Can an Employee Use Half a Day of Casual or Sick Leave for a Full Day Absence?

Kindly advise and confirm for me, if an employee is absent for a day and has a leave balance of 0.5 CL/SL, can they take casual or sick leave for only half a day.

Dear Vidya,

The leave policy management differs from company to company. In some companies, one-day leave can be booked as two sessions, which means half a day leave is possible. Employees are entitled to utilize the existing leave balance, and in your case, yes, the balance of 0.5 days can be availed. As the employee was absent for one day, the remaining half day can be deducted from the next quarter or year entitlement or simply as LOP of half a day.

Regards,
Thiyagu

Thank you so much, Sir. Need guidance in one more case. As casual leave and sick leave are availed for the current year, if an employee has only 5 opening SL/CL for the current year and was absent for 2 days, can we provide him with the whole 2 days CL/SL (whichever is applicable), or will it be based on the working such as 5/12 = number of leaves earned for the month. Kindly clarify.

Regards,
Vidya S. Negi

Leave Entitlement and Pro-Rated Leave Calculation

As the entitlement is for 5 days, if an employee avails 2 days of leave, this can be deducted from the entitlement of 5 days. The pro-rated leave calculation can be done if an employee leaves the company. At that time, the entitlement can be calculated for the number of months worked, and if there is any negative leave balance from the employee (leave taken beyond entitlement), this can be deducted from the final settlement.

Standardizing Leave Policy

Meanwhile, I suggest you consider standardizing your leave policy, which highlights the total leave entitlement and the maximum number of days that can be taken in a single slot, along with the process around this. In my previous company, the total leave entitlement was divided into 4 quarters. This division allows both the employee and the employer to manage leaves effectively. If an employee exhausts the leave balance of one quarter, the entitlement from the next quarter will be used, and the opening balance for the next quarter will be displayed as (Quarter entitlement - extra leaves taken in the previous quarter).

Regards,
Thiyagu