Can a Sunday Be Considered a Joining Date When It's a Weekly Off? Seeking Your Insights

I have a query; please share your views. Suppose an organization has Sunday as their weekly off. Now, if an employee joins the organization and has to report to their Zonal Office on Monday for training, however, the employee starts from their place on Sunday by train and argues to make that Sunday date as their Date of Joining.

Query: Considering Sunday as Date of Joining

My query is: Is it possible to consider a Sunday as the date of joining for new employees, even though Sunday is the weekly off for the organization and no work is conducted on that day?

I would appreciate your valuable guidance on this matter. Thank you in advance.

It is not possible in any case to make the weekly off as the date of joining. If any new joiner is asking for this, then you should firmly tell them that it is not possible. If the person is traveling a day before, you can only reimburse the travel expenses.

Many times, people have to travel long distances within or outside the country to join new organizations (for joining/training/induction, etc.), but the travel dates cannot be considered as the date of joining.

This seems to be a strange request. The date on which an employee reports for work is the joining date and not the date he/she boards a train/bus. Therefore, we do not need to consider the Date of Joining (DOJ) as Sunday.

I have identified an issue in this query. Without having the employee complete the formal joining process and fulfilling joining formalities, they are directly instructed to attend training. This discrepancy has caused problems, as mentioned. If the joining formalities had been completed and the joining report obtained, such a problem would not have arisen.

Thanks,
V K Gupta

Weekly Day Off and Employment Expectations

To earn a weekly day off, one should work six days a week. It is strange that a prospective candidate for employment insists on a weekly day off even before joining the job and becoming an employee, without putting in even a day's work.

Regards,
B. Saikumar

We can make Sunday the joining day if an organization is working 24/7. Here, the peculiarity is that the candidate is asked to join and go for training. Since the organization has not given time to join and go for training, the candidate should be given a fair opportunity to compensate for the working day with a maximum of travel expenses reimbursement for the amount of tension, stress, and strain undergone. HR should have some flexibility in creating first-day comfort. This may not be thought of in the banking sector.

What type of industry do you work in? Is it an IT company or another industry? "He argues to make that Sunday date as his Date of Joining," what does that mean? How can a candidate argue with HR personnel before joining?

The joining date can fall on a public holiday or a weekly off if the company or team works on that day. In your case, the person will be traveling and would join the organization on Monday. It is clear that the joining date is when an employee physically joins the organization, not the day they travel, think, prepare, or decide to join.

Thank you.

Mahesh rightly pointed out that a candidate does not become an employee from the moment he decides to join a company. It is always advisable to standardize your recruitment procedures so they are uniformly applicable to all candidates to avoid dilemmas of this kind. However, as one member suggested, you can explore ways of reimbursing their travel expenses as a goodwill gesture and make it a part of the company's policy.

Regards,
B. Saikumar
HR & Labour Law Advisor

Clarification on Date of Joining

What type of industry do you work with? Is it an IT company or another industry? Again, "he argues to make that Sunday date as his Date of Joining"—what does that mean? How can a candidate argue with the HR personnel before joining?

The joining date can be on a public holiday or any weekly off if the company or the team works on that particular date. In your case, the person will be traveling and would join the organization on Monday. It is very clear that the joining date would be the date when an employee joins an organization and not the day when he/she travels, thinks, prepares, or decides to join an organization.

@Mahesh Nair Sir & Sai Consultant: Sir, I am in a Pharmaceutical Company. Our recruitment cell finalized a candidate for the post of ABM for our Cuttack Branch. The candidate had to join our Zonal Office, which is in Hyderabad, to complete Joining Formalities and Training. As the candidate was already finalized by the management, an Offer Letter was given to him, and he was asked to report at the Zonal Office on or before 23-09-2013 for further processing. He joined on 23-09-2013 there, completed the formalities, and started training. The traveling expenses were paid to him from the Zonal Office.

Meanwhile, his Appointment Letter and other formalities were done at HO. His Appointment Letter was sent from HO to the Zonal Office and handed over to him by the Regional Manager. He took it, received the copy, and didn't say anything. When he was paid salary for the month of September 2013, he started saying that as he started on Sunday from his place, his Date of Joining should be on Sunday (22-09-2013), and he should be paid from that day only.

