Rejoining After 2 Months: Can Employees Retain Their Previous Leave Benefits?

Dear seniors,

Once an employee leaves the organization and rejoins the same organization within 2 months, is he eligible for his previous leave or not?

Dear Neeki,

If the associate has left and you have completed his full and final settlement for the period of employment, then he is not entitled to the same.

Thank you.

Thank you, Manoj ji. But now the employee is saying that during the time of his rejoining, there was no clarification from the HR department about his leave. And he is claiming leave with pay (he took 5 days off). What should we do in such a case?

Fresh Appointment and Leave Policy

Have you given him a fresh appointment letter and employee ID? If yes, do not grant him any leave as he has accepted a new offer of appointment. HR needs to clarify his past entitlements. Did he give any notice while leaving the job earlier? If not, deduct his notice salary. He can claim only the bonus amount, which you can pay him on or before 30.11.2017, provided his Basic & DA is less than Rs. 21,000/- per month.

Leave Encashment Eligibility

Every employee is eligible for balance leave encashment at the time of leaving the job. You can adjust the balance leave against the shortfall of the notice period, if any.

Regards,
Suresh

The question of "Leave" (leave with pay) does not arise if he is a fresh appointment (irrespective of when he had left the company previously). No law in the statute governing "employment" speaks about not rehiring an associate. This is an internal prerogative of a company whether it can rehire/re-employ a left associate and is generally mentioned in some company policy or could be a prevailing practice.

Now, if the employee had left the company before 1 - 2 months, you should have done his Full & Final Settlement, and the employee should have acknowledged the same. (Hope you would have also considered his "balance leave/s", gratuity - if applicable, bonus - if applicable, other applicable dues while preparing his F&F and would have paid the F&F settlement amount to him).

For you to do his Full & Final settlement, you should have received the resignation from the employee (unless it is a case of termination/retrenchment).

If these events have occurred in a sequence, it's clear that the employment had terminated, and it is a case of re-hire/re-joining.

Again, as per what Suresh has stated, you should have issued a fresh appointment order/letter to the associate, which should have been acknowledged by him.

In such a scenario, the employee's claim of having taken 5 leave (I believe he means 5 weeks) is irrational.

Cheers,

A.B.

HR does not need to clarify his past entitlement at the time of his rejoining.

Suresh

Dear Nikki,

Please inform the employee that if he/she is rejoining the organization, then he/she will be treated as a new employee only. There is no need to explain the rules or leave policy for a rejoining employee as he/she is rejoining the company. Thus, you can tell him that there is no question of asking for an explanation for carrying forward old leave, and his leave structure will be considered as that of a new joinee only.

Whatever the leave, if any, in the credit of the leave account of the employee comes to an end either by lapse or encashment, as the case may be, with the termination of his contract of employment. Notwithstanding the time gap, if any, with a subsequent appointment under the same employer arising out of a fresh contract of employment, it cannot entitle him to the unavailed leave pertaining to his earlier service.