Leave of absence

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The labour law concept of leave, specifically paid leave or, in some countries' long-form, a leave of absence, is an authorised prolonged absence from work, for any reason authorised by the workplace. When people "take leave" in this way, they are usually taking days off from their work that have been pre-approved by their employer in their contracts of employment. Labour laws normally mandate that these paid-leave days be compensated at either 100% of normal pay, or at a very high percentage of normal days' pay, such as 75% or 80%. A furlough is a type of leave.

Contents

There are many subcategories of paid leave, usually dependent on the reasons why the leave is being taken. Sick leave is normally compensated at 100% of pay, while other types of leave are often more restrictive, such as only compensating a certain percentage of normal pay, or as regards paid holidays, which in some countries are granted automatically by national governments, such as in most European Union countries, and in others, such as the United States, are a matter of employment contracts or labor union agreements, as well as state or local law. [1] [2]

The internationally acknowledged definition of paid leave, in international labour law as observed by the International Labour Organisation and others, is one that restricts itself only to pre-approved labour agreements in the workplace.

India

In India, a Government service holder under the Union Government or any Provincial (State) Government can avail the following types of leave of absence during the service period: [3]

Unpaid leave

Unpaid leave is leave that is granted exceptionally by the workplace and that is given permission to occur by the workplace, but is not compensated.

See also

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Overtime is the amount of time someone works beyond normal working hours. The term is also used for the pay received for this time. Normal hours may be determined in several ways:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parental leave</span> Time taken off to care for a new child

Parental leave, or family leave, is an employee benefit available in almost all countries. The term "parental leave" may include maternity, paternity, and adoption leave; or may be used distinctively from "maternity leave" and "paternity leave" to describe separate family leave available to either parent to care for small children. In some countries and jurisdictions, "family leave" also includes leave provided to care for ill family members. Often, the minimum benefits and eligibility requirements are stipulated by law.

<i>Canada Labour Code</i>

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The Australian Fair Pay and Conditions Standard was a set of five minimum statutory entitlements for wages and conditions introduced as part of the Howard government's WorkChoices amendments to Australian labour law in 2006 and then abolished by the Fair Work Act 2009 in 2010.

The Employment Standards Act, 2000 is an Act of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. The Act regulates employment in the province of Ontario, including wages, maximum work hours, overtime, vacation, and leaves of absence. It differs from the Ontario Labour Relations Act, which regulates unionized labour in Ontario.

In Australia, long service leave (LSL) is a period of additional paid leave granted to employees who have completed an extended period of service with an employer. Under Australian law, most employees are entitled to long service leave if they work for the same employer for a prolonged length of time, the threshold usually being between seven and ten years. Long service leave is separate from annual leave; employees receiving long service leave continue to accrue annual leave as normal and, at a minimum, as prescribed by the National Employment Standards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992</span> United Kingdom legislation

The Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 is a UK Act of Parliament which regulates United Kingdom labour law. The Act applies in full in England and Wales and in Scotland, and partially in Northern Ireland.

Annual leave is a period of paid time off work granted by employers to employees to be used for whatever the employee wishes. Depending on the employer's policies, differing number of days may be offered, and the employee may be required to give a certain amount of advance notice, may have to coordinate with the employer to be sure that staffing is available during the employee's absence, and other requirements may have to be met. The vast majority of countries today mandate a minimum amount of paid annual leave by law.

Sick leave is paid time off from work that workers can use to stay home to address their health needs without losing pay. It differs from paid vacation time or time off work to deal with personal matters, because sick leave is intended for health-related purposes. Sick leave can include a mental health day and taking time away from work to go to a scheduled doctor's appointment. Some policies also allow paid sick time to be used to care for sick family members, or to address health and safety needs related to domestic violence or sexual assault. Menstrual leave is another type of time off work for a health-related reason, but it is not always paid.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Employment Relations Act 2000</span> Statute of the Parliament of New Zealand

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Casual employment or contract employment is an employment classification under employment law.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indian labour law</span> Laws regulating labour in India

