How Can We Revamp Our Leave Policy to Prevent Unplanned Absences in a Small Software Firm?

Hi All, I'm working in a small-scale Pune-based software company as an HR. I'm the person handling both the in-house and remote team of 30 employees.

Current Leave Policy

We have a policy of one paid leave per month, and during the probation period of 3 months, no leaves are entitled to be paid. The leaves will carry forward to the next year as it is, and during the Full and Final (F&F), we will be doing encashment on the basic pay for all the pending leaves.

We also have yearly 12 festival holidays and operate as a 5-day working company.

Need for Policy Change

Now, I want to make some changes in the leave policy so that employees should not take random and unplanned leaves for a week. Because we are a small-scale company and our projects depend on each other.

Kindly suggest some leave policy for a small-scale company.

Hi Supriya,

As per your company policy, I understand that there is no paid time off for employees who are on probation. After probation, employees are given 12 days of leave annually. They are permitted to take one leave every month. More than one leave is deemed to be a loss of pay if it is taken within a month. Correct?

Option 1: Remove Carryforward Option

You may remove the carryforward option and instead refund the unused leaves in January of the following year so that there won't be as many leaves.

Option 2: HRMS Application and Reporting Structure

Do you use an HRMS application and have a reporting structure? If so, instruct the employees to include an approved email attachment with their leave application. They will lose their eligibility for the one paid leave for that month if they take longer continuous leaves than three days without any valid reason or when there is no approval.

I hope that helps a little.

Regards,
Gowtham

Before deciding on option 2 in my previous response, I also advise you to look up the Shops and Establishments Act leave policy for your region. You can also try rewarding employees who have not taken a single leave during that particular quarter with gifts or vouchers.