Employees in India are entitled to get a certain number of leaves every year besides from national holidays and festivals as per distinct labour laws and legislation.

Labour laws in India specify the rights, duties, and responsibilities of both employers and employees to be fulfilled if working under an establishment or industry. Employers have to take care of health, social benefits and work environment provided to employees while employees have to minimize production defaults and should not make unjust demands from their employers.

As stated earlier, employees do get certain rights under different labour laws, they also receive benefits under different state and central legislation to claim for leaves from their employers. Leave structure for employees is generally determined as per the policy of the establishment and in consonance with legislation like Factories Act, State Shops & Establishment Act and so on. Without any loss of pay to the employee, the labour laws in India grants for the following leaves:

• Casual leave: Leaves entitled to employees by the company as paid leaves.
• Sick leave: Depending on the leave policy of the company, every employee or worker is entitled to certain sick/medical leaves.
• Earned / Privileged or En-cashed leave: Leave earned by the employee in the year which can be availed in the subsequent year. The leaves can either be encashed or transferred to the subsequent year.
• Compensatory leave: Leaves availed by the employee or granted by the employer for working in additional days or crucial days or on days of leaves for the company.

The Sandwich Rule

The Sandwich policy is a general practice followed by companies and the organizations where a usual week off gets clubbed with the paid leave applied by the employee just near the week off and is treated as a leave day.

For instance, If someone takes a leave from 23rd Jan, i.e., Friday to 26 Jan i.e., Monday, and 25th being Sunday – then his leave would be counted for 3 days instead of 2 days under the sandwich rule.

The concept of sandwich rule came up from the leave structure of factory workers, where productivity was hugely dependent on man working hours.

While the policy holds no legal restrictions and provisions, it can be followed by any company/employer as per terms discussed with the employee.

An employer can deduct leave taken by an employee for Saturdays (being a working day ) and Sundays and :

• In case applicability of Sandwich Rule was previously stated in the employment contract, the employee has no other option but to accept the leave deduction.
• In case not previously stated to the employee, it is advisable to negotiate with the HR department or the employing company for the same. If no common solution comes, then the employee can sue his employer after seeking the advice of a legal consultant.

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