How to Handle Leave Requests When Business Needs Conflict with Employee Leave Balance?

Dear Seniors,

Situation: The employee has 23 leave balance in his account; he wants to take sick leave for 1 month (till he completes his leave balance). However, the Business head is approving leave only for 10 days due to pending work that needs completion. He is asking me to take the remaining days under LOP.

Can I go for LOP? The employee insists that he has enough leave balance and LOP. Please guide me on how to handle this situation.

Thank you in advance!

Hi,

If the employee has 23 leaves, then he has the right to utilize those leaves. If there is any pending work, how will the LOP benefit the company by completing the pending work?

This is purely my personal opinion. According to me, leave is not a right. It is a privilege given by the company/industry to the employees as a welfare measure. Also, there are companies that will allow employees to take leave only if the HOD approves it. As an HR professional, we should adhere to the management's decision. If the HOD is not willing to permit leave, we also cannot consider it.

Therefore, I suggest you follow the recommendation of your Business Head. Of course, he has never denied leave. So, you can talk to the employee and help him understand the importance of his presence and his work. This is where HR acts as a bridge between management and employees.

Please correct me if I am wrong, seniors.

Thanks,
Devibala

As an HR professional, I support your statement. No matter how many leaves an employee may be entitled to, they can only be taken after receiving approval from their reporting authority.

Regards,

Priti Chadha

Understanding Leave Accrual and Policy

We need to understand a bit further in addition to all the above.

1) What type of leave does the employee accrue? Is it casual/sick or earned (privilege leave)?

2) What is the leave policy of the company? Most companies indicate (at least per standing order) that the refusal of leave and the reason for it have to be communicated in writing. Hence, the employee has to receive a written refusal/reasons for that.

3) Is the employee really sick or just wanting to consume leave because it lapses if not availed? If the leaves in balance are privilege leaves, then there is no harm in availing as many granted and letting the balance carry forward. When an employee has a leave balance, is genuinely sick, and has made an advance application, the manager cannot insist the employee go under loss of pay.

Hence, ascertain the full picture and revert, so that crisp suggestions can be given.

Kind regards,
Dayanand L Guddin

Manager's Action on Leave Request

The action of your manager is wrong. If business work pressure is high and does not permit the manager to grant the leave, then he can deny it or grant the number of days allowed. However, the manager cannot ask the employee to take Leave Without Pay (LWP) when there is leave credit in his account.

However, there is a discrepancy in the post. How can the employee take sick leave to cover the period of pending leave? I assume those are Privilege Leave (PL) or Earned Leave (EL). So why does he want Sick Leave (SL)? Further, if the person is sick and produces a medical certificate, you cannot deny him leave.

Regards