Understanding Leave Rules Under Maharashtra Shops and Establishments Act: Can You Clarify These Points?

Dear All, I have the following queries related to the leave rules and would appreciate it if you could help me sort out these queries.

Maharashtra Shops and Establishments Act of 2017

a) I have recently come across the Maharashtra Shops and Establishments Act of 2017, where it is mentioned that "Every worker who has worked for a period of two hundred and forty days or more in an establishment during a calendar year shall be allowed, during the subsequent calendar year, leave with wages for a number of days calculated at the rate of one day for every twenty days of work performed by him during the previous calendar year." So, does it mean that for 312 working days (365 days less 48 week-offs), there are 15.6 days of earned leave for a year?

Leave Admissibility and Holidays

b) Also mentioned in the act is "The leave admissible under this section shall be exclusive of all holidays whether occurring during or at the end of the period of leave." So, are any week-offs or public holidays in between the leaves availed the exclusive right of leaves? For example, if an employee takes leave on Friday and Tuesday (Saturday and Sunday are the weekend off, and Monday is a public holiday), will Friday to Monday be considered as leaves, i.e., 5 days, or not, i.e., only 2 days of leave?

Leave Encashment in Full and Final Settlement

c) As per the Shops and Establishment Act, is it mandatory to pay leave encashment in full and final settlement of an employee? Can the employer deny paying the eligible leave encashment amount to a resigned employee?

Kindly revert.

Dear friend,

Understanding Earned Leave

The nomenclature "Earned Leave" indicates that it is a leave earned by the employee through their attendance or the number of days they could be considered on duty. Therefore, the accrual of such leave is subject to a certain minimum number of days of attendance in a year, and the rate of accrual is computed as a proportion to a block of attendance. This is the universal concept and general method of calculation of E.L for employees.

Leave with Wages under the Maharashtra Shops and Establishments Act, 2017

The Leave with Wages prescribed under section 18(3) of the Maharashtra Shops and Establishments (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 2017 is also similar in this regard.

(a) The weekly holiday under section 18(1), the 8 days of Casual Leave under section 18(2), and the 8 festival holidays under section 18(7) have to be treated as duty even though the employee may not be required to work. Thus, in a year of 365 days, subtracting the above 68 days (52+8+8), the actual number of working days amounts to 297 days in a year. Therefore, the answer to your first query must be ascertained by also considering the situation of no work in the establishment, leave of absence due to maternity, the utilization of authorized E.L by the employee, and the involuntary absence of the employee as outlined under section 18(8)(a),(b),(c), and (d) respectively as the number of days worked by the employee. Hence, the maximum number of earned leave per year would be [365 x 1/20] = 18.25 or 18 days only.

(b) Based on the phrasing of section 18(9), your presumption appears correct to me.

(c) I would suggest you revisit the proviso to section 18(6).

Please let me know if you need further clarification.

I need a clarification: are these 8 casual leaves in addition to the 21 Privilege/Earned leaves, or have the PL/EL been abolished? Kindly clarify.

Dear sir,

I have been working with Logistiks Pvt Ltd company as an HR for the past 4 months, which falls under the Service Industry, governed by the Maharashtra Shops & Establishment Act.

I would like to inquire about the policy regarding opening leaves. Are they granted from 1st January or 1st April? Last year, the opening leaves were provided to employees on 1st April. Therefore, I seek confirmation on whether they are allocated from January or April.

Thank you.

Leave account of an employee gets opened effective from the date of his joining the organization only. Therefore, an employer cannot fix a date according to his administrative convenience.

However, lapsable leave, i.e., leave like C.L., S.L., the availment of which is on a calendar year basis, syncs and coterminates with the particular year.

https://paycheck.in/labour-law-india...ays/paid-leave

There's a section called BOMBAY SHOPS AND ESTABLISHMENTS ACT, 1948

No sick leaves - they're part of the overall leaves for the year, as far as I understood. Please confirm this? It also enforces sandwich leaves.

Plus, it says they provide at least seven holidays for national and other festivals. Republic Day, Independence Day, and Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday are compulsory holidays. Employers and employees have the right to decide the remaining national and festival holidays. Similarly, a minimum of seven days of casual leave and 14 days of sick leave is provided to employees.

BOMBAY SHOPS AND ESTABLISHMENTS ACT, 1948

Type of Leave:
- Privileged Leave/Earned Leave
- Casual Leave
- Sick Leave
- Maternity Leave

Quantum per year:
- 21 days on working 240 days in a year
- Nil
- Nil
- Provisions of Maternity Benefits Act, 1961 to apply

Entitlement:
- 5 days after 3 months on completion of 60 days working in that period
- Nil
- Nil

Accumulation:
- 42 days
- Nil
- Nil

Computation:
- Suffixed or prefixed holidays to the leave period shall not be accounted as leave.
- Holidays or Sundays falling between the period of leave shall be treated as leave.

Leave for Shops & Establishment

Type of Leave | Leave Entitlement | Max Carry Forward Days

Sick Leave
- No provision for sick leave
- Not Applicable

Casual Leave (Days)
- 8 Days
- Not Applicable

Earned / Privileged Leave
- 5 Days (for every 60 days worked)
- 18 Days (for every 240 days worked)
- 45 Days

Working Hours for Shops & Establishment
- Normal Working Hours: Nine hours in a day and forty-eight hours in a week
- Interval for Rest: After five hours of work, an interval of rest of at least half an hour
- Maximum Overtime Hours: One hundred and twenty-five hours in a period of three months
- Spreadover Hours: Ten and a half hours in a day
- Rate of OT Wages: Twice the ordinary rate of wages

The Maharashtra Shops and Establishments (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 2017

Section 18 of The Maharashtra Shops and Establishments (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 2017 reads as follows:

Chapter IV: Leave with Pay and Payment of Wages

18. Leave

(1) Every worker shall be allowed a weekly holiday with wages.

