Can We Reduce Leave Days for a 5-Day Workweek in UP? Seeking Advice on Policy Changes

Defining Leave Policy for IT Company in UP

I have joined an IT company registered in UP with an office in Noida. We work 5 days a week. Currently, there is no pre-defined leave policy; we provide 21 days of leave to employees along with 10 festival holidays. I have now been tasked with defining the leave policy.

After conducting my research, I discovered that in UP, leaves need to be provided as follows:

1. Earned Leave - After 12 months of continuous service - 15 days
2. Sick Leave - After 6 months of continuous service - 15 days
3. Casual Leave - After 6 months of continuous service - 10 days

Possibility of Reducing Leave Days

Given that we work for 5 days, is there any possibility to reduce the number of leaves as specified above (if it's correct)?

An early response would be highly appreciated!

You have to follow the same leave rules as stated in the Act, even if you work for 5 days. When you work for 5 days, each day will likely contain more than 8 hours, I presume. For a week, it may total around 45 hours, which is just short of 3 hours only.

Dear friend,

Since most IT units are covered under the Shops & Commercial Estt. Act, it becomes mandatory for any employer to follow the leave rules provided therein. The 5-day working routine doesn't come into the picture. Apparently, there is a link between the months/years of service rendered to be eligible for Earned Leave/Privilege Leave and sick leave, Casual Leave, which does not get affected by the 5-day-a-week working schedule.

The standards of working days/hours prescribed in any establishment-specific labor law are the maximum, and the type and total number of days of leave are the minimum, considering the peculiarity of the nature of work normally performed by the employees in such establishments. If an employer decides to reduce the number of working days in a week due to the nature of work demanding more physical or mental strain, they can do so with or without a suitable change in the total number of daily working hours within the maximum statutory limit. Though the computation of any leave and its availment is related to the attendance of the employees or the number of working days, you should not lose sight of the legal position that working days include holidays and authorized leave availed. That's the implied logic behind the answers of the above two learned members, and I do hope that you got it now.

Understanding Leave Provisions

A bare reading of the act sometimes misleads the result. The intention behind the leave provision is to provide for work hours, resting time, and minimum leaves.

In case the establishment provides 2 weekly offs instead of 1, then the benefit of 52 paid leaves has already been provided because skilled staff employed on a CTC basis.