Leave Policy In IT Companies??# Any Special Consideration For Senior Employees??

Leave policy (Casual Leave / Earned Leave / Sick Leave) adopted in major IT companies:

We have a leave policy that covers the following leave types:

Casual Leave (12 Days): Eligibility - To all employees. It will be credited after the first payroll, and their entitlement will be pro-rated based on the date of joining.

Earned Leave (12 Days): Eligibility - All full-time employees who have completed one year of service are eligible.

Sick Leave (12 Days): Eligibility - All full-time employees who have completed one year of service are eligible.

My queries are:

1) I have received feedback from new joiners with experience that the earned leave and sick leave eligibility was not fair. They suggest that experienced members should have earned and sick leave. They refer to the leave policies of other companies and industries.

2) Are the number of leaves granted in our leave policy matching industry standards?

Please advise and comment.

1. My suggestion is to increase the Earned Leave by 6, i.e., 18, 1.5 per month and reduce sick leave to 6.
2. Thirty-six days are nowhere less than what the rest of the world practices.
3. On top of this, the company would be giving time off on National Holidays, right?

EL: 18, SL: 6, CL: 6, total 30 should be fair enough. You are giving 36, as the above member said, it's nowhere less than industry standard. I see from your query that all your employees are concerned about the eligibility, not the number. You can think of reducing the eligibility to 6 months from 1 year, as I see most of the companies have this as 6 months.

Hi Mohan,

Good question.

Well, we have an act already in place to help you as far as the Leave Act is concerned, but what interests me more is your question, "Employee always compares us with other competitors and argues on Industry Standards." I have given below a wonderful link, which will give you in-depth knowledge and study on Leaves in the Indian Labor Context. Hope it's helpful.

Now, speaking of employees comparing with competitors and Industry Standards. Believe me, there is no regulatory body in India, including our Labor Commissioner's office, who has taken the pain to set standards for us in developing markets. For them, the Old Age Act made in 1958 is the "Golden Rule Book."

When I was in Mumbai, my office was a stone's throw from the Mumbai Labor Commissioner's Office at Tardeo, Mumbai. I had personally visited his office and was never allowed to meet him but his Secretary. When I inquired about the IT Industry standards and any reports they could share with me on Office Leave Rules being followed by companies in Mumbai, you guessed it; they had none. It was an utter shame for me, as we being in the financial city hub, are in such a lousy state, leave apart what would be the case in the outskirts of Mumbai. Anyways, I had my resources and got the best of them while formulating our Leave Policies.

A few guidance for you:

Having said the above, I would urge you to set your own standards based on your office work culture and hardship. I suggest you develop your network within your IT industry in your business sector and seek inputs from them on their leave policies. Candidates who come for an interview are a great source of such information.

According to me, your leave seems good enough. But I would want to know, "how much of this can be carried forward and for how many years as per your company policy." In my firm, I had urged the management and made them agree to carry forward both SL + EL for a maximum limit of 240 days. Anything over this, the employee will have to compulsorily encash at 50%. Encashment is something our company owners won't like. So, you need to really sell this idea as an HR business partner. Use your HR skills.

Now here is the link for your study I mentioned above:

Paycheck.in - Leave Policy in India, Maternity Leave, Paternity Leave

Ukmitra