Candidate Concerned About Leave Policy Before Joining: How Should I Address This?

One of our selected candidates asked for CL benefits from the date of joining, but my company will give that benefit after six months (end of probation). I answered that he will get the benefit of CL after completion of the six-month duty, and he replied that it is his "loss of pay" if he is on leave. He has not joined yet but will join the company in May 2024. He is a good candidate, but I suspect he may or may not join the company. What should I do?

I understand the question like this: You have selected/issued an offer letter to a candidate, but he requires a few days' leave immediately after joining. Your company policy states that an employee is allowed to avail of leave only after six months or upon confirmation. He knows that the leave will not be granted but hopes to get it on a loss of pay basis. If you refuse to give him leave, he will join your company only in May.

Even if you allow him leave on a loss of pay, you will benefit from him only in May 2024. Let him join in May after he has resolved his personal emergencies for which he is asking for leave. This will help you maintain your HR policies, ensuring you don't dilute them for one employee. Also, why would you put an employee on the roll just to give him leave? An employee on leave is equivalent to an employee in service. Legally, once an employee joins, he is your employee. Suppose he does not return; you will end up sending show cause notices, termination letters, etc. Do you want that to happen?

Leave Policies Across Different Establishments

Various practices are followed by different establishments; it's not uniform across the sectors. Generally, CL of 12 days for a calendar year is the eligibility, which may be credited at the beginning of a calendar year for employees already in service from the previous year. Whereas, for persons who joined in the middle of the year, leave may be credited on a pro-rata basis. However, if such leave is credited and availed during the probation period, the employer will have the right to extend the probation period to the extent of leave availed. But it's not common in all establishments.

So far as the query is concerned, you have to go by what your leave policy and Standing Order say about it.