Insights on Holiday Policies, Government-Designated Holidays, and Global Practices

Hi All,

I am working in an Inbound Call Centre in the HR Department. Here, there is no holiday policy. Can anybody suggest how to finalize the holidays for administration staff as well as the Call Centre Staff?

Regards,
Shweta

Hi, Shweta,

In our country, company-recognized and observed holidays are those holidays officially designated by the government. Employees are given time off with full pay on company-recognized holidays. Staff employees are given an alternate day off or overtime pay if important work requires attendance on the day of the holiday. If a holiday falls on a Saturday or Sunday, the following day is usually observed as a holiday. If a holiday falls on an employee's normal day off, the employee is granted an alternate day off at the convenience of the company.

Notice of Holidays:

It is the normal practice for the company to publish a notice preceding each holiday to allow supervisors to schedule the work in their group or arrange the overtime work on holidays and provide all employees confirmation about the day off.

Hope this helps.
John

Hi, Shweta,

In our country, company recognized and observed holidays are those officially designated by the Government of India. Employees receive time off with full pay on company-recognized holidays. Staff employees are given an alternate day off or overtime pay if essential work necessitates attendance on the holiday. If a holiday falls on a Saturday or Sunday, the following day is typically observed as a holiday. If a holiday falls on an employee's regular day off, the employee is granted an alternate day off at the convenience of the company.

Notice of Holidays
It is customary for the company to issue a notice before each holiday to enable supervisors to plan work schedules within their departments or organize overtime work during the holiday and to confirm all employees about the day off.

Hope this helps.
John

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Regards,
Shweta

Hi there,

There are three types of holidays: festival, national, and regional.

For festivals, it depends on the state where your company is located. For example, we observe Tamil New Year's Day and Pongal, but the festivals important to your state will determine the holidays given.

National holidays include the 26th of January, 1st of May, 14th of August, and 2nd of October.

Regional holidays may include Moharam, Budkrit, Good Friday, and Christmas.

In total, there should be at least 12 holidays, but more than 12 days is at the company's discretion.

Best,
Kantha

Dear Shweta,

In India, three national holidays are to be observed compulsorily. These are 26th January (Republic Day), 15th August (Independence Day), and 2nd October (Mahatma Gandhi's birthday). Besides the weekly close day (usually Sunday for commercial establishments) is also a compulsory holiday.

Both the Central Government and State Governments publish the holidays to be observed. They categorize it as Holidays and Restricted Holidays. Almost all the Chambers of Commerce follow the Government holidays and announce their list for the benefit of their members.

Generally, a company will decide how many holidays in a year will be provided. It may range from 10 to 20. According to the importance of a day in a particular state, these holidays are fixed. For example, ONAM is an important festival in Kerala, and four days of holidays are announced, whereas another state will not observe this. According to the importance of a festival, the company should fix the holidays for each state.

Certain Establishments are specifically exempted from the close day as per each State's Shops & Establishments Act.

Hope this will be useful.

Best Regards,

T S A Padmanabhan

Thanks for the info.

I'm working on an SOP for the holiday policy in an IT solutions company. Could you please tell me how to create a policy for holidays (government as well as optional)? Thank you.

Hi Seniors,

Please help me out in preparing a holiday list for my company. We are a US-based Indian company and are confused about whether to follow the Indian or US calendar for holidays. I kindly request you to provide a holiday list from any MNC companies so that it can be used as a reference.

Regards,
Ameer

Holiday Policy

The fixed holidays are:

• New Year's Day

• Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

• Memorial Day

• Independence Day

• Labor Day

• Thanksgiving

• Day after Thanksgiving

• Christmas

Principles of Holidays Policy

• Employees receive full salary on holidays.

• An employee must work the day before and the day after the holiday to be eligible for holiday pay.

• Biweekly employees who work on a holiday that falls on their scheduled day off will be paid double their regular rate and also receive another day off with pay either thirty days before or after the holiday. Unused holiday pay is disbursed upon termination.

• When a holiday falls on an employee's day off, the employee is entitled to another day off with pay either thirty days before or after the holiday. Unused holiday pay is disbursed upon termination.

• When a holiday falls on a Saturday, the preceding Friday is considered the company holiday. When a holiday falls on a Sunday, the following Monday is the company holiday.

• Employees do not receive holiday pay while on leave of absence, layoff, or receiving short-term disability payments.

• If a company holiday falls on an employee's vacation day, it may be counted as a holiday instead of a vacation day or added to the vacation period as an extra day of vacation.

• Biweekly employees eligible for paid holidays but required to work on a company holiday will be paid one and a half times their regular rate. Monthly employees required to work on a holiday receive their regular salary and are entitled to another day off.

By

Suren

Are they not eligible for Indian holidays if their timing is night shift?

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They are eligible for Indian holidays regardless of their shift timing.