Cultural Holidays for PAN India Employees: Can They Be Offered on a Pro-Rata Basis?

We are working with PAN India employees, and we have some restricted cultural holidays. I want to know if cultural holidays can be considered on a pro-rata basis or not?

It is suggested that you may consider granting the remaining restricted holidays in the calendar year. In case the holidays are fixed, proportionate holidays can be allowed if the number of holidays allowed is fixed, and the employees can choose any. Fractions of 0.5 and above can be rounded up.

We added cultural holidays on a pro-rata basis; that's why it always comes in decimal, and leaves and holidays in the portal cannot be rounded up. Even a few employees are asking why we can't take the total optional cultural holiday entitlement for that particular calendar year because if they join in the middle of the year, they won't have any remaining cultural holidays balance due to the pro-rata calculation.

First of all, it was necessary for you to clarify what 'Cultural Holidays' are, presuming it to be festival holidays as it is popularly known. The pro-rata accretion is a bit unfair as most of these holidays fall in the second half of the year, and those who join then, say in October, will have some grievances. You may consider switching over to the actual incidence of holidays remaining in the year for the inductions of 2022 onwards.

Dear Anchal Gaur, the eligible employee can have the restricted holidays along with other holidays of the establishment. The holidays are date-specific and can be taken on the particular day. As per the rule, an employee is eligible for 3 national holidays and a minimum of 4 festival holidays (chosen by the establishment). Therefore, leaves under these categories cannot be granted on a pro-rata basis.

There are many establishments that have a policy where the employee can avail leave for festivals on any day they wish.