Struggling with Leave Calculations and Pro-rata Policies: Can Anyone Clarify This Confusing System?

Hi All,

Please help me out. I work in an IT Company; it's a small one with no HR. So I can't consult anyone other than questioning my busy boss. I am a novice in all these leave policies and don't know the exact laws and what benefits I must be getting as per law as far as leaves are concerned.

Could you please help me out in understanding (I have lots of questions and doubts) the leave rules as per our company's pro-rata basis?

Please rectify my doubts and notify me where I am going wrong in order to search for some rest from work.

Rules we follow:

1. In a year, 13 Festive Holidays.
2. No SL, ML, or other *L.
3. Weekly Holiday - 1 (Sunday), i.e., 6 Working days a week (**But we need to earn these Weekly Holidays as per the formula below)

**Weekly Paid Holidays:

Calculation:

We earn WEEKLY HOLIDAY on a pro-rata basis. The formula is: On Each Month:

Earned Weekly Holidays = No. Of Sundays / No. of Total Working Days * Total Days Present

Sample Data:

Apr-2008 -- 26 (Total Working Days) -- 24 (Total Days Present) -- 4 (Sundays) -- 2 (Absent) -- 4/26 = 0.15 -- 0.15 * 24 = 3.85

So instead of 4 Weekly Holidays (Sundays), I get 3.85 Weekly Holidays. But I can't work for the 0.15 on Sunday. Hence, I get nominal without pay if 0.15 from my salary.

Please verify if it is okay. I am not expecting much. But the message I receive underlying in this policy is that "I CAN'T TAKE ANY LEAVE IN A MONTH." IF I TAKE ONE DAY LEAVE, I WILL BE TAXED!!!! Whatever nominal it be.

But please read on because I would like to relate this earned Weekly Holiday with Earned Paid Leave:

RULE: 1 Paid Earned Leave per 12 days. (Remember here that this is the only leave that we get; we don't have SL, CL, etc.)

So taking again the above data as I worked for 24 days, I have earned 2 Leaves:

24/12 = 2

which I have spent also taking leave (which I termed as absent for ease of understanding)

NOW: What balance remains in my hand?

I have Enjoyed 4 Sundays (our company does not keep the office open on Sundays) + 2 ELs ====== 6

I have earned 3.85 + 2 = 5.85.

So, I am taxed 0.15 from my salary.

This seems nominal, but in 12 months if I keep on taking 2 leaves in each month (those who HAD Invented calendars keep many months with 5 Sundays, and at least 1 month in India with lots of Festive Holidays - where we are more taxed!!) it sums up to:

-5.03

Please refer to the attached XML file (in a zip file).

My doubts:

If you analyze the data properly, you would see that:

a) We are bound to take the Sundays' physical holiday. We can't work for some 0.15/4 days each Sunday coming to the office to compensate for the 0.15. So, this is getting balanced from the earned Leave.

b) Why should the "Paid Earned Leaves" be taxed? This is what I have earned working 24 days!!!!

I feel that the calculation of "Earned Weekly holiday" must not take the "Earned Leaves" into account. This is what's making the mess, I feel.

1. If I would like to get full payment without any deduction of without-pay in 1 year, the maximum number of leaves that I can take in a year is around 20. So, in a 365-days year, I need to work for 280 days. MY QUERY is this conducive to Employee's Health and properly supply ample refreshment where he has to work at least 50 hours a week. (this I also question - because someone said that the Law says that the maximum limit is 48 hours in a week - Is it true? Could anyone send me any reference?)

2. Does the standard pro-rata calculation provide this kind of calculation of Weekly Holidays? Is there any law of pro-rata calculation? Can anyone post me a reference to some company's policy with this kind of EARNED Weekly holiday?

3. This setup only encourages employees to come to work, in fear that even 1 day's leave can hamper their salary. Is this okay? I am not in a querrelling mood. But, I must need to understand it, react to it if I do not understand it properly else accept it as it's a fate of an employee. Just need to get some expert opinion.

