Railway servants appointed on or after 1 February 1949 are governed by the Railway Services (Liberalised Leave) Rules, 1949. This chapter covers every kind of leave in those rules, the leave that sits outside them (casual leave and special casual leave), and joining time on transfer.
General Principles
- Leave cannot be claimed as a right. The competent authority may refuse or revoke leave of any kind.
- The sanctioning authority cannot change the kind of leave applied for, except on the employee's written request.
- An employee on leave may not take up any other employment.
- No leave of any kind may be granted for a continuous period of more than 5 years, unless the President decides otherwise in exceptional circumstances.
- Leave cannot be granted to an employee whom the disciplinary authority has decided to dismiss, remove or compulsorily retire.
Leave on Average Pay (LAP)
| Point | Rule |
|---|---|
| Entitlement | 30 days in a calendar year, for permanent and temporary staff |
| How it is credited | In advance, 15 days on 1 January and 15 days on 1 July |
| Maximum accumulation | 300 days |
| Credit in the half-year of joining or leaving | 2½ days for each completed calendar month (half a month or more counts as a month) |
| Cut for EOL or dies-non | Next credit reduced by 1/10th of that period, up to 15 days |
| Maximum at one time | 180 days, including holidays and rest days in the spell |
| Half-day LAP | Allowed for workshop staff only, up to 6 occasions a year |
Encashment of LAP
- While in service: up to 10 days of LAP may be encashed when availing a pass or PTO, provided at least 30 days of LAP remain at credit afterwards.
- Encashment during service is limited to 60 days in the whole career, and successive encashments need a gap of one 2-year block.
- Cash equivalent = (Pay ÷ 30) × number of days, based on the pay on the date of availing the pass/PTO.
- On retirement: LAP and LHAP together can be encashed up to an overall limit of 300 days.
- On resignation: cash equivalent of half the LAP at credit, up to 150 days.
- Not admissible on removal, dismissal or compulsory retirement as a penalty (allowed in compulsory retirement if no cut in pension is imposed).
Leave on Half Average Pay (LHAP) and Commuted Leave
- LHAP: 20 days for each completed year of service, credited in advance as 10 days on 1 January and 10 days on 1 July.
- In the half-year of joining or retiring, LHAP is credited at 5/3 days per completed month.
- EOL or dies-non reduces the next LHAP credit by 1/18th of that period, up to 10 days.
- LHAP has no accumulation limit and may be taken on medical certificate or private affairs.
- Commuted leave: LHAP converted into half the number of days on full pay, granted on medical certificate. Twice the days of commuted leave are debited from the LHAP account.
- There is no limit on commuted leave in the whole service, and it may be taken even when LAP is due. It is not admissible to teaching staff.
- If an employee on commuted leave resigns or retires voluntarily without returning, it is treated as LHAP and the difference in leave salary is recovered (not if retirement is forced by ill-health or on death).
Leave Not Due (LND) and Extraordinary Leave (EOL)
- LND is half-pay leave granted in advance, limited to the LHAP the employee is likely to earn later, and to 360 days in the whole service, on medical certificate. It is debited against future LHAP.
- LND is not granted as leave preparatory to retirement, and is not admissible to school teachers because they do not earn LHAP.
- EOL is granted when no other leave is admissible, or when other leave is admissible but the employee asks for EOL in writing. It is not debited to the leave account and carries no leave salary.
- A permanent employee may get EOL up to 5 years in one spell. Absence without leave can be converted into EOL retrospectively.
| EOL limit for a temporary employee | Condition |
|---|---|
| 3 months | Without medical certificate |
| 6 months | 1 year of continuous service, with medical certificate |
| 18 months | 1 year of continuous service, under treatment for TB, leprosy, cancer or mental illness |
| 24 months | 3 years of continuous service, for studies certified to be in public interest |
Study Leave and Work-Related Illness and Injury Leave
- Study leave needs at least 5 years of regular continuous service, and the employee must not be due to retire within 3 years of returning.
- Study leave is ordinarily up to 12 months at a time and 24 months in the whole service. Study abroad is allowed only for super-specialisation or a Ph.D. related to the duties.
