Is It Okay to Submit a Leave Application After an Emergency Absence? How Should HR Handle This?

Hi all,

As you know, it is standard procedure to submit a leave application before an employee goes on leave. However, is it acceptable to submit an application after an employee has already taken leave due to an emergency? If the employee fails to do so, could this absence be considered unexcused? In such a situation, is the employee protected?

What measures should be taken for these employees?

Reference: Tarding Company, Total Employees - 100

Kindly respond.

Tarun

Hi Tarun,

Employees can take such leaves in case of emergencies, but it is important that they keep at least their immediate manager informed about the emergency or the reason so that regular operations don't get affected. This is very important if there is a medical emergency for a dependent. This helps the employee, and HR can support by providing inputs on the Medical policy, if any. If the employee claims this as a reason for leave often, then the case has to be looked at seriously.

Regards,

Sathiyaseelan J.

Thank you for the reply. They do reply, but my point is whether the application for leave availed can be taken from him. If so, on which justification as already availed leave...

Please reply.

Thanks,
Tarun

Certainly! Here is the corrected version of your input with spelling, grammar, and paragraph formatting adjustments:

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Well, you should conduct a small training on "Unscheduled leaves". Coming late or leaving early doesn't affect the bottom line, yet Unscheduled leave does. Remember, policy and procedures are meant for customer and employee benefit. However, most companies forget this and place policies on a higher pedestal than humans. This leads to dissatisfaction among customers and employees, eventually resulting in turnover.

Surya

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I have corrected the spelling and grammar errors, as well as formatted the text into paragraphs for better readability. If you have any more text that needs review, feel free to share!

Hello,

Leave is a privilege and not a right.

There must be codified rules in each organization to manage leave by employees. The rules provide for "entitlement for each type of leave", "application for leave", "the leave sanctioning procedure", "Leave records", etc.

Notwithstanding whether your organization has codified leave rules or not and even if it has, subject to the provisions of the codified leave rules of your organization, the general practice, understanding, and operational considerations are:

1) Any and all types of leave have to be "pre-sanctioned" though there will be honorable exceptions when the employee simply could not have obtained a prior sanction for his absence, and these have to be treated in a humane way albeit logically and rationally.

2) If an employee first stays away from work, then after absence comes back and wishes to "regularize" his absence by obtaining a post-facto sanction, he is running a risk in as much as his reasons for not obtaining a prior sanction may not be acceptable by the leave sanctioning authority, and the concerned absence may be treated as "unauthorized absence" which will bring him a pay cut and further an appropriate "disciplinary action".

3) Often people feel that if the employee has a credit balance in his leave account, leave cannot be refused. This is a grossly wrong understanding and interpretation of the concept of leave.

4) Absence from work can be only "authorized" or "unauthorized". Whether the said absence was despite a credit balance in the employee's leave account or not is an immaterial consideration. To stay away from work, the employee has to have a sanction—preferably a prior sanction than the post-facto sanction. But in post facto sanction cases, if the facts justify the absence, the sanction need not be denied.

5) People staying away and not even wanting to regularize the absence are vulnerable to serious disciplinary action if initial counseling does not bring about improvement in conduct.

I trust your query is now fully answered. If you need more elaboration, please state so!

Regards,

Samvedan

November 3, 2007

Thanks,
Samvedan.

I think it is always related to the policy that the company has in place, and accordingly, one has to act.

Thanks,
Tarun.