limited organization and receive a fixed monthly salary. For a calendar year, we have 9 CL (Casual Leave) days and 21 PL (Paid Leave) days; however, we do not have Sick Leaves. My weekly off is on Thursdays.

Leave Request and HR Policy

I am now seeking to take leave for 13 days (two weeks) starting from Friday onwards until Wednesday as a PL. However, our HR department has informed me that paid holidays or the weekly off can be either prefixed or suffixed, but not both. Therefore, they consider the two weekly offs as a part of the PL, making the total PL count as 14 days.

Please explain to me the detailed reason for this based on the Factory Act.

Regards,
Dinesh Chavan

As per the Factory Act of 1948, there are no details provided regarding SL, CL, or PL. According to the act, every worker who has worked for a period of 240 days or more in a factory during a calendar year shall be entitled to leave with wages during the subsequent calendar year. The number of days of leave is calculated at the rate of one day for every twenty days of work performed by the worker in the previous calendar year.

Regards,
E. T. Rao

The Factories Act can support your contention as follows: As per Section 52, the first day of the week has to be a paid weekly holiday, hence the suffix Thursday is taken care of. As regards the prefix Thursday, every Thursday for you is a weekly holiday. Hence, it cannot be converted into a working day without following the process specified in Section 52. In its absence, it would remain a paid holiday. You are not expected to work on Thursday, and how you avail it is a matter of your choice. But please consult the Standing Orders applicable to you. Unless there is anything to the contrary, the logic of your HR Department fails!

Regards,
KK