Leave Policy Dilemma: Should Companies Combine Medical and Earned Leave or Keep Them Separate?

Is it okay if an organization combines medical leave and earned leave, or is it mandatory that a company should provide two different types of leaves?

Hi, you need to provide leave as stipulated in the act that is applicable to your organization, and you cannot combine leaves at your discretion. While earned leave can be encashed, sick leave cannot be encashed and should only be availed in case of sickness.

Before we comment on it, we need to know the nature of your establishment, whether it is a factory, a software firm, or an office setup, as well as the number of employees there. As a general rule, the two are kept separate, and the terms and conditions for availing or accrual are different. It would be really hard to convince the Labour Inspector that the two have been merged and it is not prejudicial to the employees.

You have rightly pointed out the need to have a simple provision, and there is no need for all these different types of leaves like CL, EL, PL, AL, ML, HPL, EOL, LWP, etc., prevalent in many organizations.