- Work-Related Illness and Injury Leave (WRIIL) replaced Special Disability Leave from 14 December 2018, for illness or injury caused or worsened by official duty.
- Under WRIIL, full pay is paid for the whole period of hospitalisation; for staff other than RPF/RPSF, full pay for 6 months after that and half pay for the next 12 months.
- No LAP or LHAP is credited while an employee is on WRIIL.
Maternity, Paternity, Child Care and Child Adoption Leave
| Leave | Period | Key condition |
|---|---|---|
| Maternity leave | 180 days | Fewer than 2 surviving children; not debited to the leave account |
| Maternity leave on miscarriage or abortion | Up to 6 weeks each time; 45 days in the whole career | Irrespective of the number of children, on medical certificate |
| Paternity leave | 15 days | Male employee with fewer than 2 surviving children; from 15 days before up to 6 months after the delivery, otherwise it lapses |
| Child care leave (CCL) | 730 days in the whole service | Female employees and single male employees, for the 2 eldest children |
| Child adoption leave | 180 days | Adoptive mother with fewer than 2 surviving children, child up to 1 year old |
Child Care Leave: Details
- A 'child' means a child below 18 years, or a child of any age with at least 40% disability.
- Not more than 3 spells in a calendar year (6 spells for a single female employee); not less than 5 days at a time.
- Salary: 100% for the first 365 days and 80% for the next 365 days.
- CCL is not debited to the leave account, and LAP and LHAP continue to be credited during CCL.
Casual Leave (CL)
Casual leave is for sudden or unforeseen needs. It is not 'leave' under the leave rules, so an employee on CL is not treated as absent from duty and pay is not interrupted. CL may be taken for half a day, and holidays before or after it are not counted.
| CL in a calendar year | Who |
|---|---|
| 8 days | Staff (including workshop staff) who get all public holidays |
| 10 days | Staff who cannot avail public holidays because of the nature of their duties; temporary-status casual labour |
| 13 days | Staff of Northeast Frontier Railway |
| 4 extra days of special CL | Employees with disabilities |
- CL cannot be combined with any other kind of leave or with joining time, and it lapses at the end of the calendar year.
- Compensatory casual leave is given for duty on a Sunday, weekly rest day or holiday. It must be taken within one month (beyond that only the GM can sanction), and not more than 3 consecutive days at a time. Supervisory staff are not eligible.
Special Casual Leave (SCL)
- Granted for purposes such as railwaymen's co-operative society work, family welfare, sports, recognised trade union meetings, blood donation, assisting a colleague in a D&A inquiry, cultural events, Republic Day parade and Territorial Army camps.
- Ordinarily limited to 30 days in a calendar year and not debited to the leave account. For sports of national or international interest the GM can grant up to 90 days.
- An aggrieved female employee may get SCL of up to 90 days while a sexual-harassment inquiry is pending.
- SCL can be combined with ordinary CL only, not with regular leave; Sundays and holidays inside the spell count as part of it.
Joining Time
Joining time is allowed only on a transfer in public interest, not on a transfer at the employee's own request. It starts from the date the employee hands over charge of the old post, and the employee is treated as on duty during it.
| Distance between old and new headquarters | Joining time |
|---|---|
| Same station, or no change of residence | 1 day |
| 1000 km or less | 10 days |
| More than 1000 km up to 2000 km | 12 days |
| More than 2000 km | 15 days (12 days if travelling by air) |
- Joining time can be extended up to 30 days by the HOD (by the DRM on divisions) for non-gazetted staff; beyond 30 days only by the Railway Board.
- It may be combined with regular leave of any kind, but not with casual leave.
- Joining time not availed (admissible days, up to 15, minus days used) is credited to the LAP account.
Exam Focus
Numbers that are asked again and again: LAP 30 days a year (15 + 15), maximum 300; LHAP 20 days a year (10 + 10); LND 360 days in service; maternity 180 days; paternity 15 days; CCL 730 days; CL 8 / 10 / 13 days; SCL 30 days; joining time 10 / 12 / 15 days.