Understanding Leave Entitlements in Karnataka: Are Casual and Sick Leaves Mandatory?

Under the Karnataka Shops and Commercial Establishments Act of 1961, Earned Leave constitutes 1 day for every 20 days, which works up to 18 days a year. Are employees also entitled to Casual Leave and Sick Leave, or is it at the discretion of the management? Please advise.

Understanding Leave Entitlements Under the Karnataka Shops and Commercial Establishments Act

The Karnataka Shops and Commercial Establishments Act provides for earned leave at the rate of one day for every 20 days physically present for work and 12 days of sick leave for one year. During the initial year of service, only sick leave will be admissible, whereas the employee will start earning leave from the subsequent year onwards.

The chances of an employee earning 18 days of EL/PL in a year are very remote because, during a year, there would be at least 52 weekly off days, around 10 days of holidays (mandatory as per the Karnataka National Holidays Act), and a few sick leaves (permitted up to 12 days in a year by the Act). Therefore, we can consider around 290 or 300 (maximum) present days that will earn leave for the subsequent year, resulting in 15 days per annum.

Regards,
Madhu.T.K

Mr. Madhu is perfectly right. Any company won't have more than 15 Earned Leave (EL) days per annum. There are chances that if any organizations are working 5 days a week, their EL will be less than 15 as well.