Sheela Foam/HR-Corporate/Leave Policy/(Revision-2012)
1 
 
LEAVE POLICY 
(POLICY No.SFPL/CORP-HR/06) 
         (Revised-w.e.f. 01 April 2012) 
 
 
Purpose  
 
To  provide  guidelines  and  properly  regulate  rules  for  all  types  of  Leave  of  absence 
applicable to the employees. 
 
Coverage 
 
Employees of all grades. 
 
Types of Leave 
 
1.  Casual Leave 
2.  Earned Leave 
3.  Maternity and Allied Leave 
4.  Extra Ordinary Leave 
5.  Short Leave 
 
The following general principles shall govern the grant of leave to the employees:- 
 
a)  Leave is earned by duty or services.  It cannot be claimed as a matter of right. 
 
b)  In  case  of  exigencies  of  work,  it  will  be  opened  to  the  competent  authority,  to 
refuse, postpone, revoke, or reduce leave of any description. 
 
c)  During  the  period  of  leave,  an  employee  shall  not  take  up  or  accept  any 
employment  or  work  outside  SFPL  either  on  remuneration  or  without 
remuneration.   
   
d)  During  the  period  of  suspension,  an  employee  shall  not  be  granted  any  leave.  
However,  during  the  pendency  of  disciplinary  proceedings,  the  competent 
authority may grant leave to the concerned employee. 
 
e)  Before  proceeding  on  leave,  an  employee  shall  intimate  to  the  competent 
authority  his  address,  contact  numbers  (both  land  line  and  mobile)  including 
Postal/e-mail  address  while  he  is  on  leave  and  shall  keep  the  said  authority 
informed of the changes in these details, if any. 
 
f)  Before  leaving  headquarters,  every  employee  will  have  to  obtain  from  the 
competent authority permission to leave the headquarters. 
 
g)  If an employee, after proceeding on leave, desires an extension thereof, he/she 
shall  make  an  application  in  writing  to  the  competent  authority  with  reasons.  
Such application shall contain full postal and e-mail address and shall be made 
in  sufficient  time  to  enable  the  office  to  process  the  application  and 
communicate the decision to him/her. 
 
 
Sheela Foam/HR-Corporate/Leave Policy/(Revision-2012) 
2 
 
 
 
h)  No leave or extension of leave shall be deemed to have been granted unless an 
order to that effect is posted and communicated to the employee concerned. 
 
i)  Over-stayal  beyond  the  sanctioned  leave  shall  be  treated  as  leave  on  loss  of 
pay  unless  the  concerned employee  has  got  the  extension  of  leave  sanctioned 
(by  the  competent  Authority)  before  the  expiry  of  the  leave  already  sanctioned.  
However,  before  treating  such  unauthorized  absence  as  leave  on  loss  of  pay, 
the  competent  authority  shall  satisfy  itself  that  there  were  no  extenuating 
circumstances  which  prevented  the  employee  from  obtaining  prior  sanction  for 
over-stayal. 
 
j)  An  employee  on  leave  on  medical  grounds  may  not  return  to  duly  without 
producing a medical certificate of fitness. 
 
k)  The competent authority may require an employee who has availed of leave, of 
any kind, for reasons of health, to produce a medical certificate of fitness, even 
though such leave was not granted on medical grounds. 
 
l)  The competent authority may, at its discretion, secure a second medical opinion 
either for grand of leave or for satisfying that the employee is fit to resume duty, 
from  a  medical  examiner  of  its  choice.    The  cost  of  such  second  medical 
examination  will  be  borne  by  the  company.    An  employee  not  submitting 
himself/herself for medical examination  will be liable for appropriate disciplinary 
action. 
 
m)  Any  type  of  leave  availed  by  the  employee  during  a  particular  year  of  service 
shall,  however,  be  treated  as  period  of  service  for  calculating  eligibility  for 
Earned Leave. 
 
n)  Earned Leave can be granted for half day. EL can be availed in any number of 
times within entitled limits.   
   
o)  EL & CL can be combined as per the present entitlements. 
 
p)  The maximum leave accumulation limit provided is of 120 days. 
 
q)  An  employee  is  provided  a  flexible  facility  to  get  the  leave  en-cashed  over  and 
above 30 days on the basis of gross salary w.e.f. 01
st
 April2012. 
 
