Confused About Leave Policy: Should Holidays Count as Leave During Extended Absences?

I work in HR at an IT company where there was recently an audit done. According to the feedback shared by the auditors, when an employee takes extended leave and a holiday falls within that period, the holiday will also be considered as leave and not a holiday. Should I follow this rule, or can it be overlooked in the employee's interest?

Additionally, the auditors noted that when an employee is on extended leave for more than one week, the subsequent Saturdays and Sundays will also be counted as leave. For instance, if an employee takes a two-week holiday, in my understanding, it amounts to 10 leave days, but as per the auditor, it counts as 12 leave days. I am confused about this discrepancy. Please assist.

It all depends on the company's leave policy structure. In keeping the interest of the employees, companies can decide not to count the regular holidays as leaves when an employee goes on a long leave. This would be a motivating factor for the employee. However, you need to make the decision in consultation with the management.

If your organization is in the initial stages of the business, then you can decide to count the regular holidays as leaves whenever an employee goes on a long leave. This is done to discourage employees from taking long leaves.

Regards,
Alex Praveen

Yes, granting of leave is purely based on the leave policy of the company. Normally, if an employee takes long leave exceeding one week, the intermittent weekly off shall also be counted as leave. However, if national or festival holidays fall in between, such days are considered as holidays, not as leave. Leave granting should be done in a way that benefits the employees.

Thanks,
R K Nair

Clarification on Leave Calculation During Holidays

The auditors are right. If an employee is proceeding for a long leave and a holiday falls within that period, it cannot be treated as a holiday, but as leave(s). Similarly, if the employee proceeds for two weeks of leave, it should be 12 days and not 10 days, even though you have a 5-day working week. The leave can be considered as Monday to Sunday and the following Friday (i.e., 7 + 5 days), which is 12 days. Hope this clarifies your need.

The policies framed by certain companies definitely differ from each other, but first of all, we should delve into the provisions of the applicable laws. It is the management who has to decide and share any benefits over and above the applicable prescriptions. The auditors have rightly suggested and pointed out that when an employee proceeds on long leave, a national festival or holidays which occur within a period of 15 days from either end have to be allowed as national or festival holidays, and beyond that is treated as leave.

As far as weekly offs, i.e., Sunday or Saturday and Sunday as the case may be, are concerned, they are also treated as leave if they fall during the leave period. For instance, even if an employee proceeds on leave on Saturday and does not attend his duty on Monday, the intervening Sunday will not be treated as a weekly off in such a case and will be treated as leave.

Regards,
P K Sharma

Leave policy is a part of HR policies and is defined by HR in consultation with the Management. Therefore, leave policies for every company will differ in one way or another. As rightly pointed out by your auditors and as a standard practice followed in many corporations, any employee who takes leave and has weekly offs during the period of his/her leave will have the weekly offs counted as a part of the leave.

Example: If an employee A applies for leave from 2nd June (Monday) to 13th June (Friday), the weekly offs that occur during the period of his/her leave will be considered as part of the leave. Therefore, the total number of leaves will be counted as 12 days (including weekly offs) and not as 10 days (excluding weekly offs).

Hope this clears your doubt.

Happy Learning...

Leave Policy Clarification

Prefixes and suffixes are allowed for granting leaves; however, interfixes (in-between) are not permitted, except for National Holidays.

The management or company, if it does not have any of its own standing orders, should adopt leave policies as per the Factory Rules, Shops and Establishment Act, or any other applicable regulations. If the company provides different types of leaves such as Casual Leave, Sick Leave, and Privilege Leave, the Casual Leave or Sick Leave can be granted to an employee at the discretion of the management. However, Privilege Leave should be in accordance with the specified law applicable to the establishment.

As regards intermittent holidays between the leave period, in the case of Privilege Leave or Earned Leave, these do not count in the leave period and should be exempted. In contrast, in the case of Casual and Sick Leave granted, these are to be included even in the intermittent leave period.

Normally, the establishment grants 12 days of Casual Leave, 8 or 12 days of Sick Leave, and 1 day of Privilege Leave for every 20 days of working, subject to the completion of 240 days in a calendar year. These leaves are available for the next year. If the employee joins in the middle of the year, his actual working days should be two-thirds of the actual working days, and on a pro-rata basis, he will get the leave.

Regards,
Adoni Suguresh
Sr. Executive (Pers and Adm) Retired