What is the effect of Extraordinary Leave on service of a Punjab Govt. Employee?
Extraordinary Leave is also called Leave without Pay. In this post, we will discuss the impact of EOL i.e. extraordinary leave (without pay Leave) on the service of a regular Govt. employee.
As per Punjab CSR Rule 8.121 (1) of the Punjab Civil services rules Vol. 1 Part 1, Extraordinary leave may be granted to any Govt. employee on certain special occasions as follows:
- When no any other Leave is admissible, or;
- When other Leave is admissible but the employee concerned applies in writing for the grant of EOL i.e. extraordinary leave.
Also, the authority empowers to grant extraordinary leave may commute retrospectively period of absence of without leave in extraordinary leave. Extraordinary leave taken by a Govt. employee otherwise than on Medical grounds i.e. on the production of the medical certificate, may also be commuted into "Leave not due" at the discretion of the authority competent to sanction such leave. Let us discuss the effects of EOL as under.
Various effects of EOL (Extraordinary Leave):
- On annual increment;
- On Probation;
- On ACP (Assured Career Progression);
- On other kinds of Leave;
- On qualifying service;
A govt. employees must keep in mind that an extraordinary leave taken on a medical certificate is countable for all of the above aspects. Now we will discuss the effects of EOL if the employee takes such extraordinary leave otherwise than on a medical certificate.
Effect on Annual Increment
The date of the next annual increment of an employee will be postponed for the days for which he takes extraordinary leave. This means if an employee takes extraordinary leave of say, 2 months and if his date of annual increment is March 01, 2021, then he will get this increment on May 01, 2021. We will illustrate this whole concept with an example as follows;
Illustration: Suppose an employee has joined as a Clerk on 25.10.2013 forenoon, and he takes an extraordinary leave without pay from 16.05.2014 to 15.07.2014 when he will get his next annual increment?
In the normal course i.e. if the employee has not taken extraordinary leave (without pay Leave) then he would have been granted increment on 01.10.2014. But due to Extraordinary leave from 16.05.2014 to 15.07.2014, the date of the next annual increment will be 01.12.2014 which shall be calculated as under;
So, adding 2 months and 1 day to 01.10.2014 it becomes 02.12.2014 that will be 01.12.2014 vide Note (2) below Rule 4.9 (a) of the Punjab Civil Service Rules Vo. 1 Part 1.
Effect on Probation
If the employee takes an extraordinary leave during the probation then his probation period will be extended for that period of time. this means if an employee has joined as a regular govt. employee on 15.01.2019 Forenoon on probation of 2 years and has availed extraordinary leave of 13 days during the probation, then his probation period of said 2 years will be deemed to have been completed on 28.01.2021 which he otherwise would have completed on 15.01.2021. This indicates that the probation period of such an employee will be extended for 13 days.
Remember one thing in this case, that the date of increment will not be changed as he has availed extraordinary Leave of a period less than 30 days. For more clarity, you can read the "Effect on annual increment" section as above.
In this regard, the Govt. of Punjab, Personnel Department has issued a Letter No. 1/04/2018-1PP1/63 dated 20-06-2018
Effect on Assured Career Progression (ACP)
As like the effect of EOL on Probation, ACP i.e. assured career progression which is granted to a govt. employee on the completion of 4 / 9 / 14 years of service on the same post and in the same cadre is also extended for the time for which the employee has availed such an extraordinary leave.
It is also clarified by the Govt. of Punjab Department of Personnel by their Letter No. 7/4/2011-1PP1/117 dated 06-02-2014
That period of Extraordinary Leave will not be counted towards the service countable for the Assured Career Progression (ACP). This means that if an employee has completed 4 Years of service on 05.12.2017 and he has availed 15 days Extraordinary Leave during these 4 Years, then he will get ACP from 20.12.2017.
Effect on other kinds of Leave
- In the case of Earned Leave (Leave of Kind Due) As per Rule 8.1 of the Punjab CSR Vol. 1 Part 1, Leave is earned by duty only. So, as the employee is not considered to be on duty during Extraordinary Leave and also he is not drawing any kind of pay during this EOL leave, so the period of Extraordinary Leave is excluded while the calculation of Earned Leave which is maintained in his service book. Again we clarify here that the Extraordinary Leave means EOL without a medical certificate.
- In the case of Half Pay Leave As we have learned that according to Rule 8.113 (III) Half Pay Leave means Leave earned in respect of completed years of service. The Meaning of a completed year of service is continuous service of the specified duration under the Punjab Govt. and it includes period spent on duty as well as on leave including Extraordinary Leave. Clearly, the period of Extraordinary Leave is included while the calculation of Half Pay Leave.
Effect on Service Qualifying for Pension
According to Rule 4.7 of the Punjab Civil Service Rules Vol. II, the time passed by a Govt. employee on Leave of all kinds except Extraordinary Leave, other than that Extraordinary Leave counted towards increment under Rule 4.9 (B) of Vol. I Part-1 shall be counted as service qualifying for Pension.
From above we can conclude that the Extraordinary Leave taken without a medical certificate is not countable towards the service qualifying for Pension.
Above we have discussed in detail all the aspects of Extraordinary Leave and its impacts on the service of a Govt. employee. We hope that this article will be helpful to you.
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