Traveling on a Day Off for Work: Can Employees Claim a Day Off in Return?

Hi All, basically, the employee is using his off day (personal time) to travel overseas, which takes more than 8 hours, for business purposes. He has no choice but to travel during his off day as he needs to be there one day before the event starts. Can he claim a day off for the traveling time? Does the company have any policies regarding this practice?

Thanks.

Many companies are not following this. However, if the company prefers to give him time off, they can. It's purely at the discretion of the company.

Well, it totally depends on the company's policy and can be availed if the board of directors or the owner agrees to it. There are no specific rules or laws regarding this.

If he is going on an official tour for the company's needs, he should be given a compensatory day off. Companies cannot take away his right to avail himself of his day off the way he wants. If we don't do that sooner or later, the day will come when Indians, like Americans, will be very conscious of their rights.

At our workplace, we give compensatory days off, and employees are happy, while the management also gets the work done.

As other members have pointed out, this is at the discretion of the company. Therefore, there is no general rule as such. Nevertheless, you need to tell us two things. One is, how long is the total travel time (which includes security clearance and immigration clearance as well). Secondly, when is the employee asking for compensatory time off? Is it after returning from abroad? In that case, you may grant him time off as per the compensatory time off policy.

Ok...

Regards,
Dinesh V Divekar

I have a different view. Granting compensatory time off for holidays on which an employee undertakes travel on duty may not be a prudent administrative practice for the following reasons.

Potential Anomalies in Compensatory Time Off

It may create an anomalous situation. Suppose a company has a five-day work schedule, and an employee has to travel by train for two days to reach his place of stay (as the company's business interests spread far and wide). If he travels on Saturday and Sunday and reports for work on Monday at the place of stay, then undertakes his return journey on the following Saturday and Sunday, reaching headquarters on Sunday night, he would be eligible for four compensatory days off. After reporting for duty on Monday, he would abstain from work for the entire week if allowed to take all four compensatory days off, followed by the regular weekend. What if the employee's job involves two such trips in a month?

Alternative Compensation Methods

An employee on travel may be adequately reimbursed by being a bit more generous in determining the amount for his lodging allowance, daily travel expenses at the place of stay, and his hotel accommodation to compensate for the time lost for rest.

Understanding the Concept of Compensatory Time Off

The concept of compensatory time off is to compensate for the holiday on which an employee is required to work. Therefore, on a holiday, instead of resting, the employee invests his physical and mental resources to produce goods or provide services as expected by the management. An employee traveling during holidays, though on duty, does not actually work with tools or pen but only travels. Thus, providing compensatory time off for travel on holidays may seem to contradict the fundamental concept of compensatory time off.

This is just a viewpoint. However, such decisions fall within the discretion of the company, and this discretion should be based on prudence.

Regards,
B. Saikumar

I want to create a travel policy for a solar EPC company.