Paid Holiday Dilemma: Does an Employee on Leave Still Get August 15th Off?

Hi,

If an employee is on leave or absent from duty on 14 Aug to 16 Aug, is he eligible to get paid holiday on 15 Aug?

Leave means an employee is not available for work. If an employee is not available for work on 14, 15, and 16 August, then 15 August will also be considered as leave. However, if the leave for 14 and 16 is sanctioned in advance, then 15 will be a paid holiday and not considered as leave. It is up to the sanctioning authority whether to approve leave on 14 and 16. In the case of sick leave, if the person is sick on 14 and 16, then certainly on 15, they are sick and not entitled to a paid holiday.

Regards, Vibhakar Ramtirthkar

Any holiday that falls in the middle of continued leave or absence is counted as part of that leave or absence. If an individual is not on duty on both the days before and after the national or festival holiday, they will be marked as absent for that holiday as well. It does not matter whether the leaves were sanctioned beforehand or not. However, it would be advisable for you to review your standing orders to check if any other provisions have been made regarding this.

National and Festival Holidays

For National and Festival Holidays, there is no law at the national level. It is governed by laws passed by respective states. Usually, the Act specifies the conditions for wages to be paid for holidays. Typically, no condition is prescribed for national holidays like August 15th. Therefore, employees should normally be paid wages for such national holidays. However, if an employee is on leave for a long period covering that day, why should they be paid? For example, if a person is already on sick leave from the 10th to the 20th, can we say that the sickness should be given a holiday on the 15th?

Understanding Leave Policies Under the Factories Act

Under the Factories Act (Central Act), any holiday or weekly off day that comes between two leave days (for example, if the 14th and 16th are leave days and the 15th is a holiday) should be treated as a holiday only. The employee should not be marked as on leave, and no leave should be deducted from their stock of available leave. However, this rule applies only when no other leave types, such as casual leave or sick leave, are available; only earned leave or annual leave with wages, as referred to under the Factories Act, is available to employees.

Provisions Under the Shops Act

The Shops Act does have provisions for CL, SL, and PL, but most of the Shops Acts do not have provisions similar to those of the Factories Act.

State Acts on National and Festival Holidays

Similarly, the state Acts on National and Festival Holidays also lack provisions related to the treatment of holidays that fall between an employee's two leave days. In the absence of specific rules regarding the treatment of sandwiched holidays, the organization's rules may prevail. Therefore, for establishments not covered under the Factories Act, it is reasonable to arrange for holidays that occur between two leave days to be treated as leaves and not holidays. This approach can help prevent employees from misusing holidays. Many companies allow casual leaves to be taken before or after a holiday but not sick leave or PL.

Regards, Madhu.T.K

If he/she is a workman, then he/she is entitled to a paid holiday (daily-rated). If he/she is an employee (30 days rated), then August 15th will be treated as a leave/absence.

Differences Between a National Holiday and a Week of Rest

There are differences between a national holiday and a week of rest. If there is no work immediately before or after the week of rest, there is no entitlement to the week of rest. However, in the case of a national holiday, these rules will not apply. The company must compensate for the national holiday without prejudice unless appropriate disciplinary action has already been initiated against the individual. Furthermore, this does not apply to holidays other than national holidays.

Note: A week of rest is a provision to provide relaxation to the worker/employee.

Regards,
Shravan

Hello sir, I think it is unnecessary and unwanted drag on discussion. National festival holidays are universally known as paid holidays for all employees. Please never try to harass your employees. Try to extract inventory work from your employees with a pleasing culture. Bossism is a failed effort used once in the USA. Indian style of approach follows for good results.

So many people have replied based on their understanding, resulting in no conclusion. Some are saying to treat it one way, while others are suggesting a different approach, leading to confusion and a mess. Can anyone provide a conclusive, correct, and legal answer to the query?

Tiruchengode Mills Workers Union v Industrial Tribunal, Madras

In Tiruchengode Mills Workers Union v Industrial Tribunal, Madras (1964 (2) LLJ 404), the Madras High Court has held that the right of the workmen for a holiday with wages is subject to the right of the employer given under sub-sec (2) of Sec 5, to call upon the workmen to come and work on such holidays. Therefore, in the case of continuous absence, leave, or strike, the employer need not give a holiday with wages.

Regards, N. Nataraajhan
Sakthi Management Services
[Phone Number Removed For Privacy-Reasons]
[Email Removed For Privacy Reasons]

Leave rules are basically for the minimum leave to be given, categories of leave like CL, PL, SL. During Privilege Leave (Earn Leave), National Holidays are excluded. As far as National Holidays are concerned, I do not find any reason for marking CL or SL leave on National Holidays. I also do not find any exemption for the same if any employee remains on leave before and after such a holiday. You may include the same in your Standing Order if you want to.

Regards,
RB

Dear Mahesh, I think this has not happened for the first time in your organization. Follow the leave rules of your organization. You need to determine the category of your organization and follow the relevant rules of the state where it exists if no set leave rule is there. One needs to understand what a paid holiday is. If a person works on any paid holiday, they are paid ordinarily double the rate of wages or given a leave in lieu of wages or as per the rules of that state.

Understanding Leave and Holiday Rules

There are several set rules framed under different acts on the interpretation of leave and holidays, such as the National and Festival Holidays Act-1963, Factory Act-1948, Shops and Commercial Establishment Act, and The Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act, 1946, etc. Some organizations do not consider 'Paid Holiday' in leave; for example, on three days of leave, it is considered as two days.

In our organization, if we take up to 3 leaves, it will be considered as CL, and more than 3 leaves will be considered as PL. If an employee is availing CL, then it will not count on any Sunday/holiday in between leaves. However, if an employee is availing PL, then all the Sundays/holidays falling in between leaves will be counted. So, as per your query, August 15 shall not be considered as leave since he has taken leave one day prior, i.e., on August 14, and one day after, i.e., on August 16.