(2) Every worker shall be entitled to eight days of casual leave with wages in every calendar year, which shall be credited to the worker's account on a quarterly basis but shall lapse if unavailed at the end of the year.

(3) Every worker who has worked for a period of two hundred and forty days or more in an establishment during a calendar year shall be allowed, during the subsequent calendar year, leave with wages for a number of days calculated at the rate of one day for every twenty days of work performed by him during the previous calendar year.

(4) Subject to the provision of clause (3), every worker who has been employed for not less than three months in any year shall, for every sixty days on which he has worked during the year, be allowed leave, consecutive or otherwise, for a period of not more than five days.

(5) Every worker shall be permitted to accumulate earned leave up to a maximum of forty-five days.

(6) Where the employer refuses to sanction the leave under sub-section (3) which is due when applied for fifteen days in advance, then the worker shall have the right to encash leave in excess of forty-five days: Provided that if a worker is entitled to leave other than casual and festival leave under this section, is discharged by his employer before he has been allowed the leave, or if, having applied for and having been refused the leave, he quits his employment on account of retirement, resignation, death, or permanent disability, the employer shall pay him full wages for the period of leave due to him.

(7) A worker shall be entitled to eight paid festival holidays in a calendar year, namely, 26th January, 1st May, 15th August, and 2nd October, and four such other festival holidays as may be agreed to between the employer and the workers as per the nature of business, before the commencement of the year. For a holiday on these days, he shall be paid wages at a rate equivalent to the daily average of his wages (excluding overtime), which he earns during the month in which such compulsory holidays fall: Provided that the employer may require any worker to work in the establishment on all or any of these days, subject to the conditions that for such work, the worker shall be paid double the amount of the daily average wages and also leave on any other day in lieu of the compulsory holiday.

(8) For the purpose of sub-section (3),

(a) any days of lay-off, by agreement or contract or as permissible under the model standing orders or standing order certified under the Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act, 1946;

(b) in the case of a woman worker, maternity leave as provided for in the Maternity Benefits Act, 1961;

(c) the leave earned in the year prior to that in which the leave is availed; or

(d) the worker has been absent due to temporary disablement caused by an accident arising out of and in the course of his employment, shall be deemed to be days on which the worker has worked in any establishment for the purpose of the computation of the period of two hundred and forty days or more but shall not earn leave for these days.

(9) The leave admissible under this section shall be exclusive of all holidays whether occurring during or at the end of the period of leave.

(10) Every worker shall be paid for the period of his leave earned under sub-sections (3) and (4) at a rate equivalent to the daily average of his wages for the days on which he actually worked during the preceding three months, exclusive of any earnings in respect of overtime.

Leave with Pay and Payment of Wages

(3) Every worker who has worked for a period of two hundred and forty days or more in an establishment during a calendar year shall be allowed, during the subsequent calendar year, leave with wages for a number of days calculated at the rate of one day for every twenty days of work performed by him during the previous calendar year.

(4) Subject to the provision of clause (3), every worker who has been employed for not less than three months in any year shall, for every sixty days on which he has worked during the year, be allowed leave, consecutive or otherwise, for a period of not more than five days.

(8) For the purpose of sub-section (3),
(a) any days of lay-off, by agreement or contract or as permissible under the model standing orders or standing order certified under the Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act, 1946;
(b) in the case of a woman worker, maternity leave as provided for in the Maternity Benefits Act, 1961;
(c) the leave earned in the year prior to that in which the leave is availed; or
(d) the worker has been absent due to temporary disablement caused by an accident arising out of and in the course of his employment, shall be deemed to be days on which the worker has worked in any establishment for the purpose of computation of the period of two hundred and forty days or more, but shall not earn leave for these days.

(9) The leave admissible under this section shall be exclusive of all holidays whether occurring during or at the end of the period of leave.

Here, I am reproducing some of the provisions of section 18, MH Shop Act. I have done a lot of research but am still awaiting some clarity on this.

My Questions

1) How can section 3 and section 4 co-exist? As per section 3, the rate of leave is one leave for every twenty days worked. As per section 4, it is one leave for every twelve days worked.

2) For the purpose of calculating 240 days of work performed, should we include (add) section 8 a, b, c, d, or should we exclude it? The above provision says you should consider those days as "deemed to have worked," but cannot earn leave on these days. If we are considering these days in the calculation of 240 days, then the number of leaves will be based on that only. Seems totally confusing.

3) Can we include weekly offs and holidays in calculating 240 days of work performed? To clarify, can we consider that the employee has worked on these days (week offs/holidays) for calculating 240 days? For example, can I credit 18.25 leaves for a person who has worked for the full year of 365 days (365/20 = 18.25)? Is this correct? Note: Here I have considered all the intervening holidays and week offs "as work performed" for the calculation.

Can any legal expert help in interpreting this?

Hello, since sick leave is not provided, it is not required that employees take a certain number of days off for sick leave.