Is It Fair to Count Sunday as Absent When Employees Take Leave on Saturday and Monday? Seeking Legal Insights and Alternatives

Dear Experts, I am working as an HR Executive in a reputed organization, and I would like to know about leave management. If an employee has taken 3 to 7 days of leave in a month, can there be any other deductions apart from the loss of pay due to their absence? We follow a Sunday/Monday schedule, where if an employee takes leave on Saturday (2nd off) and Monday (1st off), then Sunday will be considered absent.

I would like to know if this practice is fair with respect to the law. I kindly request all of you to suggest alternatives.

Thank you.

Understanding Leave Management

'Leave' refers to a leave of absence granted to an employee from work due to personal reasons. The classification and scales of leave are either statutorily defined or prescribed in the contract of employment. Leave is an integral part of the conditions of service in the realm of employment. However, the management of leave ultimately rests with the employer, as every leave other than medical leave requires the prior sanction of the employer. Frequent enjoyment of leave by employees could be detrimental to the work of the establishment. Therefore, it is said that leave cannot be claimed as a matter of right by an employee. The effective implementation of a leave policy in an organization depends on the genuineness of the leave requirement of the employees and the reasonable attitude of the leave-sanctioning authority. No hard and fast rule can be laid down in this regard.

Sunday, being a compulsory weekly holiday, cannot be denied just because the employee availed half a day leave on the second half of Saturday and the first half of Monday, respectively.