Leave types for teaching and non-teaching staff
Many private schools give teachers 10 to 12 days of casual leave and 8 to 10 days of medical leave a year, plus maternity leave, and no earned leave because vacations take its place. Office, accounts, transport and support staff get casual, sick and earned leave, since they stay on duty through May and June. Before deciding that teachers earn no earned leave at all, check with your advisor how the annual leave rule under the OSH Code applies to them. For workers it covers, one day of paid leave is earned for every 20 days worked once 180 days are completed in the calendar year.
- Casual leave for teachers, credited monthly
- Medical leave with a doctor's certificate beyond two days
- Earned leave for office, transport and support staff
- Maternity leave, with a substitute teacher planned early
- Leave without pay once balances run out
No-leave days and notice for planned leave
Publish the no-leave days at the start of the session: the weeks of half-yearly and annual exams, board practical dates, result day, PTM Saturdays and the last and first working days around each vacation. Ask for three working days' notice for planned casual leave, so the coordinator can adjust the timetable before the day. Emergencies still happen. For those, the rule is a phone call to the coordinator before 6:30 am and an application on the app the same day, so the absence is on record before payroll.
Sandwich rules for short breaks
The sandwich rule matters most around short breaks. A teacher on leave on Friday and Monday around a Saturday holiday, or on both sides of a two-day Diwali break, has in effect taken a four-day break. Many schools count the holidays in between as leave in that case, and refuse leave on the days next to long vacations except in emergencies. Whatever you choose, write it down and apply it the same way for every teacher. When the teacher applies, the leave preview should show the sandwiched days before submission, so the argument happens before the leave, not at payroll.
Maternity cover and vacation duty
Paid maternity leave runs up to 26 weeks, or 12 weeks for a woman with two or more surviving children, after 80 days of work in the preceding 12 months. For a school, 26 weeks is most of a term, so hire a substitute on a fixed-term contract as soon as the date is known. See the maternity benefit rules. Vacation duty is the other side: teachers called in for admission tests, summer camps or board result analysis should get a comp-off for each day, with an expiry within the same academic year.
How to set it up in ZeniaHR
- In the Leave Ledger, edit the default leave types to your policy: casual and medical leave for teachers, and casual, sick and earned leave for other staff.
- If teaching and non-teaching staff are separate employment types, use the employment type rule on earned leave so that only non-teaching staff can apply for it.
- Set rules per leave type: notice days for planned casual leave, a document needed after two days of medical leave, and the maximum days per application.
- In Leave rules, pick the sandwich mode and decide whether holidays count like weekends, so short festival breaks are treated the same way for every teacher.
- Post the exam weeks and PTM dates as a Company Wall announcement that needs acknowledgement, so coordinators can point to it when they reject planned leave.
- Let coordinators approve leave from My Team as reporting managers, with HR second, after checking the Leave Calendar for their section.
- Grant comp-off for vacation duty after checking the punch for that day, with an expiry, so unused credits lapse on their own.
Read more about leave management in ZeniaHR.
Roles this applies to
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Do school teachers get earned leave?
Many private schools do not give teachers earned leave, because summer and winter vacations take its place, while office and support staff who work through vacations do earn it. Before adopting that policy, check whether the OSH Code's annual leave provisions cover your teachers, and state the decision in the appointment letter and the staff handbook.
Can a school refuse teacher leave during exams?
A school can name exam weeks, PTM days and the days around vacations as no-leave periods in its leave policy, with an exception for genuine emergencies. Announce the dates at the start of the session so teachers can plan. Coordinators then reject planned leave on those dates, and HR records any emergency leave with the reason.
How much maternity leave does a school teacher get?
Up to 26 weeks of paid maternity leave, or 12 weeks for a woman with two or more surviving children, once she has worked 80 days in the 12 months before. In a school this covers most of a term, so plan a substitute teacher on a fixed-term contract as soon as the expected date is shared.