National holiday 15.08.2021 on Sunday - need to be taken another day as compensatory. is that correct?

Dear All,

My query is with regard to the National Holiday on 15.08.2021, which falls on a Sunday.

Our weekly off is Sunday for all employees. Our maintenance department, which works on staggered weekly offs, has claimed that if they work on 15.08.2021, they need to be given another day as compensation. Is that correct?

According to the Holidays list, we have declared 13 holidays, including 15.08.2021 (Sunday). Since Sunday is a weekly off for all employees, they will only claim 12 days as holidays. If we provide additional compensatory off to the staggered maintenance team, it will be 13 days for that team.

As we would need to provide an extra day off for all employees, please explain and suggest what to do and how to proceed. Can somebody guide me with a suitable reply?

Thank you.

If an employee is required to work on national and festival holidays, then as per law, the employee is entitled to the compensation thereof. The applicable statutory provision varies from state to state, so the respective state legislation has to be looked into. As your state is not mentioned, it is not possible to shed more light on it. In case you are having any problem, it is better to consult the local Labour Officer who will guide you correctly.

We are from Telangana state. As it is known, working on a national holiday needs to be compensated. However, when it falls on a Sunday and staggered off employees who have to work on Sunday need to be compensated whether they work or not.

If so, when you take the holiday list, there will be a one-day difference for those employees compared to those who generally take a weekly off.

Please explain.

Regards, Hanumanth

In respect of National Holidays falling on a weekly off day, compensating another day as a holiday is not required. Though the wordings may differ from state to state, what I have generally noticed is that the Act provides for "granting of holidays on 26th January, 1st May, August 15th, and October 2nd and such other... number of days as festival holidays as decided..." As such, festival holidays (in Karnataka it is 5 days where November 1st is also a mandatory/national holiday, in Tamil Nadu it is 5, and in Kerala it is 9) shall vary from year to year, and you need to select such days as they come on weekdays, but national holidays are fixed by days. If Pongal or Onam falls on a Sunday in any year, you can choose some other festival holiday for that year, but you need not give an alternative holiday if any national holiday falls on a weekly holiday.

However, if any group of your employees has a weekly off on a day other than Sunday, that group of employees can avail the benefit of the National Holiday falling on Sunday, and they need not work on that day. But if they are called to work on that day, obviously, they should be given overtime wages and a compensatory holiday in lieu of the holiday lost. Such deployment should be done after informing the Labor department in the prescribed form.

Dear Madhu Sir,

Thank you for your reply.

Now, these individuals are enjoying their weekly day off as well as other days as compensatory leave. However, Sunday remains their working day.

Sir, my query is regarding whether, in this scenario, for all other employees who have not availed of that holiday due to it falling on a Sunday, can they be granted an alternative day off on a different day?

Regards,
Hanumanth

For all other employees whose weekly off falls on a national holiday, there is no compensatory holiday. First of all, a compensatory holiday is available only to those who work on a holiday. Secondly, if a National Holiday falls on a weekly holiday, there is no need to give another holiday in its place. In the Telangana Act, the wording is as I have described in my previous thread. As such, every employee shall be allowed a holiday for the whole day on 26th January, 15th August, and 2nd October, as well as four other holidays. If any of the 'Other holidays' falls on a weekly off day, it shall be substituted by another holiday. The employer and employees can decide which four days in a particular year shall be declared as festival holidays. However, in respect of national holidays, the days are predetermined, and if any of them falls on a weekly holiday of any employee, they cannot demand a substitute holiday.

Therefore, for those whose weekly off day falls on Sunday, no compensating day shall be given if a National Holiday falls on that Sunday.

Dear sir,

Thank you so much for your valuable reply and clarifications.

However, I have one final question, sir. When it comes to holidays, a few employees are utilizing only 12 holidays (as per our factory's declaration) because the 15th falls on a Sunday. As we discussed previously, others are enjoying 13 holidays, including compensatory days off, as they are utilizing their weekly off and compensatory time. Will this not be an issue?

Regards,
Hanumanth.

Suppose a national holiday falls on Monday, then those who have their weekly day off on Monday would lose that holiday. Such occurrences happen and cannot be considered as a loss of holidays. Moreover, it is not a regular happening but occurs very rarely.