HR basics · 7 min read
A founder's guide to employee attendance and leave policy
Setting your first formal leave policy is less about rules and more about removing ambiguity — for you and for your employees.
If your company doesn't have a written leave policy yet, you already have one — it's just informal, inconsistent, and living in whichever manager's memory happens to be handling a request that day. Writing it down is what actually protects both the business and the employee.
Start with what state law requires
Leave entitlements — earned/privilege leave, sick leave, casual leave — are governed partly by the Shops and Establishments Act of the state(s) you operate in, which vary by state. Your policy needs to meet or exceed these minimums; check the applicable Act for each state you have employees in before finalising anything.
Decide your leave categories
- Earned/privilege leave — accrued over time, usually the most valuable to employees.
- Sick leave — for illness, sometimes requiring a medical certificate beyond a set number of days.
- Casual leave — short, planned or unplanned absences.
- Public/festival holidays — a fixed calendar, often varying slightly by state or region.
- Maternity and paternity leave — governed by the Maternity Benefit Act and company policy respectively.
Common mistakes first-time HR managers make
- No clear approval chain — leaving employees unsure who actually approves their request.
- Inconsistent application — one manager approves informally over chat, another requires written notice; this becomes a fairness issue quickly.
- No encashment or carry-forward rule — leading to disputes at year-end or when someone exits.
- Attendance tracked separately from leave — so payroll ends up reconciling two different sources of truth every month.
What a good policy document covers
- Each leave type, how it accrues, and any caps
- How to apply, and the approval workflow
- Notice periods for planned leave vs. sick leave
- Carry-forward and encashment rules
- How public holidays are decided and communicated
Where software helps
Once the policy exists, the main risk is inconsistent enforcement — which is where a system like Serinity's leave module helps: the policy is configured once, balances update automatically, and every request follows the same approval chain regardless of who's asking or who's approving.
This article is general guidance, not legal advice. Confirm specific leave entitlements against the Shops and Establishments Act applicable in your state(s) and any other relevant labour law.