Navigating Leave Policies: Which Act Applies to Our Diverse Workforce?

Company Overview

Ours is a pharmaceutical company based in Punjab. We have a total of 350 people associated with our company:

About 60 persons as production staff (staff & workers) in the manufacturing unit (outskirts of Ludhiana).

About 20 persons in the admin staff working in the same premises of the manufacturing unit (outskirts of Ludhiana).

About 20 persons in the admin staff working in the registered office based in the main city of Ludhiana.

About 250 sales staff (managers and medical representatives) working in the field in various states of India.

Query on Leave Policy and Service Rules

My query is to know exactly under which act our leave policy and other service rules should fall: Sales Promotion Employees Act/Shop and Establishment Act/Factory Act?

Should we have a single leave policy for all or separate policies for sales staff, factory staff, and registered office staff?

...SM...

Dear Colleague,

In my view, you should follow the leave policy as defined and applicable to three distinct sets of employees: Factory, Shops Act, and Sales Promotion employees. The Acts provide for minimum conditions, and you have the scope to improve them later when needed.

Regards,
Vinayak Nagarkar
HR Consultant

Leave Policy for Different Employee Categories

In respect of the 60 members of production staff and 20 administrative staff working within the premises of the Manufacturing Unit registered under the Factories Act, 1948, the leave provisions of the Factories Act would be applicable.

All the administrative staff employed in the registered office in the city of Ludhiana would be covered under the State's Shops and Establishments Act, and as such, so are their leaves too.

Leave Provisions for Sales Staff

Among the sales staff, those who fall under the definition of "Sales Promotion Employee" under section 2(d) of the Sales Promotion Employees (Conditions of Service) Act, 1976, would be covered by the leave provisions of section 4 of the Act. You can find the various kinds of leave applicable to SPEs, their scale, method of sanction, encashment, etc., in the SPE Rules, 1976.

Therefore, your leave policy should comprise the leave provisions of the Factories Act, S&E Act, and the SPE Act, 1976 concerning the category of employees falling under each of them.