Holiday During Leave: Does It Count as a Day Off or Part of Your Leave?

Dear Sir, If a holiday falls in between a leave period, will it be counted as leave or as a holiday?

Regards,
Amod
HR

Leave Policy and Holiday Treatment

If the leave availed is 'annual leave with wages' or privileged leave/earned leave as per the Factories Act, the holiday intervening two leaves shall not be counted as leave but should be marked as a holiday. However, in the case of casual leave (CL) or sick leave (SL), which are given in addition to the statutory leave under the Factories Act, they can be treated differently as per the leave policy or settlement with the employees. The same principle applies to Mines and Plantations as well.

In the case of establishments other than Factories, Mines, and Plantations, such as shops and commercial establishments, the state law will apply. Most of the Acts are silent regarding the treatment of holidays coming in between the leave days. Therefore, you have to cross-check with the state Act to clarify the matter.

Understanding Earned Leave

Earned leave is leave earned by working for a certain number of days in the preceding year. The number of earned leave (EL) or privileged leave (PL) also depends on the number of days the employee had worked (specifically, the number of days the employee had been physically present for work) in the preceding year. In such a scenario, it is a leave "earned" on the basis of physical working, and therefore, the employee has a right to use it judiciously. Therefore, holidays should be excluded from the leaves.

Casual and Sick Leave

At the same time, CL or SL is a certain number, say SL of 12 days for 12 months/per annum. It is given even if the employee works for a certain qualifying number of working days. Similarly, it is given during the first year of service as well. Moreover, an employee who falls sick on Saturday and Monday is presumed to be sick on Sunday also, and he cannot claim, "I was perfectly alright on Sunday!"

Dear Amod,

Mr. Madhu has provided a very good explanation for your query. The holiday that falls in between leave can be counted as leave or as a holiday on a case-by-case basis.

Adopting a Leave Policy

This type of question is common for establishments that do not have a leave policy. In my suggestion, you need to adopt a leave policy for the establishment to avoid confusion.

If a national holiday (NH) and a festival fall on the same day (for example, 02-10-25, Dussehra and Gandhi Jayanti), what is considered the actual day? Is it counted as a national holiday or a festival?

National Holidays and Festival Holidays

Only the national holiday is to be observed mandatorily. The festival holidays shall be decided in consultation with the employees. Therefore, if any of the festival holidays falls on a day on which the company will be closed otherwise, say due to the day being Sunday or a National Holiday, like 2nd October, then you can give another day as a holiday.

At the same time, the national holidays are date-specific, and therefore, the employer need not give a compensatory holiday if the said national holiday falls on a weekly off day, such as Sunday.

Service Regulations and Leave Rules

As far as service regulations are concerned, for instance, the CCS (Leave) Rules, 1972 applicable to Central Government employees, holidays falling between leave periods would be treated as leave; however, holidays could be suffixed or prefixed. If on leave supported by a medical certificate, the entire period commencing from the date of issue of the said certificate until the date of the fitness certificate would be treated as a leave period.

Casual Leave and Holidays

However, the person availing Casual Leave is considered to be on duty. Hence, holidays between days on CL could be treated as a holiday. Incidentally, other types of leave cannot be combined with CL.

Mr. Madhu has explained quite in detail. However, I am from the largest coal company in India, Coal India Ltd. In Coal India, national holidays and other paid holidays are not counted as part of any leave.