Indian labour law refers to law regulating labour in India. Traditionally, the Indian government at the federal and state levels has sought to ensure a high degree of protection for workers, but in practice, this differs due to the form of government and because labour is a subject in the concurrent list of the Indian Constitution. The Minimum Wages Act 1948 requires companies to pay the minimum wage set by the government alongside limiting working weeks to 40 hours. Overtime is strongly discouraged with the premium on overtime being 100% of the total wage. The Payment of Wages Act 1936 mandates the payment of wages on time on the last working day of every month via bank transfer or postal service. The Factories Act 1948 and the Shops and Establishment Act 1960 mandate 15 working days of fully paid vacation leave each year to each employee with an additional 7 fully paid sick days. The Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, 2017 gives female employees of every company the right to take 6 months' worth of fully paid maternity leave. It also provides for 6 weeks worth of paid leaves in case of miscarriage or medical termination of pregnancy. The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation and the Employees' State Insurance, governed by statutory acts provide workers with necessary social security for retirement benefits and medical and unemployment benefits respectively. Workers entitled to be covered under the Employees' State Insurance are also entitled to 90 days worth of paid medical leaves. A contract of employment can always provide for more rights than the statutory minimum set rights. The Indian parliament passed four labour codes in the 2019 and 2020 sessions. These four codes will consolidate 44 existing labour laws. They are: The Industrial Relations Code 2020, The Code on Social Security 2020, The Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 and The Code on Wages 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maternity and Parental Leave etc. Regulations 1999</span> United Kingdom legislation

The Maternity and Parental Leave etc. Regulations 1999 is a statutory instrument, concerning UK labour law, which details the rights to maternity and parental leave for employees in the United Kingdom.

Turkish labour law provides a number of protections to employees, governed by the Labor Code, Trade Union Law, and the Constitution.

The Danish Holiday Act is a Danish law regulating holiday time for employees.The act states how many days of paid holiday most employees in Denmark are legally entitled to. The law covers employees who receive wages for work performed in compliance with an employer, not including freelancers and employees working for the state. A new law was passed on 25 January 2018 by the Danish Parliament. It consists of a new concept of concurrent holidays and includes a transition period from 1 September 2019 – 31 August 2020 before being implemented on 1 September 2020. The concept of concurrent holidays allows employees to earn 2.08 holiday days each month, which they have access to use immediately, as opposed to the old scheme where workers earned holiday days for the following year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fair Work Act 2009</span> Australian industrial relations law

The Fair Work Act 2009(Cth) is an Act of the Parliament of Australia, passed by the Rudd government to reform the industrial relations system of Australia. It replaced the Howard government's WorkChoices legislation, it established Fair Work Australia, later renamed the Fair Work Commission.

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Workers' right to access the toilet refers to the rights of employees to take a break when they need to use the toilet. The right to access a toilet is a basic human need. Unless both the employee and employer agree to compensate the employee on rest breaks an employer cannot take away the worker's right to access a toilet facility while working. There is limited information on the rights workers have to access public toilets among the world's legal systems. The law is not clear in New Zealand, United Kingdom, or the United States of America as to the amount of time a worker is entitled to use a toilet while working. Nor is there clarification on what constitutes a 'reasonable' amount of access to a toilet. Consequently, the lack of access to toilet facilities has become a health issue for many workers. Issues around workplace allowance to use a toilet has given light on issues such as workers having to ask permission to use a toilet and some workers having their pay deducted for the mere human right of using a toilet when they need to.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, 2017</span> Act of the Parliament of India

The Maternity (Amendment) Bill 2017, an amendment to the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961, was passed in Rajya Sabha on 11 August 2016, in Lok Sabha on 9 March 2017, and received an assent from President of India on 27 March 2017. The Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 protects the employment of women during the time of her maternity and entitles her of a 'maternity benefit' – i.e. full paid absence from work – to take care for her child. The Act is applicable to all establishments employing 10 or more than 10 persons in Factories, Mines, Plantation, Shops & Establishments and other entities. Establishments employing 50 or more employees are also required to provide crèche facilities, either separately or along with common facilities within a prescribed distance.

In Italy, maternity leave is compulsory and women must take up to two months off from work before her due date and three months off after the baby's birth. In certain scenarios, women may ask their employers for more time off before the baby's due date if her pregnancy is considered at risk and if her workplace puts her health or her baby's in danger. In some instances, women can request to work up to one month before her due date with the approval of her doctor and employer. However, this means that she will have to take a total of four months off after the birth of her child.

References

  1. "Leave Benefits". U.S. Department of Labor. Retrieved August 13, 2022.
  2. "Paid Leave in the U.S." Kaiser Family Foundation. December 17, 2021. Retrieved August 13, 2022.
  3. gconnect team (11 January 2017). "gconnect.in". gconnect.in. Retrieved 2018-04-24.