Employee Holidays and Leave

Policy

We at (company name) believe that a conglomerate can grow only if its employees are
happy and thriving. The Holidays and Leave Policy has been defined to ensure that our
staff can take time off for their needs and recreation.

What Are Leaves

Employees across all industries are entitled to a certain number of leaves per year
aside from the holidays and days off. The number and type of leave depends on the
organization, industry it caters to, and the state from where it runs its business. In
India, we generally follow three types of leaves namely annual leave, casual leave,
and medical/sick leave which an employee can avail without loss of pay. The other
two types of leaves are maternity and paternity leave.

What Are Holidays

Holidays are paid days off. The Indian government announces its holiday schedule
every year. The schedule is divided across three classifications: gazetted, restricted,
and state and union territory. Most companies in India offer 10 to 14 public holidays
depending upon the company’s practices and industry norms, and the discretion of
the concerned states.

Holidays And Leave Policy

The policy also outlines the days our company acknowledges as holidays and
provides relevant guidelines for holiday pay. This policy applies to all our employees.

Leaves
Annual Leave
Every employee is entitled to take (number of leaves) paid leaves every year.
Employees need to notify the approval manager in writing at least 15 days prior to
the date of availing annual leave. They can plan to take all or a portion of annual leave
provided. A request for annual leave may not be refused unless it contradicts with
already approved leaves. If taking in parts, annual leave cannot be taken more than
three times a year.
Annual leave may be carried over to the next year. However, no more than 12 days
can be carried over. If the employment contract expires before a worker takes annual
leave, compensation for leave is made in proportion to the number of months and
numbers of hours worked in a week. These leaves can also be encashed if the
employees leave the company. A day is considered as unpaid leave and the day’s pay
is cut from the salary if the number of annual leave is over.

Part-time workers are also entitled to 14 paid holidays per year. The same applies to
staff working irregular hours.

Casual Leave

This is another form of paid leave that is not earned by an employee. Employees can
take casual leave with or without prior permission of their manager. If informing the
concerned authority before the casual leave is not possible, employees need to get it
ratified within 7 days after they get back from the leave. Failure to do so may result in
a pay cut from the salary.

Sick/Medical Leave

Employees can opt for sick leave when they are ailing. However, a medical certificate
might be needed to get the sick leave approved. If the sick leaves are exhausted,
employees can use their annual leave to cover for additional days of leave. Unused
sick leave can be carried forward to the next year.

Employees can self-certificate for the first 2 days of sickness. After 2 days they will
need a doctor’s note. If it occurs just before or during annual leave, they can take that
time as sick leave instead.

Maternity Leave

To be eligible for maternity benefit, a woman must have been working as an

employee in the organization for a period of at least 80 days in the past 12 months.
Payment during the leave period is based on the average daily wage for the period of
actual absence i.e., full paid absence from work.

Female employees are entitled to 26 weeks of leave when she is pregnant.

Maternity leave of 12 weeks is available to mothers adopting a child below the age of
three months from the date of adoption.

Paternity Leave

Male employees who are soon to become fathers can avail up to 15 days of leave
within 6 months of their wife’s date of delivery. Once this quota gets over, they can
go for other paid or unpaid leaves.
Are You Eligible For Leave
Leave cannot be claimed as a matter of right. When the exigencies of the company so
require, discretion to refuse or revoke leave of any description is reserved to the
sanctioning authority. Employees will need to report back to their manager in such cases.
Else, the organization holds the authority to take action against the employee.

Holidays
National Public Holidays

Mandatory holidays for all the employees are the four national holidays – 26th Jan
(Republic Day), 1st May (Labour Day), 15th Aug (Independence Day) and 2nd Oct
(Gandhi Jayanti) and the public holidays that are published in the holiday calendar at the
start of every year.

Restricted Holidays

In addition to the public holidays, employees are also entitled to paid days-off during
festivals of the particular state of which they are a resource. These holidays are termed as
Restricted Holidays. From the list of published restricted holidays employees can choose
upto three restricted holidays as per their preference.

Holiday Calendar

The Holiday Calendar is published at the start of every year or in December of the
previous year. The calendar is also circulated through email for our employees to plan
their year.

List the main holiday dates in a year:

Date Name Type

1 Jan New Year’s Day Restricted Holiday
13 Jan Guru Govind Singh Jayanti Restricted Holiday
14 Jan Makar Sankranti Restricted Holiday
15 Jan Pongal Restricted Holiday
26 Jan Republic Day Gazetted Holiday

So on…
Compensation For Working On Public Holidays
If an employee misses a public holiday due to a compressed working week, they can take
a compensatory day as time off. Employees who want to take their substitute day must
inform their manager and HR.

Working On A Holiday
Whenever working on holidays becomes necessary, we will:

Pay non-exempt employees their regular hourly rate with a premium. If non-exempt
employees are required to work overtime, they will be paid the established overtime rate
for extra hours worked.

Offer exempt employees an additional day off to be taken within (number of months) after
the holiday.