Understanding Leave Rules, Employee Rights, and Labor Laws in the Workplace

Could anyone tell me, please, where the leave rules have been written in the ACT? Kindly inform me if someone is enjoying earned leave, then would a holiday falling in between the leave be counted as a leave day or not.

Mr. Bhardwaj,

There is no one universal act to lay down leave rules for uniform application. It depends upon the nature of the establishment. If your establishment is a commercial establishment, you need to follow the leave rules laid down under the Shops and Establishments Act applicable to your state. If it is a factory, you need to follow the Factories Act, and so on.

B. Saikumar
Mumbai

In the Factory Act, there is no straightforward explanation regarding leaves. Where can I get a satisfactory answer to my question: whether holidays (like Sunday) will be counted in the leave days when the leave is in continuation from the previous week to the next week. If you have any documents, please kindly send them to me!

Mr. Bharadwaj,

Please refer to Explanation 2, Section 79 of the Factories Act, which states that the earned leave admissible shall be exclusive of all holidays, whether occurring during or at the end of the leave. Thus, Sundays falling during the leave period shall be excluded.

B. Saikumar
HR & Labour Law Advisor
Mumbai

Subject: Warning Letter

Hi,

Can the management of a company issue a warning letter to staff who do not complete their extended working hours as verbally instructed by their superior? This means the staff did not complete their overtime as instructed.

What is the correct way to issue a warning letter to staff? Can a staff member refuse to sign the warning letter?

What are the next steps to be taken with staff who refuse to acknowledge the warning letter?

Dear Harsh,

Whether it is for any leave, if you are continuously on leave, then your week off will be counted as a leave only. You should be present either a day before a holiday/week off or a day after your week off/holiday to make it count as a week off/holiday.

Regards,
Chander

Dear rmy_nbg9078,

According to the law, you cannot force a worker to work overtime. If you are planning to give an employee a warning letter, what would be the basis of it and what would be the content of it as it would not be valid in labor court? However, performance can be made the basis for issuing a warning letter. I would request you to kindly have a word with him and try to counsel him/her that this would be important for his/her performance appraisal and it is very important for his and the organization's growth.

As for your second query, yes, an employee has the right to refuse to sign a warning letter if he does not agree with the contents of it. However, you can keep a copy and original in his personal file, mentioning on the warning letter that the individual has refused to accept the same.

Regards,
C.M. Mohla

Mr. Rmy,

Let me put the issues referred to in proper perspective. An employer, whether under the Factories Act or the Shops Act, can very well require a factory worker/employee to do overtime. However, he has to issue a notice of his intention to require an employee to work overtime to the Factories Inspector or the Shops Inspector. If the employer's instructions are lawful and the employee/worker refuses to work overtime, it amounts to insubordination. The employer can then issue a warning memo for such conduct, with copies sent to the respective Inspectors. An employee/worker has no right to refuse to accept official communication. If the employee refuses to accept the letter, you can record his refusal on the warning letter in the presence of two witnesses under their signatures. It amounts to a good service.

B. Saikumar
HR & Labour Law Advisor
Mumbai

Mr. Kumar, what Mr. Chander said is true. This seems to be confusing: whether Sunday or other holidays count as leave when someone is on a long leave or on leave for two weeks? Kindly clarify.

If you are engaged in the installation of power transmission, etc., all these activities come under services, meaning you will provide services to your customers in different plants or industries and on their premises.

One thing I want to suggest to you is that nowadays, most of the industries are asking for PF and ESI liability. When someone provides services to the industry, it is mandatory that if you are allowing someone to work inside your premises, then it is their responsibility to complete all compliances of the principal employer. In that case, they will ask you to provide their PF and ESI details.

So, first of all, you should go for PF and ESI compliances...

Regards,
Harsh