Leave Policies: Do Casual, Sick, and Earned Leave Standards Vary Across Companies?

Standard Norms for Leave Policies

Is there any standard and equal norm to provide Casual Leave (CL), Sick Leave (SL), and Earned Leave (EL) to employees, or does it vary from company to company? On what basis would it be calculated?

Standard Procedure for Leave Policies

There is typically a standard procedure for leaves, but it varies from company to company based on management decisions.

• **Casual Leave (CL):** Not more than 6 days.

• **Sick Leave (SL):** Not more than 9 days.

• **Earned Leave (EL):** Accrued at the rate of one day for every 12.5 working days, which can be carried forward.

• **Special Leave (SPL):** Can be given, but not more than 10 days.

Regards,
RAGHU

Thank you for the information. Could you also let me know if there is an act or law in this regard? Do we follow the Bombay Shops and Establishment Act or something else?

Regards

Please find the attached leave policy, which would be helpful for you.

The white-collared employees are not governed by any specific laws, unlike labor laws. So, leaves are given as per the Organizational Policy. To take guidance from the Factories Act, consider a year as 240 days and give 1 day leave for every 20 days worked. That amounts to 12/12.5 days off per year with no upper limit for leaves.

Who told you that white-collared employees are not covered under labor law? Please provide a reference if you have one.

Please refer to Mr. Pallagulla Raguram's forwarded PDF file. It appears that he must be in the public sector or a government sector institute. If you are in the private sector and follow all the leave recommendations in the PDF file, you may become non-productive or have to employ additional people (of course, you will be paying them and giving them leave).

Policy Considerations

Watch out when you make a policy. The quantity of leave or encashing of leave is a company policy.

- CL: One day a month
- Sick Leave: Only when seriously sick, not more than 6 days. Special sanction is required.
- Special Leave: Not more than 6 days in a year for any demise/accident, etc., in the family.
- Earned Leave generally has:
- No leave for the first 12 months.
- 20 days after completion of 24 months of service (accumulated up to a limit and encashed at separation).

Regards,
Dr. Ram

The leave policy should comply with labor acts such as the Shops & Establishment Act or the Factories Act. Normally, CL - 12, SL - 12 (for those not eligible for ESI), and EL - every 20 days of working equals 1 EL. All leaves should be on a pro-rata basis only.

Regards,
Srinivas B

Friends, there are different opinions among people because leave patterns vary in organizations, actually customized as per their requirements. As per my understanding, below is the requirement from the department:

Earn Leave - Depends on the number of days worked in the last calendar year, one leave earned against twenty working days of the last year, with a maximum of 14 days earned leaves allowed.

Sick Leave

- A. The employees who are covered under ESI - I couldn't find any act/notification where SL is mentioned as necessary for this category of employees. It depends on the organization.

- B. The employees who are NOT covered under ESI - Must be entitled to 10 days of SL.

Casual Leave - Not mentioned, depends on the organization.

Annual Leave/Festival Leave/holidays - Minimum 8 days... (three national holidays are a must such as Republic Day, Independence Day, and Gandhi Jayanti). Process industries can work on all these days with prior intimation to the department.

Kindly let me know with reference to government notification/act if anybody finds any of the above information incorrect.

Regards,
Sanjeev