How Should I Handle an Employee Taking a Day Off Between Gazetted Holidays?

Greetings everyone! Please advise on how I should handle it if my employee takes a day off in between gazetted holidays. For example: 14 & 15 = two gazetted holidays - 16th Dec = working day - 17th = Sunday. Now, my colleague is absent from work on the 16th, which is a Saturday. Please advise on the right and justified action, such as:
a- Should I treat all 4 days as his leaves?
b- Count 14th, 15th, and 16th as his leaves.
As a rule, if someone takes off from work on any day just before or after gazetted holidays, that leave is counted, including holidays.

Thanking you in anticipation.

Regards,
Shazia Shahbaz

The answer to your query lies in your own company's leave policy. If your leave policy is silent on this issue, refer to any earlier case that might have taken place in your organization. If this is the first instance and your company's leave policy is silent about the treatment of such leave, make a decision in consultation with all the stakeholders and make it part of the policy.

Regards,
Preetam Deshpande

Understanding the Sandwich Rule in India

As a general rule in India, the sandwich rule applies only when the employee has taken leave both before and after a holiday. If the employee has taken leave before or after, but not both, then the holiday will not count as leave. So, in your case, only the 16th will be counted as leave.

I agree with Saswat's comments. Moreover, penalizing someone with 4 days of leave for one day's absence, prima facie, appears unfair.

Warm regards.