Casual Leave | Meaning and Definition

What is Casual Leave?

Every organization implements various types of leave policies, such as sick leave, casual leave, maternity leave, and more. Employees can avail themselves of casual leave in response to unplanned situations or events. Typically, employers grant casual leave as paid leave after an employee completes their probation period. Additionally, employees must obtain prior approval before taking leave.

Casual Leave rules:

  • Employees cannot transfer leave to the next year.
  • Unused casual leave cannot be redeemed like earned or privileged leave; it simply expires at the end of the year.
  • Employees can take casual leave for a minimum of half a day and a maximum of three days. For any additional leave, they must use either earned or privileged leave. If an employee wishes to take all three days at once, they must obtain approval from the company.
  • If the employer is registered under the Shop and Establishment Act, employees are entitled to six days of casual leave. Employees cannot combine casual leave with earned leave or sick leave.
  • For new employees or those who have recently resigned, employers allocate casual leave proportionately. For example, if an employee joins the organization on July 1, they are entitled to half the total number of casual leave days applicable until December 31, the end of the year.

1. Half day leave

It is clear from the name that employees refer to leaves taken for half a day as half-day leaves. They can take these leaves either in the first half or the second half of the day.

Moreover, employees find this type of leave beneficial for short tasks, such as visiting a doctor for a health checkup, attending a parent-teacher meeting for their child, or going to the bank. Additionally, half-day leave helps employees balance their professional and personal lives more effectively.

2. One day leave

The most common type of leave in a workplace, one-day leaves are taken by employees to manage their household chores or to take a short break from their professional life.

This type of leave helps the employees to maintain their work-life balance.

To know more about the types of leaves in an organization you can refer to the blog. 

Key details about casual leave

Here are some key details about casual leave:

Purpose and Usage: Employees can use casual leave for various reasons, such as illness, household tasks, medical appointments, emergencies, or special occasions. In most cases, employees can take casual leave without providing a specific reason or explanation to their employer.

Duration: The duration of casual leave varies depending on the organization’s culture and work practices. Typically, employers grant casual leave for shorter periods, ranging from a few hours to a few days. Some organizations may limit the number of casual leaves an employee can take within a specific time period.

Approval Process: Employees usually need to obtain approval for casual leave from their reporting manager or HR department, except in emergencies. In general, the request should include the desired date and duration of the leave.

Accrual and Entitlement: Each organization has its own policy regarding the accrual of casual leave. For instance, some organizations allow employees to carry forward casual leave to the next fiscal year, while others do not. The number of leaves an employee can carry forward may also vary from one organization to another.

Paid Leave: This leave is typically considered paid time off. Employees continue to receive their salary during this period. However, some organizations may deduct casual leave from the employee’s leave balance, while others may have a separate provision for it.

Restrictions on Usage: Organizations may impose certain restrictions on leave to ensure fair usage. For example, they might reject leave requests during peak business days or critical projects. They can also limit the number of leaves an employee can take within a specific period.

Carryover and Expiry: Some organizations allow employees to carry over their leave to the next period, while others require employees to use their leave within a designated period, after which any unused leave expires.

Difference between Casual and Earned leaves

There is a significant difference between casual leave and earned leave. The key distinctions between the two are as follows:

Firstly, employers grant casual leave to employees when they are unable to report to work due to unforeseen circumstances or personal reasons. In contrast, earned leave is provided to employees after they have completed more than 240 days of service in a given calendar year.

Furthermore, This leave may or may not be carried forward to the next financial year, depending on company policy. On the other hand, employees can carry forward earned leave to the next calendar year.

FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)

Earned leave is a type of leave that an employee gets if he serves 240 days in an organization. Generally these leaves are calculated on monthly basis.

Casual leaves can be availed for a minimum period of half day and maximum of three days and any time spent beyond it is considered as earned leave.

Yes casual leave is a paid leave that can be availed for a minimum of half day and maximum of three days.

The number of casual leaves provided to an employee varies from organization to organization. Moreover, it also depends on state wise labour laws.

See Zimyo in Action
Human-First HRMS for an AI-World

“I was able to implement the platform on my own. It helps in assigning the tasks to other employees, conducting surveys & polls & much more. The ease of use & self-onboarding is something that I would like to appreciate.”

- Sonali Adity, Senior HR Admin, Kommunicate
forbes
tie
aegis