Weekend Leave Dilemma: Should Sunday Count as a Day Off Too?

In our company, employees take leave on Saturday and Monday. In this case, do we have to account for 3 days as leave? Also, if an employee takes leave before and after the Festival Holidays, do we have to account for 3 days as leave? Can anybody help me with this?

As per statutory laws, you should consider even Sunday as leave. However, the company policies should be clearly defined. Some organizations may not consider Sunday as leave, while others will.

Thank you.

If an employee is absent on Saturday and Monday, then Sunday is considered as paid leave. However, if an employee takes leave on Saturday and joins back to work on Monday, then Sunday is not considered as paid leave.

Regarding Festival Holidays:

For married females, taking leave one day before a festival can be permitted as unpaid leave (depending upon your organization's policies, as there is no hard and fast rule). On the festival day, the leave has to be provided. However, taking leaves before and after the festival is not granted, and it should be deducted from the salary.

Given that India is a land of festivals with celebrations happening regularly, granting leaves for every festival would negatively impact productivity. In my opinion, taking leave before and after festivals should be counted as paid leave, with an exception for married women. This policy should be communicated clearly to all employees in advance.

Hi, please let us know which type of industry you are employed in. Also, do you have a prefix and suffix rule in your leave policy? Without this information, the comments provided will not be of much help to you.

The comments given by me are from the general or common leave policy of various industries. Leave is for six days worked prior to it, i.e., from Monday to Saturday. This is for a monthly-rated employee.

Types of Leave

Now, it depends on the type of leave. If a casual leave is taken on Saturday, it is okay, and the employee has to report for duty on Monday. By chance, if he takes a leave on Monday, then at that time it cannot be a casual leave; it can only be sick leave wherein Sunday will be excluded and not taken into account, i.e., it will be a paid holiday—not to be deducted from the leave balance.

Understanding Prefix/Suffix in Leave Management

In 'Leave Management', there is a concept of 'Prefix/Suffix'. Normally, companies permit Sundays/Closed Holidays to be either prefixed or suffixed with leave, but not both. For example, if an employee takes leave on Monday, Sunday can be permitted as a prefix. If the employee is on leave on Saturday, Sunday can be given as a suffix. In the present case, the employee has to be on leave from Saturday to Monday (3 days) since he can't have the privilege of having Sunday both as a prefix and suffix.

However, it all depends on the 'Leave Policy' of a company. If your policy clearly states that the same Sunday/Holiday can be taken both as a prefix and suffix with leave, no one shall be in confusion. Nevertheless, you may also need to clarify that Sundays/Holidays falling within a leave period shall be exempted while calculating the total number of days for which an employee was on leave. This may be an employee-friendly policy but, in principle, it negates the definition of the continuity of the leave period and is thus not encouraged by organizations.

Clarifying all these aspects with examples in a company's 'Leave Policy' is, therefore, important not only from the employee viewpoint but also to enable 'Leave Management' by the sanctioning authority and HR.

Could I know in which law we can find that Sunday has to be considered as leave?

Understanding 'Prefix/Suffix' in Leave Management

In 'Leave Management', there is a concept of 'Prefix/Suffix'. Normally, companies permit Sundays/Closed Holidays to be either prefixed or suffixed with leave, but not both. For example, if an employee takes leave on Monday, Sunday can be permitted as a prefix. And if he is on leave on Saturday, Sunday can be given as a suffix. In the present case, the employee has to be on leave from Saturday to Monday (3 days) since he can't have the privilege of having Sunday both as a prefix and suffix.

However, it all depends on the 'Leave Policy' of a company. If your policy clearly states that the same Sunday/Holiday can be taken both as a prefix and suffix with leave, no one shall be in confusion. But you may also need to clarify that Sundays/Holidays falling within a leave period shall be exempted while calculating the total number of days for which an employee was on leave. This may be an employee-friendly policy but, in principle, it negates the definition of the continuity of the leave period and is thus not encouraged by organizations.

Clarifying all these aspects with examples in a company's 'Leave Policy' is, therefore, important not only from the employee viewpoint but also to enable 'Leave Management' by the sanctioning authority and HR.

Regards.

As per the act, if any employee takes leave on both Saturday and Monday, then the leave is for 3 days. However, the leave policy may vary based on employee-friendliness.

Thank you.

Considerations for Employee Leave and Rest Days

As per general consideration, Sunday is the rest day for workers who have worked 48 hours (6 days x 8 hours per day) for the company. However, if a worker willfully takes leave on Saturday and Monday frequently, you may need to make a few corrections in your 'Agreement' based on the minimum working hours per week.

