How Should We Handle Teacher Salaries During Winter Break When Contracts Expire?

Hello everyone, good morning. I wanted your help in clarifying a few doubts. I work in a school as an HR professional. We hand out contracts to our teachers beginning on Jan 1st till Dec 31st every year. The contracts get renewed every year on 1st Jan unless they are terminated. However, due to the pandemic, the CBSE has made changes in the exam and academic schedule.

Contractual Concerns During the Pandemic

For this year (2021), we have 2 terms. The 1st term got over in the 2nd week of December. The 2nd term begins in Jan till March/April. The issue is that two of our teachers have submitted their resignation letters on 1st November. Our notice period is for 3 months. They are currently serving their notice period.

Salary Payment During Winter Break

Now I am confused, since the contract expires on the 31st December, should they be paid salary during the short winter break of 20 days in January? They will be rejoining work on Jan 17th till the end of Feb/March. They will be paid once they rejoin till the last working day, of that I am clear. My confusion is regarding the payment of salary during the winter break (especially after 1st Jan) as their contract will have expired on 31st Dec.

Please share your suggestions. Thank you.

Kind regards,
Phuntsog Pulger.

Dear Colleague, kindly check the terms of the contract for any specific mention about this. In the absence of it and in the case that the contract expires in December and no fresh contract is given immediately in January, then there is no question of paying for the winter break as you have no valid contract between the institution and the teacher. If you issue the contract only after the winter break, technically you may not pay for the break days. However, check for past practices in the same institution, the internal policies, the impact it is creating, etc. If you pay for the winter break, that will amount to a continuous contract. If you want to pay, you have to do it as a one-time payment along with the December salary itself to keep them motivated if your organization allows it.

You have not been clear on various terms of the contract, so we can only guess. If your teachers are on notice pay and will be working for you even though the contracts technically expire, they are working for you during the winter break. Therefore, by law, you need to pay them for the holiday period.

Though their contract expires on December 31st, you want the resigned teachers to report back on January 17th and continue until the end of the notice period, which is the end of January 2022. Since they are required to continue until then, they would have to be paid for the break period.