Understanding Sunday Holiday Pay: How Do Absences Affect Employee Benefits?

Dear Sir, kindly provide your guidance and clarification on the following points:

1. Suppose an employee is absent on Saturday and attends work on Monday, should the Sunday holiday benefit be given or not?

2. Suppose an employee is present on Saturday and absent from work on Monday, should the Sunday holiday benefit be given or not?

3. If an employee is absent continuously from Saturday to Monday and present for work on Tuesday, should Sunday be considered as Loss of Pay, or should the holiday benefit be given?

4. Usually, according to my knowledge, if an employee has worked on either side of the Sunday weekly holiday, the holiday benefit is given. The employee will not be given the holiday benefit if they are absent on both Saturday and Monday.

5. Are the above points covered under any industrial law or rules, or is it as per established practice in the industry?

6. Clarification for the above has been sought because it has been disputed, and an authentic clarification has been sought. Hence this query.

Your valuable feedback on the above is highly appreciated.

Sunday Holiday Benefit: When Should It Be Given?

Suppose an employee is absent on Saturday and attends work on Monday, should the Sunday holiday benefit be given or not? It depends upon the employer's leave policy rules.

Suppose an employee is present on Saturday and absent from work on Monday, should the Sunday holiday benefit be given or not? It should certainly be given.

Continuous Absence and Holiday Benefit

If an employee is absent continuously from Saturday to Monday and present for work on Tuesday, should Sunday be considered as Loss of Pay or should the holiday benefit be given? Sunday should be considered a loss of pay.

General Practice and Industry Standards

Usually, according to my knowledge, if an employee worked on either side of Sunday, the weekly holiday benefit is given. However, the employee will not receive the holiday benefit if they are absent on both Saturday and Monday. Some employers do not follow the sandwich weekly off rule.

Legal Clarification

Are the above points covered under any industrial law or rules, or is it as per established practice in the industry? Please refer to the Factories Act for clarification.

Clarification for the above has been sought because it has been disputed, and an authentic clarification has been requested.

Sandwiching of Holidays and Leave Rules

Though sandwiching of holidays is not permitted as per the Factories Act, establishments under the state Shops and Commercial Establishments Act are not required to follow this rule. The primary reason the Factories Act does not allow sandwiching is that it only provides for one type of leave, i.e., earned leave, which can be availed only three times a year. Many establishments have their own leave rules, which may be more generous than those provided under the Act. For example, they might offer more earned leave, such as 1 day for every 15 days worked or even 1 day for every 10 days worked, along with 12 days of casual leave and 15 days of sick leave.

While drafting such leave rules, it is permissible to include a provision that any person who takes leave before and after a holiday will lose the holiday, or the holiday will also be counted as leave. However, in the absence of any additional leaves other than those provided under the Factories Act, you cannot enforce a rule that sandwich holidays will be counted as leave.

Leave Rules Under Shops and Commercial Establishments Act

In establishments covered by the Shops and Commercial Establishments Act, there is no specific mention about the treatment of casual leave (CL), privilege leave (PL), or sick leave (SL). This is true in states like Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and a few others. Although I am not sure about other states, I presume it should be similar. You can interpret that PL, being a planned leave, should count any holiday between two PL days as leave.

Similarly, if an employee is sick on Saturday and again on Monday, it can be presumed that they will be sick on Sunday as well. In the case of SL, sandwiched holidays can also be counted as leave. On the other hand, casual leave is taken for engagements of a very casual nature, which may not require a full-day absence from the workplace, like visiting a public office. There is a possibility that the employee may be contacted over the phone for various clarifications from the office. In such cases, if the employee needs to take leave after a holiday, the holiday need not be counted as leave.

The same logic can be applied to maternity leave as well.