Regards

If an employee takes leave on Saturday and Monday, it will be counted as three days of leave. As for taking leave before and after a festival, we do not consider the festival days as leave since festivals are paid holidays. Therefore, you will only count the leaves taken before and after the festival.

Regards,
Meenu

Dear Deven, As rightly explained above, leave rules vary from company to company (for white-collar employees). However, statutes have some sort of certain impact on the leave policies as framed by different companies. Most companies follow a leave policy where holidays/weekly offs are excluded while counting leaves if a holiday/weekly off falls during or at either end of the period of leave. Section 79 of the Factories Act, 1948 is very clear about this.

However, let me reiterate once again that the leave policy is at the discretion of a company's management, and the framing of the leave policy is as per the needs and requirements of the company.

Regards, Rakesh Srivastav

I have gone through the said provision, but there is no indication of the issue mentioned; all legal clauses are present. So, it is clear that this issue is a part of the management policy, and any management can formulate the policy as they wish. Regarding the mentioned issue, if any employee or union asks us about the law or act, then this issue may become a matter of dispute.

Regards,
Devendra

I agree with Mr. B.K. Bhatia's explanation. The company's policy must clearly state whether a holiday in-between two leaves is to be considered as paid leave or not. To my understanding, there is no law governing this issue.

Thank you.

To my knowledge, there is no Act or Rule which states whether holidays coming in between should or should not be counted as inclusive. It's a general practice with almost all employers for holidays and Sundays/weekly offs, etc., sandwiched in between a spell of leave not to be ignored. On the other hand, holidays, Sundays/weekly offs either suffixing or prefixing is normally permitted. It's better to ask your friends who work five days a week; they know the knack of this prefixing and suffixing. They are the masters in this.

Regards,
Kumar S.

Types of Leaves: Casual and Earned

There are Casual Leaves and Earned Leaves. In the case of casual leaves, an employee can apply for leave on Saturday and Monday, with permission to avail of the public holiday on Sunday. In such a case, casual leave will be deducted for two days only, and Sunday cannot be considered a casual leave.

Earned Leaves Policy

In the case of Earned Leaves, if the employee applies for leave from Saturday to Monday, including Sunday, the entire three days will be considered as earned leave granted. This is the general rule in all firms. However, leave rules are subject to the guidelines, norms, and standards prescribed by the concerned companies and firms according to their policies.

Regards

Your query depends on the company's leave policy (for white-collar employees). Normally, when taking CL on Saturday and Monday, Sunday would not be included as leave. However, in the case of sick leave and PL, Sunday would be counted.

Regards,
B. Saravanakumar

It depends on company policy. I think we should have an employee-friendly approach wherein Sunday is always a paid holiday, irrespective of prefix or suffix.

Regards,
Javaid

Types of Leave

There are types of leave, namely earned leave, casual leave, sick leave, maternity leave, etc. If an employee takes earned leave on Saturday and Monday, then Sunday will also be considered as earned leave. However, if an employee takes casual leave for Saturday and Monday, Sunday will be excluded from the casual leave.

Thank you.

Wages on Weekly Holidays

The Factories Act does not provide for wages on weekly holidays. However, the Kerala Shop Act does provide it. Usually, Sunday is included as leave except for casual leave. All other things depend on company policy.

Regards,
Varghese Mathew
[Phone Number Removed For Privacy Reasons]

In my previous company, in the case of casual leave, Sundays and any holidays falling between two leave days are considered for leave. In the case of PL, such days were omitted. I think it depends upon company policy.

Understanding Leave Policies Under the Factories Act

As per the Factories Act, leave is to be granted for one day for every 20 days worked by a workman. There is no specific rule or law dictating how this leave should be given or whether Sundays, Saturdays, or intermittent holidays are to be considered as leave or holiday. Leave rules are set by individual companies and can vary significantly from one company to another. You must follow your company's established rules.

There is no overarching law in the country that you can approach for clarification on this matter; it is purely company-specific. You will notice a lot of variation in leave structures as well. For example, some companies offer 10 days of Casual Leave (CL), 10 days of Sick Leave, and 30 days of Privilege Leave (PL), while others may have different patterns. I know many companies adhere strictly to what is written in the Factories Act. In some corporations, a 5-day workweek is prevalent. Therefore, please follow your company policy on leave.

Best regards

Understanding Leave Policies for Weekends and Holidays

Weekends and holidays are considered as paid leave as part of an employee's salary. If you deduct it from their leave balance, you will essentially be subtracting that leave twice—first from their leave balance and then from their salary. In this scenario, it is important not to deduct that day from the employee's leave balance.

