Are Workers Paid for National and Festival Holidays if Absent? Seeking Guidance

National and Festival Holidays Rules

Please guide me on National and Festival Holidays rules. The question is: "Is a worker entitled to pay for National and festival holidays if they have been continuously absent from duty and the holiday falls within that period? Is the worker entitled to receive holiday wages from the employer?"

Regards,
Abarana

If any employee is on leave during a holiday, then their holidays will also be counted as leave. For example, if anyone takes leave from September 29 to October 4, in that case, 6 days will be counted (including October 2, which is a national holiday).

Thank you.

In this scenario, if it's a national holiday, any person who worked one day in that month is eligible to enjoy that leave. For festival holidays, if an employee takes leave on the days before and after the holiday, those employees are not entitled to enjoy the holiday.

This is a case concerning the workmen, so we have to follow the act. The yearly Government G.O. will be released in the month of December every year for the list of holidays. In that, you can find national and festival holidays. Based on that, you can decide the list of holidays for the year, which will be as per the act. All workmen will accept it.

Regards,
Srihari

Payment of Wages on National Holidays for 24x7 Employees

What should be the payment of wages on national holidays for employees who work on a 24x7 basis? Please provide a reply and any related notifications in this regard. Is it 1+1 or 1+2 of normal wages? Please guide me.

Answer by Anushane is absolutely correct. I would like to add: Many companies do not allow suffixes/prefixes to holidays. For example, this year, the Holi holiday was on Wednesday, 27th March. If an employee takes leave on the 28th and 29th, THREE DAYS of leave will be deducted.

In the case of a national holiday, such as Gandhi Jayanti on 2nd October, which also fell on a Wednesday, if an employee takes leave on the 3rd and 4th of October, ONLY TWO DAYS should be deducted.

Though there is no specific provision in the Act, I feel it depends mostly on the policies we have. Frankly speaking, every employee is eligible for holiday pay unless they are absent continuously. This is my opinion only, and senior professionals may provide their inputs.

Hi,

I need clarification on national and festival holidays. How many days minimum need to be worked to be eligible for national and festival holidays? Please clarify.

Regional Importance of Festivals

It depends on regional importance. For example, in North India, festivals like Holi and Diwali are the main celebrations. In South India, in Kerala, Onam is the main festival; in Tamil Nadu, Pongal takes precedence; in Telugu regions, Ugadi is the main festival.

National and Festival Holidays Act

There is an existing law regarding National and Festival holidays known as the "National & Festival Holidays Act." According to this act, holidays for the following year need to be declared by November of the preceding year (for example, holidays for 2020 should be declared by November 2019), and a copy of the holiday schedule must be submitted to the Labour Department for approval.

Thank you.