Section 16 in Bihar Shops & Establishments Act, 1953
16. Annual leave with wages.
(1)Every employee who has worked for two hundred and forty days or more in an establishment during a calendar year and who has not been involved in an illegal strike, shall be allowed, during the subsequent calendar year, leave with wages for a number of days calculated at the rate of -(i)[xxx] [Clause (i) of Sub-Section (1) of Section (16) and Words 'in any other case' used in clause (iii) deleted by Act 25 of 2007.](ii)[xxx] [Clause (i) of Sub-Section (1) of Section (16) and Words 'in any other case' used in clause (iii) deleted by Act 25 of 2007.] one day for every twenty days of work performed by him during the previous calendar year.Explanation. - For the purpose of this sub-section-(a)any day of lay off, by agreement or contract or as permissible under the standing orders and any days of lock-out;(b)in the case of a female employee, maternity leave for any number of days not exceeding twelve weeks; and(c)the leave earned in the year prior to that in which the leave is enjoyed;shall be deemed to be days on which the employee has worked in an establishment for the purpose of computation of the period of 240 days or more, but he shall not earn leave for these days.(2)(i)The leave admissible under this sub-section shall be exclusive of all holidays whether occurring during or at either end of the period of leave.(ii)An employee whose service commences, otherwise than on the first day of January shall be entitled to leave with wages at the rate laid down in clause (i) or as the case may be, clause (ii) of sub-section (1) if he has worked for two third of the total number of days in the remainder of the calendar year.(3)An employee who has been employed for a period of not less than one hundred and twenty days shall be entitled to leave with wages at the rate prescribed in clause (i) or clause (ii) of sub-section (1), as the case may be, if the ratio of the number of days of his employment is not less than the ratio which 240 bears to 365, and the employer shall pay to him the amount payable under section 17 in respect of the leave with wages to which he is deemed to have become entitled.(4)In calculating leave under this section, fraction of leave of half-a-day or more shall be treated as one full day's leave, and fraction of less than half-a-day shall be omitted.(5)If an employee does not in any one calendar year take the whole of the leave allowed to him under sub-section (1) or sub-section (2), as the case may be, any leave not taken by him shall be added to the leave to be allowed to him under that sub-section in the succeeding calender year :[Provided that the total number of days of leave that may be carried forward to a succeeding year shall not exceed forty-five days.] [Substituted by Act 2 of 1975.][xxx] [Second proviso omitted by Act 2 of 1975.](6)An employee may at any time apply in writing to the employer, not less than fifteen days before the date on which he wishes his leave to begin, to take all the leave or any portion thereof allowable to him during that calendar year under sub-section (1) or subsection (3), as the case may be:Provided that the number of installments in which the leave is proposed to be taken shall not exceed three.(7)An application for leave which does not contravene the provisions of sub-section (6) shall not be refused without sufficient cause to be recorded in writing:Provided that an employee aggrieved by such refusal may appeal in the prescribed manner to the prescribed authority who shall, if he is satisfied after hearing the parties that such refusal was without sufficient cause, award such compensation to the employee as such authority may consider fair and equitable.(8)[ When earned leave is refused to an employee having to his credit such leave for forty-five days, he shall be entitled, in respect of the period covered by the refusal, to an amount which would have been payable to him as wages for the period in case he had been on leave during that period. The amount payable under this sub-section shall he in addition to the normal wages payable for the period.On an employee receiving the said amount the leave to his credit shall be reduced by the number of days in respect of which such amount is received.] [Inserted by Act 2 of 1975.](9)[ If the employment of an employee who is entitled to leave under sub-section (1) or sub-section (2), as the case may be, is terminated by the employer before he has taken the entire leave to which he is entitled or if, having applied for and having not been granted such leave, he quits his employment before he has taken the leave, the employer shall pay him the amount payable under section 17 in respect of the leave not taken, and such payment shall be made before the expiry of the second working day after the day on which his employment is terminated and to an employee who quits his employment on or before the next pay day.Explanation 1. - "Illegal strike" means strike which is held by the State Government to be illegal within the meaning of section 24 of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 (XIV of 1947), or of any other law for the time being in force relating to industrial disputes.Explanation 2. - "Calendar year" shall mean a year from the first day of January to the thirty-first day of December.(10)If an employee wants to avail himself of the leave with wages due to him to cover a period of illness, he shall be granted such leave if the application for leave is not made within the time specified in sub-section (6) and in such a case wages as admissible under section 16 shall be paid not later than fifteen days.(11)The unavailed leave of an employee shall not be taken into consideration in computing the period of any notice required to be given before discharge or dismissal.] [Sub-sections. 8, 9, 10 re-numbered as sub-sections. 9, 10, 11 by Act 2 of 1975.]