Best regards.

Leave Calculation Policy

If an employee takes leave before and after a Sunday or a holiday, the leave will be calculated as paid leave. However, this differs from organization to organization, depending on the organization's policies.

Thank you.

Types of Leave

There are leaves called Casual Leave, Privilege Leave, and Medical/Sick Leave. Two days of either Casual Leave or Privilege Leave taken along with declared holidays will be considered as additional leave days. For example, taking Casual Leave (CL) on Saturday and Monday will be considered as 3 days' leave, and Sunday will not be considered a company holiday. However, if a candidate takes a Casual Leave and a Sick Leave on Saturday and Monday, respectively, then the leave taken by the employee will be only two days, as Sunday will be a company holiday. The same rule applies to weekly off pre and post leave days.

This is for your kind information.

If the employee is entitled to leave, we will consider Sunday also as leave. If the employee is not entitled, then the employee will go under LOSS OF PAY for all three days.

Logic for Dealing with Prefixes/Suffixes of Leave

In the case of CL (both Saturday and Monday) leave, the intervening holiday should not be considered for reckoning.

In the case of SL/PL (both Saturday and Monday) leave, there is every reason that the intervening holiday should be considered for reckoning. The understanding is that the person has availed the leave for sickness/personal work, etc., and continued/availed the leave for the same reason on Sunday as well.

However, there should be a policy created along these lines.

Regards,
Murugesan R
[Email Removed For Privacy Reasons]

In my company, we work five days per week, from Monday to Friday. If I take two days off, for example, Monday and Friday, those days will not include Saturday and Sunday as part of the leave.

Yes, I am working in an IT company, and my company also has the same policy. If we take leave for Saturday and Monday, then 3 days' salary has been deducted.

I agree with Mr. Jeevarathnam. I have worked for an SSI unit. The Leave Policy has been decided mutually with the staff and laborers to maintain a cordial relationship. In our company, we have a policy of 1 PL for every 12 working days. Once a particular employee completes 240 days in a year, we calculate the balance working days (for those who have attended work beyond 240 days) for leave at a rate of 1 PL for every 10 working days.

Regards,
Ravi

In any of the labor laws, there is no specific rule or regulation regarding this matter. It will depend upon the rules and regulations of each company.

Dear All,

There is no provision that interprets when an employee takes consecutive leaves, including Sundays or weekly offs, whether it has to be considered as paid leave.

If you are aware of such a provision, please let us know along with the section of the particular law.

Regards,
Avinash K.

There is no rule or act that mandates Sunday as a leave day when employees take leave on both Saturday and Monday. It's up to the company policy. I think this practice occurs in some companies only. However, for festivals, you can't consider it the same way. Festivals are definitely paid holidays, even if employees take leave before and after the festivals.

These topics have been posted many times on CiteHR. Before placing your query, you should search through earlier posts to see if they have already been discussed. This check will help you get your clarifications quickly, as the information may already be available instead of waiting for new replies.

Use the Following Link

1) Use this link: https://www.citehr.com/439767-sap-hr...structure.html

Increment Guidelines

2) This was also discussed earlier. However, there is no hard and fast rule regarding the minimum percentage of increment to be given to employees. Generally, the percentage of increment could follow what is practiced in the specific line of business and sister concerns. It will also depend on the basic salary structure; for example, some firms follow a CTC pattern, some increment on basic pay, and some on an overall percentage of gross salary. Some firms give lump sum increments for exceptionally performing employees, sometimes even a 20 to 30% increase. For underperformers, there may be no increment, or it could be withheld/deferred. A fair rate could be a 10 to 15% annual increment on the basic pay.

Leave Policy Discussion

3) The leave matter was also discussed recently. Refer to the attached article for further information.

Regards,
Kumar S.

I think Sunday should be considered a holiday itself, irrespective of prefix or suffix, because companies or organizations don't work on that day. So, there is no point in making it a leave, either paid or unpaid. Also, when employees who don't take leave get this benefit, why should it be on the employee who takes leaves for any reason?

I am not considering any policy or labor law, just common sense.

The question raised by Hr@centuywell is a very important one, and to the best of my knowledge, there is no law that deals with the problem broadly. All the posts in this thread have different views, which do not lead to a commonly acceptable solution to the problem at hand. Some individuals want to know the legal solution, while others advise a practical approach and practices involved in various establishments.

