How Many Paid Leave Days Should Employees Get in a 5-Day Workweek? Seeking Advice from Peers

Hi,

We are in the US healthcare industry based out in West India. We have a 5-day workweek, i.e., Monday to Friday. Could you please advise on the number of paid leave days to which an employee should be entitled in this case?

Understanding the Applicability of Labor Laws

Your business will fall under the Factories Act if you manufacture, and if you operate through an office, then you fall under the Shops and Establishments Act. The Factories Act is a central government statute, and as such, the leave provision will be the same in all states. According to the act, an employee who has worked for: a) 240 days in a calendar year or b) 2/3 of the working days if they had joined after 1st January in the previous year, will be entitled to 1 day of leave for every 20 days worked.

State-Specific Provisions Under the Shops Act

The Shops Act is a state statute. Depending on the state your employees are deployed in, the entitlement will differ.

Leave Provisions Under the Bombay Shop & Establishment Act 1948

Presuming that you are located in Maharashtra, the provisions of the Bombay Shop & Establishment Act 1948 would be applicable. The relevant part is Section 35 on Leave, which reads as follows:

(1) (a) Subject to the provisions of clause (b), every employee who has been employed for not less than three months in any year shall, for every 60 days on which they have worked during the year, be allowed leave, consecutive or otherwise, for a period of not more than five days.

(b) Every employee who has worked for not less than two hundred and forty days during a year [irrespective of the date of commencement of their service] shall be allowed leave, consecutive or otherwise, for a period of not less than twenty-one days:

Provided that such leave may be accumulated up to a maximum period of forty-two days.

You may consult the Act further to gather more details.