Can Employees Use Earned Leave for Sickness After Exhausting Sick Leave?

I am an HR professional at a software company. I have a question related to sick leave and earned leave.

Sick Leave and Earned Leave Policy

Sick leave is 12 days per year, and earned leave (EL) is 18 days per year. If an employee uses his sick leave in the first 6 months and falls sick again in the same year, can he avail the earned leave for the same purpose? Please explain.

Regards, Usha

Earned Leave Entitlement in Different States

In which state is the EL 18 days? Most states typically offer 12 or one day for every 20 days worked, allowing for a maximum of 15 leaves. This is because leave is earned based on the days physically worked, considering around 52 weekly offs as well as a few national holidays and festivals. The maximum days that can be earned as leave would be around 300. For an IT company operating on a 5-day workweek, the accrued leave may be even less than 15.

Utilizing Earned Leave When Sick Leave is Exhausted

Moving on to the issue at hand, if an employee exhausts their sick leave entitlement, they can utilize their earned leave. However, certain state laws impose restrictions on how many times an employee can avail EL in a year; some states allow only three instances. Consequently, the employee may face challenges in accessing further EL. Where such restrictions are absent, EL can be approved when an employee falls sick.

Dear Sir/Madam,

An employee does not become sick due to having a sick leave balance. They will return to work when the doctor recommends them to do so, even if the duration of their sickness extends beyond their available sick leave balance. In such cases, other types of leave may be granted. It is important to acknowledge that taking leave is not ideal, but the approval of alternative leave should not be refused.

Thank you.

If someone uses up all their sick days in the first half of the year and gets sick again later, they can use their earned leave for the same reason. You can usually use earned leave for different things like being sick, going on vacation, or personal matters, depending on what your company says. Just make sure to check with HR or your company's leave policy to know for sure.

Yes. If an employee gets sick again later, will you make the employee take sick leave without pay even if the employee has leave in their account? The employee will use Earned Leave (EL) for sick leave if sick leave has already been used. If EL is finished, then the employee will be on leave without pay.

Sick Leave and Earned Leave Usage

All 12 sick leave (SL) days were used in the first 6 months of the year. It seems they were misused as casual leave (CL). Now the employee is sick again, and earned leave (EL) is in credit. EL may be sanctioned in this case if it is genuine.

Control Over Sick Leave Sanction

There are organizations that require a medical certificate even for a 1-day SL. It is necessary to have some control over SL sanction.

Regards, S K Bandyopadhyay (WB, Howrah) CEO-USD HR Solutions [Phone Number Removed For Privacy-Reasons] [Email Removed For Privacy Reasons]