Confused About Leave Without Pay: Why Was My Salary Deducted for Three Days?

Hello All,

Greetings of the season! I am Astha, working in an educational organization under the role of one consultancy. Regarding leaves, I am facing one problem. The consultancy provides 1.5 leaves (which are paid) at the completion of every month. I did not have any leave in my leave account. In November, I took leaves for the 12th and 14th of November 2012 (which must be unpaid or can be said leave without pay), but when I received my salary, I came to know that they have deducted 3 days' salary. I want to know whether LWP is always considered in continuation?

Thanks!
Astha Saxena

Explanation of Leave Policy

Basically, this is to explain the leaves taken before and after a holiday. In your case (12th Nov was Monday, 13th was a public holiday, and 14th was Wednesday), the suffix and prefix were taken as LWP; since Tuesday was in between, they considered it an inline of 3 days on Loss of Pay. It is entirely up to the discretion of the management if they'd consider 2 days or 3 days leave.

More to the point, there are some institutions that provide a 30-day leave in general as PL (Privileged Leave) in alliance with Casual Leave. In such cases, the deduction pertains to the actual leaves taken.

Regards

Dear Ms. Sharmila,

First of all, thank you very much for your quick reply. My further query, in continuation of the previous one, is whether consultancies are required to follow government rules for leaves or if they are free to establish their own rules. Is it possible to request their leave policies, and are they obligated to provide them to us?

Thanks!

Any private company can form its own rules and regulations. However, please note that the rules are the same or similar to their industry. Whenever a public holiday or a weekly off is sandwiched between the leaves, the off/holiday is considered as a leave. This policy prevails in most organizations even if it's a paid leave, except for earned leave.

Hope your query was answered :)

There are different leave rules as per the Factories Act and others on Establishments. In the Shops and Establishment Act, the leave policies depend from state to state. Under the Factories Act, the leaves pertaining to Privileged or Earned leave are given as 1 day for every 20 working days.

Shops & Establishment Act Leave Policies

- **Casual Leave:** 12 days leave is permissible. This leave can't be combined with Sick Leave. Casual Leave will be calculated on a pro-rata basis if a person joins in the middle of the calendar year.

- **Sick Leave:** 12 days of leave are permissible. Any intervening holiday or weekly offs will be treated as Sick Leave, and if the employee joins in the middle of the calendar year, it should be calculated on a pro-rata basis.

- **Earned Leave/Privileged Leave:** Those who are in continuous service in the preceding 12 months (should work not less than 240 days) are eligible for 15 days E.L. during the subsequent year. If a person joins in the middle of the calendar year, they are not eligible for Earned Leaves until the completion of 12 months of service.

I hope this clarifies your query.

Regards

I endorse the reply given by Sharmila Das and others with reference to your query. Please ascertain from your organization about the leave rules and regulations so that you can follow the same without any inconvenience. However, I strongly recommend to you that "Leave is not a matter of right" to any employee. When we are working in an organization, we have to work for the welfare of the organization, rather than applying for leaves as and when required, which will be a detrimental act towards the organization. However, before applying for leave, we have to consult the concerned HR executive about the eligibility of the leave and whether there would be any inconveniences for us to avoid leave on Loss of Pay. A true employee may not face any problem if he serves perfectly.

Regards,
Suri Babu Komakula

The attached material may either clarify or confuse you (I'm sorry). The choice is yours.

Good day,

Regards, Kumar S.

Thank you for the material you provided me. I don't think you have understood my situation. I am working under the role of a consultancy in the education industry. The consultancy's leave policy is to provide 1.5 leave days at the end of every completed month. When I asked the relevant person, he informed me that the type of leave they provide is called "Total Leave," which is a combination of all types of leave.

Question on Leave Entitlement

My question is: How many days of leave is a worker/employee eligible for (minimum) in a year? Is there any law in our government system that mandates a minimum number of leave days for employees working in any organization for at least 240 working days?