Holiday Pay Eligibility: Do You Need to Work Before or After the Festival Day?

Rules for Holiday Payment

What are the rules for holiday payment? If a person is present one day before or after the declared festival holiday, will they be eligible for payment for the festival day, or is there any other rule to fulfill the eligibility for payment for the festival day?

Sandwich Rule and the Factories Act

The sandwich rule does not apply to leaves allowed under the Factories Act. It is clearly stated that any holiday or weekly off day intervening between two leaves (annual leave with wages) should be treated as a holiday only. However, in the case of long leaves like maternity leave, it shall be considered leave only, and no separate treatment is to be given to the festival holiday. Similarly, you can treat a holiday in between two leaves without pay as leaves only.

Organizational Practices for Holidays Between Leaves

In practice, most organizations have the following system with respect to holidays coming in between two leaves:

1. Casual leave: Holidays sandwiching two casual leave days shall be treated as casual leave, and no casual leave will be debited for such holidays.
2. Sick leave: Holidays sandwiching two sick leave days shall be treated as leave, and sick leave will be debited for that holiday.
3. Earned leaves: Holidays sandwiching two earned leave days shall be treated as leave, and earned leave will be debited for that holiday.

Suppose an employee has attended duty on Monday, Tuesday is declared a festival holiday, and Wednesday he is on leave. Will he be eligible for wages for the particular holiday, or is any number of days' attendance also required to receive festival day pay? Kindly clarify.

Eligibility for Wages During Holidays

Regarding eligibility for wages during holidays, you have to refer to your state's National and Festival Holidays Act. Under the Kerala Act (Kerala Industrial Establishments (National and Festival Holidays) Act), an employee shall not be paid wages for the festival holidays if they have not worked for 30 days in a period of 90 days preceding the holiday. Please refer to your state's Act.

Telangana Govt's National and Festival Holidays Act

The Act states the following:

Provided that no wages for any such holiday shall be allowed in respect of any employee who has not worked for at least thirty days within a continuous period of ninety days immediately preceding that holiday, or who is on leave with wages during any period including any such holiday.

Thank you,