1.  CASUAL LEAVE 
 
a)  Every  confirmed  and  permanent  employee  will  be  entitled  for  10  Days 
Casual  Leave,  during  a  calendar  year.    Employees  on  probation  will  be 
entitled for Causal Leave on pro-rata basis from the date of their joining. 
 
b)  Sundays  and/or  holidays  as  may  be  declared  by  the  company  may  be 
prefixed and/or suffixed to Casual Leave.  In case the CL is both prefixed 
and suffixed to holidays / Sundays, the intervening Sundays and holidays, 
will be counted as a part of Casual Leave. 
 
 
 
Sheela Foam/HR-Corporate/Leave Policy/(Revision-2012) 
3 
 
 
 
c)  Casual  Leave  will  be  considered  for  a  minimum  period  of  half  day  and 
maximum upto the entitlement.  
 
d)  Casual Leave not availed in a respective calendar year will lapse and will 
not be encashable.  
 
e)  In  case  of  cessation of employment due  to  resignation,  retirement or  any 
other  reason,  if  the  casual  leaves  availed  by  an  employee  exceeds  his 
entitlement, the excess leave will be adjusted against his earned leave, if 
any or against his salary / dues payable. 
 
f)  All  applications  for  Casual  Leave  will  be  recommended  by  the  Reporting 
Officer  and  will  be  approved  by  his  Functional  Head.    If  a  person  is 
working with a Functional Head then the Functional Head will approve the 
application. 
 
g)  Leave  shall  be  availed  of  only  after  it  is  sanctioned  by  the  competent 
authority,  but  one  days  casual  leave  may  be  availed  of  without  prior 
sanction  in  case  of  unforeseen  circumstances,  provided,  the  competent 
authority to sanction leave is promptly informed by phone or otherwise of 
the circumstances under which prior sanction could not be obtained. 
 
2.  EARNED LEAVE 
 
a)  The  leave  earned  by  an  employee  is  the  period  which  he  has  earned 
according  to  companys  rules  and he  will  be entitled  to leave  only  after  it 
has been earned. 
 
b)  Every confirmed and permanent employee of the company will be entitled 
to  Earned  leave.    In  case  of  workers,  staff  and  managers,  one  Earned 
Leave will be granted for every 20 days of working, whereas an E grade 
employee  is  entitled  to  one  Earned  Leave  for  every  16  days  of  working, 
during a Calendar Year. 
 
c)  Earned Leave will not be granted to probationers.  However, the period of 
probation  will  be  taken  into  account  for calculation of  Earned Leave  after 
confirmation. 
 
d)  Managing  Director  /  Directors  /CEOs  may,  however,  allow  employees  to 
avail advance earned leave during their probation on pro-rata basis in the 
following circumstances:- 
i)  For his own marriage or marriage of direct or immediate relations. 
ii)  Own sickness and sickness of first degree cognate* 
iii)  Death of first degree cognate. 
 
*First degree cognate means:- 
a)  Mothers and Fathers natural parents. 
b)  Siblings of Mother and Father. 
 
It does not include first cousins etc. 
 
 
Sheela Foam/HR-Corporate/Leave Policy/(Revision-2012) 
4 
 
 
 
 
e)  Public holiday and weekly holidays within the period of Earned Leave will 
not be counted a part of leave. 
 
f)  Application  for  Earned  Leave  shall  be  made  7  days  in  advance  through 
ERP.    However,  in  case  of  serious  exigencies  the  CEOs/Directors 
incharge  may  approve  such  Leave  without  a  prior  application  keeping  in 
view the seriousness and circumstances of such exigencies. 
 
g)  Earned  Leave  can  be  carried  forward  and  accumulated  upto  a maximum 
of  30  days.    Leave accumulated  can  either  be  encashed  in  the  month  of 
January  or  at  the  time  of  employee  leaving  the  services  at  the  option  of 
the  employee.    However,  in  the  first  case  the  employee  should  have  a 
minimum of 15 days Earned Leave to his credit after encashment. 
 
h)  Salary  for  the  purpose  of  Leave  encashment  will  be  basic  salary  + 
Dearness Allowance. 
 
i)  For accounting purposes.  Entitled Leave will be credited to the account of 
the employee at the end of each calendar year. 
 