This is the actual situation. Please guide on what other possibilities could be there.

Regards

Understanding Date of Joining and Salary Considerations

On or before means any working day, he can join the office but not on an off day. So, he should be paid from the 23rd of September, i.e., the date of joining the company.

If somebody resides farther away, he may start the journey 2-3 days early. However, this does not mean that he should be paid a salary for the journey period.

The argument of your ABO to treat the day of the journey as the day of joining has no justification. In ordinary circumstances, unless otherwise specified, the actual date of reporting for duty is "the day of joining." No doubt management might have reimbursed the traveling expenses as a matter of policy, but it doesn't mean that he has already joined the duty. Your ABO has erred in his judgment.

Regards,
SPKR

In the instant case, his date of joining will be 23-9-2013, i.e., the date on which he reported to your Zonal office for joining formalities. There cannot be any doubt about it. If he were in Arunachal Pradesh, he would have started four days ago to reach Hyderabad. In such a case, would his date of joining be 19-9-13, and would he be entitled to salary from that date? What about another ABO candidate selected from Hyderabad? He would have reported to the Zonal office in HYD on the same date, i.e., 23-9-13, and in his case, the date of joining would be 23-9-13. Can there be two different dates of joining for two candidates who reported for duty on the same day? It is an absurd argument of ABO and does not even deserve a glance.

Regards,
B. Saikumar
HR & Labour Law Advisor

You have already gone through the comments, which are perfectly correct. As an HR professional, you will keep hearing such absurd requests, demands, or threats from employees. You need to be firm and work according to the established rules.

Another thing that surprises me is that in the private sector, companies are notorious for denying even the legal dues to their employees. We keep reading such case studies every day, and people also complain about the negative attitude of HR when it comes to employee benefits.

And here is a newly joined employee who is trying to arm-twist you! I generally take the side of the employees, but in this case, I would also suggest that you verbally warn the employee that any such demands in the future would be viewed seriously as it hampers the peaceful and harmonious atmosphere in the office and might motivate others to make such unlawful demands. Furthermore, keep him under your watch-list, as he is prone to create further trouble.

Warm regards.

The day he reported for work at the Zonal office, i.e., 23.09.2013, is his Date of Joining. As advised by other members, it is advisable to clear the ambiguity at the time of joining itself by seeking a Joining report from the new entrant. The joining report shall mention the Date of Joining (in this case 23.09.2013). So, the confusion over the Date of Joining could have been cleared at that point in time itself.

The other aspect that could have arisen in the mind of the employee is that he was reimbursed for the traveling expenses prior to his joining. In fact, you have followed the procedure of reimbursement correctly. If he raises such a query, please advise him that as per company policy, the travel expenses for those who undertake travel for attending interviews/joining, etc., are reimbursed.

Regards,
M.V. Kannan

An employee is not entitled to any weekly off day prior to their joining date.

Thank you.

Choosing the Right Candidate

I think you may have chosen the wrong candidate. It is surprising that a new employee is raising an issue about getting paid for a day he traveled from his home city to the place of joining. It is even more surprising to see someone at the manager level willing to damage his reputation in a new company over one day's salary. You need to keep an eye on the employee.

New Employee Behavior

In my experience, a new employee will not raise disputes about small matters unless it is very serious. They generally prioritize getting into their job, establishing proper working relationships with colleagues, and building a reputation in the new company by showcasing their work and skills.

I agree with your point. However, I have faced more experiences like this during my service tenure. I have observed that employees, especially those in significant positions with good field knowledge, often make such demands.

Although I have addressed this issue to the best of my abilities and, as an HR personnel at the Head Office, I have provided clear instructions to the recruitment cell to address such issues with candidates before finalizing, and to all Branches & Zonal Offices for handling such situations in the future.

Seeking Expert Views on Handling Employee Demands

My main goal in bringing this up for discussion here was to highlight such situations and seek expert views on how to handle them. This way, we can ensure that the interests of both the employees and the organization are not compromised.

Regards

I understand what you mean. But just for my understanding, did the employee demand that he should be paid salary for that day, or did he come and just make a point that he deserved it?