Working on National Holidays in India: Is It Fair When Following US Client Schedules?

I was going through this site and came across a topic that was of interest to me. (https://www.citehr.com/470177-weekly...given-pg2.html) But everybody there was just talking about working on Sundays. No one really discussed National Holidays.

I work for an offshore IT Software Development company in Gujarat. We do get time off for other festivals like Holi, Diwali, Rakshabandhan, and Janmashtami. However, we work on National Holidays. The reason given to us is that since the clients are in the US, we have to work according to their schedule.

Now, my question is, in this scenario, is it valid to work on National Holidays? If we are working based on US standards, shouldn't we also get Christmas, Thanksgiving, and the 4th of July off?

Thanks,

Regards

The organization may not provide a holiday on Raksha Bandhan or Janmashtami, but it must declare and provide a holiday on National Holidays, i.e., on 15th August, 26th January, 2nd October, and 1st May. If the organization is forcing employees to work on National Holidays, it means they are exploiting employees and cheating the government too. Definitely, that is cheap management.

I would like to inform you that there are only four National Holidays in India, and the rest fall under Festive Holidays. These holidays should be allocated according to the majority of employees.

Thank you.

Regards,

Thanks, Deepa Bhatia. We do get 10 festival holidays. If we are working as per the US calendar (i.e., Christmas, Thanksgiving, 4th of July, etc.), would it then be okay to work on our National Holidays?

Yes, if you are working as per the US calendar, then you need to work on the national holidays of India. My brother is in Capgemini, and there are many projects that require work on national holidays such as 15th August and many more. He gets holidays as per the US calendar.

The organization may not provide a holiday on Rakshabandhan or Janmashtami, but they have to declare and provide holidays on National Holidays, i.e., on 15th August, 26th January, 2nd October, and 1st May. If the organization is forcing employees to work on National Holidays, it means they are exploiting employees and cheating the government too. Definitely, that is cheap management.

Thanks for your concern, but nobody is forcing anybody here. The employees are content with the current arrangement. I just wanted to get a legal viewpoint on this.

Thanks, Megha

Working for a US Client While in India: Leave Policies

However, if you are working for a US client but are based in India, you should be entitled to leave on national holidays unless there is a specific agreement regarding leaves. In many cases, leave policies are determined when assigning a project for the US or any other overseas client through mutual agreement. This may align with either the US calendar or the Indian calendar.

Difference Between Leave and National Holiday

There is a great difference between leave and a national holiday.

Dear Friend Deepa, this is not regarding who attended the job on which day. For your information, I also worked on Independence Day and many others, but this is not legal and ethical.

Please let me know if there are any other updates on holidays.

Regards

Understanding Holiday Policies for IT Companies

Whoever is the client, IT companies are establishments under the National and Festival Holidays Act of the respective states. Employees are eligible to get holidays as per the Act. However, employees can be allowed optional holidays equal to the festival holidays. This is not permitted for national holidays. But, as IT companies work for 5 days a week, usually, labor authorities are not adamant about holidays.

Regards,
Varghese Mathew