Please do not answer "dude you are asking too much from our employer!" or "baby! this is it! accept!".

I would like someone who can take some time out of his/her precious time and answer to my queries (not in one liner).

Hi Sudipto,

I am not able to understand why you have to earn a weekly holiday. Sunday (or any day in a week) is by default a holiday that should be given to all employees. No labor law states that we should earn a holiday (Sunday) by working for 6 days.

The concept of Pro rata basis for earning a holiday on a Sunday is sounding questionable. I suggest you talk to the senior members of the company and have a clear idea about the leave policy.

Yes, I agree. This is against the law of the land. The senior management of the company should be aware of the Labour Laws and the local Shops and Establishment Act. You may choose to show them these acts and convince them to amend the leave policy as per the law applicable to your company.

Regards,
Byomjeet Mishra

Dear Mr. Chaudhry,

Your practice of calculating leave is very complicated, and I could not make any basic findings on it. Sorry.

Leave policy is purely an internal matter of an organization. There is no specific statute to prescribe a leave policy except the provisions in the Factories Act and National and Festival Holidays Act (state Act).

In general, an organization shall have 3 PAID national holidays (Jan 26, Aug 15, and Oct. 2) and festival holidays (some 8 to 12 depending on the company policy). In addition to these holidays, employees may be granted 12 casual leaves (@ 1 per month). From the second year of service onwards, in addition to CL, employees may be granted Earned Leave @ 1 day per 20 days worked in the preceding year. An employee who had not worked for at least 240 days in the preceding year shall not be eligible for EL. For calculating these 240 days, the days of Holidays, CL/ EL days, Weekly Off days, leave due to employment injury, etc., shall be counted as days worked. These provisions align with the provisions in the Factories Act, irrespective of any dispute whether the said Act applies to your organization or not.

All employees are eligible for one day of rest in a week, and that day shall be a paid day. It is very simple; your monthly salary needs to be divided by 30 instead of 26, and there is no need to show the weekly off payment separately.

Again, women employees who have worked for at least 80 days are eligible for 3 months (12 weeks, in fact) Maternity Leave. This is as per the Maternity Benefit Act.

The rest is at your organization's choice.

Regards,

Madhu.T.K

Hi All,

Thanks for your reply. I am afraid I do not have any reference or text that I can show to my top management. Actually, we don't have any HR department. We need to talk to the Director who has self-formulated this rule. So, it's tough to face him without some text in hand. Could anyone please provide me with a link or text from where I can learn in detail about this?

Another question: Ours is an IT software company. Does this company fall under the same laws that you are referring to - "Labour Laws and the Local Shops and Establishment Act"? We are located in Kolkata, West Bengal. Where can I find these local laws?

Thank you.

Hi Sudipto,

All IT companies do come under the Local Shop Act, and you can find the information on CITE HR in the 'download' section, or you can simply go through the attachment below.

Generally, in an IT firm, you earn 1.5 leaves per month, which is called earned leave. Additionally, you receive 12 CL/SL leaves for the whole year, i.e., 6-SL and 6-CL. Furthermore, you have maternity leave and paternity leave. The total earned leaves for the whole year are 18.

Hope this information is helpful.

Regards,
Kalpana

Thank you for the attachment, Kalpana.

Hi Sudipto, I hope you can use the Labour Law document attached by Kalpana and discuss it with your director.

Regards,
Sourabh

Hi Sudipto,

This is the first time I have come across such a weird leave calculation. The other senior members of the team have already updated you on the leave rules, so I have nothing more to add. But hats off to your CEO/Director who pays salary to his staff after taking into consideration such a cumbersome leave calculation.

All the best to you! I sincerely hope that the text provided by Kalpana serves as an eye-opener for your CEO.

Dear Friends,

Mr. Madhu is correct. The leave policy and leave rules are the organization's responsibility. I have posted earlier in this citehr "LEAVE POLICY FOR IT INDUSTRIES". Please go through it at once.

Regards,
PBS KUMAR