Legal Framework for Leave Matters

Generally, there are two enactments that describe some aspects of leave matters: one is The Factories Act, 1948, and the other is the Shop and Commercial Act. The latter is a State Act, and as such, the provisions of this Act differ from state to state but can generally be said to be simultaneous in nature. I am not going into details thereof for the sake of brevity. One more important thing to note is that any establishment must be registered with either the Factories Act or the Shop and Commercial Act, irrespective of whether it is run by a company, firm, or individual. For legal solutions, we have to consider the provisions of these two Acts only.

Provisions of the Factories Act

As far as the provisions of the Factories Act are concerned, Section 79 is important in respect of the problem at hand. Explanation 2 of Section 79 reads as follows:

“The leave admissible under this subsection shall be exclusive of all holidays, whether occurring during or at either end of the period of leave.”

Here, the word "holiday" has not been described as either a weekly holiday or a festival holiday. The intention of the legislator is very clear here: any holiday in between the period of leave or at the end of the leave will be exclusive of the leave and cannot be counted.

The provisions of the Shop and Commercial Act do not provide any idea about this, to the best of my knowledge. From the above, a clear inference can be drawn that does not permit the inclusion of any holiday falling in between the leave or at the end of the leave granted, irrespective of whether it is a weekly holiday or festival holiday. However, it can be said that when there is no leave in the credit of a workman or he/she is on unauthorized leave, the inclusion of the holiday is permitted.

For non-workmen employees, on whom the provisions of the Act do not apply, it will be covered by the individual leave policy of the concerned establishment. Since there is a flaw in the wording of the Act, it is being interpreted variably. But the intention of the legislator is quite clear.

Now it is up to you and your company to decide what is to be adopted in your leave policy. But in my opinion, if the employee concerned is on authorized leave on Saturday and Monday and has credit in his/her leave account, Sunday (Holiday) should not be counted.

I would request all the viewers, if they agree with my point of view, to validate it by clicking the validate button so that it would help me and many others to form the leave policy in the future.

Regards,
PKJain

While we are taking a long leave, which means 15 days, if Sunday is included in that period, how do we calculate the total leave days? Please tell me.

You can handle it by reaching a settlement with the workers if they are affected. Otherwise, you have to comply with Section 9A of the Industrial Disputes Act. You should be able to accommodate employees taking leave that results in a loss of production or service.

Regards,
[Name Removed For Privacy Reasons]

Leave Policy Clarification

Sunday or another closed holiday is not to be counted as leave in the case of Casual Leave only. For Earned Leave and Sick Leave, Sunday would be included as Paid Leave.

Hi, I am from Goa, working as an IT engineer. As I had joined a new company, they said I have the 2nd and 4th Saturday off. So last month, I was not there on Saturday as it was my off, and I didn't come on Monday, so my salary got cut for Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. Is it correct, or should the company notify us about this rule? They had given me a copy of the rules, but it was not mentioned. Please reply.

Understanding Leave Procedures and Rules

This is mainly based on the leave procedure and rules framed by the concerned firm or company. Every company or firm should have specific leave rules. The instant case has to be dealt with according to the leave rules of the company.

However, as far as government rules are concerned for the employees of state and central government, an employee can avail casual leave at a stretch up to 10 days, including Sundays, festival days, and holidays if any. According to this, in the instant case, if an employee applied for casual leave on Saturday and Monday, Sunday will be granted as a holiday only; it cannot be counted as leave or loss of pay. The employee is entitled to avail Sunday as a weekly holiday. Suppose the leave happens to be more than 10 days; then all the holidays and Sundays will be counted as leave to be deducted from his leave account. In the instant case of only three days of casual leave, the leave can be granted for Saturday and Monday, permitting the employee to avail Sunday as a holiday without any loss of pay or deduction from the leave account.

The issue is related to your organization's policy. If the employee is on paid leave, then Sunday or a festival day will be counted as paid leave. However, if the employee is on Casual Leave, then Sunday or a festival day will not be counted as a holiday.

If an employee takes leave on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday and rejoins on Monday, is it mandatory to deduct Sunday's salary, or can we pay it as he resumes his job on Monday?

It's not always mandatory to do this because some employees may need to take leave due to emergencies. As a best practice to control leave (if you don't want employees to take leave on weekends), you can introduce the concept of long weeks. For example, if an employee is taking leave for more than 10 days, then include all Saturdays, Sundays, and national holidays as part of the leave. Otherwise, only working days will be considered for leave balance deduction.

Such concepts will keep employees happy and aware that Sundays will be deducted, allowing them to plan well in advance.