Is It Fair for Employers to Deduct Salary and Earned Leave for Unplanned Absences? Can Employees Complain?

I want to know if an employee is taking an unplanned leave, and the employer is deducting the salary for a particular (absent) day and also deducting one earned leave as a penalty, is this justified? Can the employee complain to the labor inspector? Please suggest.

Regards,
Ghanshyam Singh Chauhan.

An employee does not earn a salary for the day he or she remains absent. There is no deduction, but the employee does not earn a salary.

Deducting Leave as Penal Action

Deducting one day's leave from an employee's account as a penal action requires an inquiry, and the punishment must be as provided in the rules applicable to the set of employees. For example, the deduction of leave is not considered one of the punishments in the Model Standing Orders applicable to workmen.

Such lethal policies are not healthy for organizational growth. You can initiate disciplinary proceedings for unauthorized leave, but not a fine system like the one proposed by you. Implementing a school-like system for imposing fines will not serve the intended purpose but will send the wrong signals among employees.

Leave Policy and Employee Concerns

Companies have their own leave policies that are circulated to all employees. If a company has such a leave policy, they are following the same. If a group of employees has objections and finds it unsuitable, you can discuss with HR to check if any changes or updates are possible in the leave policy.

Dear Couvery, I am surprised and shocked at your comment. A company may have its own policies, but they should be better than those prescribed by law. No company can have policies that are illegal or exploitative. Any policy has to be fair and cannot override the provisions of law and natural justice.

Example of Unreasonable Leave Policy

For example, can your company have a leave policy that is so unreasonable that it may ask for 3 days of salary to be deducted for every day of absence? Only a mafia company can have such draconian policies. A company cannot make policies at random or autocratic or anything that suits them.

"Well, this is the question for the leave policy. Companies have their own leave policies that are circulated to all employees, and if a company has such a leave policy, then they are following the same. If a group of employees has objections and finds it unsuitable, then you can discuss with HR to check if any change or update is possible in the leave policy."

Thank you.

Thank you to all the people who responded to my query, especially Raj Kumar Hansdah. I am surprised to know how it is justified to deduct the salary and earned leave as well; this cannot be under any leave policy made by the government.

Company Leave Deduction Policy

In my company, if an employee is absent for one day, deductions are as follows:

- One day's salary
- One earned leave
- Half month's night allowance

If there are 2 unplanned leaves taken:

- All of the above, and
- The full month's (30 days) night allowance is deducted

I don't think deducting the night allowance of 30 days as a penalty for 2 absences is justified. The bad part is that even if it is informed that leave is needed, they will not approve it and mark it as unplanned leave.

What your company is doing is illegal. Any complaint (even an anonymous complaint) to the inspector under the Payment of Wages Act or the factory inspector will get the company into trouble. It sounds like you are working in a factory. In that case, this can be raised as an Industrial Dispute by the Union or even by an individual worker to the grievance committee. I am surprised your union has kept quiet on such a rule. If the company does want to implement such a penalty, it should be not as a deduction of salary but as a way of an incentive for better attendance. Further, the system of approval for leave must be clearly laid out and communicated to all.

Regards.