Struggling with Unplanned Leaves and Weekend Absences? How Can We Improve Our Leave Policy?

Hi,

We are an IT company based in Ludhiana and Mohali. We provide 12 paid leaves to employees currently, along with 10 public holidays.

Currently, I am facing a challenge with frequent unplanned leaves and leaves taken with weekends. Can anyone suggest how we can handle this issue? What leave policy can we implement to address this concern?

Thank you.

Leave Policy Compliance

Your company's leave policy should not be inferior to the one under your State's Shops and Commercial Establishments Act. Under the Punjab Shops and Commercial Establishments Act, there is a provision for granting leave with wages. Accordingly, it is 7 days of casual leave, 7 days of sick leave, and earned leave at the rate of one leave for every twenty days worked in the preceding year. If you are not providing the leaves as stipulated under the Act, first ensure compliance with the law.

Handling Unauthorized Leaves

Now, addressing the issue of unauthorized leaves, I suggest that the right to approve leave of any kind rests with the employer. If an employee takes leave without informing, you can mark it as absent without pay. If the employee repeats this behavior, issue a memo and warn of serious consequences, including termination from service.

Leave Calculation for 2020-2021

How should we work out the leave for the year 2020-2021 (April to March 2021)? We have already lost two months due to the lockdown period. We started the office in June. How do we calculate our leave balance, given that we provide 10 days of Casual Leave (C/L) and 11 days of Privilege Leave (P/L), totaling 21 days in a year as per the Shops and Establishment Act? How many days can we allocate this year? Please advise.

Regards, Jayant

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