Hi Rekha,
You need to take the statutory provisions first in terms of number of days leave, as applicable to your state.
Most likely your are guided by Shops & Establishments Act. of your state and it will have the leaves stipulated in it, like Earned Leave, Sick leave, Maternity leave & Casual leave. In some of the cases, the modus operandi of sanctioning of the leave is also prescribed in the statute.
Now, the 2 golden rules as per as the leaves are concerned:
1. You can always give more than the statutory provisions but not less.
2. Leave is a privilege and not a right.
Thus, except maternity leave, no other leaves will have any rigid binding on the management. Thus while preparing the policy you must ensure the mode of application with such time frame, so that management is not disturbed and has sufficient time to decide. Also you must have the provision of information in case of non sanctioning of the leave, to keep the image clear.
You need to have tight scrutiny on Sick & Casual leave.I shall always opt for having a provision of not prefixing or suffixing the CL with weekly off or any other holiday.
In IT industry compensatory off and the off during foreign tours are also very important.
Hope this will help you.
Regards
Manas Das