How Do You Calculate Leave When an Employee Takes 20 Days Off Including Weekends?

Dear All,

I have a query. Can you please help me here? If an employee takes leave continuously for 20 days, are weekends also needed to count as leaves?

For example, from 6th Nov to 23rd Nov is taken as leave (total 17 days), with 4 of those days falling on weekends. The employee has 7 leave balance. Please help me with how to calculate LOPs.

Thanks in advance,

Vasavi

Understanding Leave Calculation Under the Factories Act

The Factories Act (applicable to factories only) specifically mentions that any weekly off or holidays intervening two 'annual leave with wages' or simply earned leave shall not be counted as leave but should be allowed as a holiday or weekly off day, as the case may be. This is because an employee 'earns' earned leave based on the days he was physically present in the factory, and he will not earn leave for the weekly off days, holidays, or days he was on leave. As such, if you have granted continuous 20 days of leave, then any weekly off or holiday should not be counted as leave but only as off/holiday.

Application to Other Establishments

If you extend the same principle to other establishments, any leave, the accrual of which is based on the number of days worked in the previous year, should be without any weekly off or holidays intervening. Leaves like casual leave or sick leave, which are always a whole number fixed for the year, can be made continuous. An employee falling sick on Saturday is presumed to be sick on Sunday also if he is sick on Monday. He cannot say that he was alright on Sunday. Maternity leave is a wholesome fixed and is continuous for 26 weeks, and the same should include all weekly off and holidays, and she cannot demand holidays and weekly off days separately.

Dear Vasavi,

It depends on the leave policy of the organization. If you have a sandwich leave policy, then holidays and weekends falling in between the leaves will be counted as leave days. If you do not have a sandwich leave policy, in that case, holidays and weekends falling in between leaves will not be counted as leave days. Any employer is free to adopt a sandwich leave policy.

@Vishwas, no employer has the right to adopt a sandwich policy by themselves because leaves are regulated by certain laws. The leaves granted over and above what is there under the Act can depend on the "leave policy of the ORGANISATION".

Please let me know if you need any further assistance.

Hi Madhu T K, with due respect, there is no legal restriction on sandwich leave in India, and it doesn't violate any of the factory laws. Therefore, it can be adopted by any employers.

@Ms. Vishawas,

Can you show me the section/provision under the Factories Act, Plantation Labour Act, Mines Act, or any of the State Shops and Commercial Establishments Act which defines 'sandwich' leave and allows an employer to sandwich a holiday by leave?

@Madhu T K,

I have been following your posts since I joined CiteHR. I am confident about the statement I gave above. I can show you your own comments in favor of sandwich leave from the year 2018. I will rest my case as your junior if you show me a single verdict from any of the courts in India against the sandwich leave policy.

Yes, what I have said in my reply to this thread is the same, that for sick leave (medical leave), sandwiching applies because it is a certain number and not dependent upon the number of days worked in the previous year. It is also based on the presumption that you cannot say you were not sick on a Sunday, weekly off day, or holiday if the prefix and suffix are on leave due to illness. It is applicable to long leaves. However, there is no legal support but only interpretation. That is why I have referred to the Factories Act, which intentionally excludes weekly off and holidays intervening the annual leave with wages or earned leave. Earned leave means leaves earned by working for certain days in the previous year (240 days) and at the rate of one day for every 20 days physically worked. If you bring sandwiching there, it will be illegal. If the organization is introducing sandwiching as a policy, it will not be legally enforceable. Still, any leave over and above what is said under the Act can be as per the organization's policy.

When the Factories Act very clearly says that holidays intervening annual leave (earned leaves) should not be treated as leaves, should anyone go for a legal battle? If traced, you will get verdicts also. If time permits, I will also find a few verdicts which clarify explanation 2 of section 79 of the Factories Act.