3.  Maternity and Allied Leaves. 
 
a)  Female  employees  are  entitled  to  12  weeks  /  84  days  maternity  leave  on 
completion  of  one  year  of  confirmed  service  with  the  company,  for  two  (2) 
children only. 
 
i.  Salary will be paid during the leave period by the company or ESI. 
 
ii.  The employee must intimate ESI or /and company about the due date well 
in  advance  for  the  purpose  of  payment  of  salary  during  her  maternity 
leave. 
 
b)  In addition to the above, lady employees may avail of the following Leaves:- 
 
i)   Leave for Miscarriage 
An  employee  shall  be  entitled  to  6  weeks  of  paid  leave  immediately 
following the day of her miscarriage. 
 
ii)  Complications in Pregnancy/ Delivery etc. 
A lady employee suffering from illness arising out of pregnancy / delivery / 
premature  birth  of  the  child  or  miscarriage  shall  be  entitled  for  one 
months leave with maternity benefits.  This one month is in addition to her 
normal entitlement in case of miscarriage / delivery etc. 
 
Note: The  proof  of  the  miscarriage  illness  due  to  delivery  must  be  produced  to 
become entitled for the said leave. 
 
 
 
Sheela Foam/HR-Corporate/Leave Policy/(Revision-2012) 
5 
 
 
 
 
4  EXTRA ORDINARY LEAVE (LEAVE WITHOUT PAY) 
 
a)  Extra Ordinary Leave up to a maximum of 30 days may be granted at 
the discretion of the competent authority when no other leave is due to 
an  employee.   If  the employee  does not rejoin on expiry  of  this  leave, 
he  shall  be  deemed  to  have  abandoned  the  employment  of  the 
company of his own accord. 
 
b)  No  employee  shall  be  granted  Leave  Without  Pay  if  Casual  Leave, 
Earned Leave or any other kind of leave is due to him. 
 
c)  Financial Affect  
i.  For E, M & S level employee i.e. the employees who do not get OT 
and  other  emoluments  on  Basic  pay,  no  Basic  pay  shall  be 
admissible during their period of extra ordinary leave. 
 
ii.  For other personnel who are paid OT etc. on gross pay, no pay and 
allowances  shall  be  admissible  during  the  period  of  extra  ordinary 
leave. 
 
iii.  The period spent on such leave shall not be counted for calculating 
the  eligibility  of  Earned  Leave  and  entitlement  of  Gratuity,  LTA, 
CEA, Bonus, Medical, Increments, etc. 
 
       Note:      i)  Leave  Without  Pay  shall  not  be  granted  more  than  once  in  a  year 
and not more than 6 times in the complete career of an employee 
in SFPL. 
 
ii)  All  other  absence  shall  be  considered  an  Act  of  Indiscipline  and 
appropriate disciplinary action shall be taken even the leave is later 
regularized; it will be treated as leave with loss of pay. 
 
5.  SHORT LEAVE   
 
a)  This provision is only for Staff and Managers i.e. S0 and above. 
 
b)  Employees  can  avail  of  2  hrs.  Short  Leave  at  a  time  for  not  more 
than twice a month. 
 
c)  Short Leave is to be approved by the HOD on a Gate Pass.  In case 
prior  permission  has  not  been  obtained,  a  Gate  Pass  shall  be 
submitted to the Security Incharge within 16 minutes of reporting to 
work.    Failing  which  the  absence  will  be  treated  as  unauthorized 
absence. 
 
d)  SFPL  will  be  within  its  right  to  intimate  disciplinary  action  against 
the defaulter. 
 
 
Sheela Foam/HR-Corporate/Leave Policy/(Revision-2012) 
6 
 
 
 
 
 
LTA 
 
  LTA  up  to  one  months  basic  salary  is  authorized  to  all  confirmed 
employees (S1 and above) once in 3 years i.e. after completion of every 3 
years from the date of joining.  The period spent on probation will be taken 
into account for the purpose of working out the entitlement of LTA. 
 
LTA Payments: 
 
  An  individual  shall  be  paid  LTA  as  and  when  it  falls  due.    The  individual 
will have to submit an application to claim the amount. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Col. S.C. Upreti 
Head Corporate HR