Struggling with Leave Policies: How Do Holidays and Leaves Differ in Your Company?

Dear Seniors, I am working in a software development firm as an HR person. Until now, we never had any leave policy in our office. Now, the partners are deciding to adopt one. I proposed to them that there should be a minimum of 21 days' leave granted to the employees. However, the top bosses are not agreeing to it and are saying that the national holidays will be inclusive in the leave, which comes to 16 days in a year, and the rest 5 days the staff can take as leave.

Difference Between Holidays and Leaves

I would like to know if there is any difference between holidays and leaves, and if the difference is stated in any of the acts. Kindly let me know if there are any rules for holiday policy and leave policy. If there are, please share them with me. This way, the system is not beneficial to the staff and is also not professional. This is creating a kind of demotivation among the staff. Please help me at the earliest.

Regards, Divya

Difference Between Leave and Holiday

In a nutshell, leave is employee-centric, and a holiday is establishment-centric. This means leave is for the employee, and the holiday is for the establishment. On a holiday, the establishment is officially shut as per the law. Although no employee is required to report for work on a holiday, you cannot treat them as being on leave for that day because an employee remains absent from work not at his instance on a holiday but at the instance of the management. If he remains absent from work at his instance (as per his need) with the approval of the management, then he is said to be on leave. The number of leaves an employee enjoys in a year is stipulated by the relevant Shops Act or Factories Act, and that is the minimum entitlement. It cannot be adjusted against holidays of the establishment, despite the fact that the employee remains absent from duty in both cases.

Regards, B. Saikumar HR & Labour Relations Adviser Navi Mumbai