Restricted Holiday

What Is A Restricted Holiday?

A Restricted Holiday (RH), or optional holiday, is a category of leave where employees can observe certain days of personal or cultural value, which do not feature within the official public holiday calendar. Unlike fixed national holidays, restricted holidays offer flexibility in honouring individual beliefs, traditions, or events.

In terms of leave policies, RHs are an important aspect of inclusive, employee-friendly policies as they help address religious and area diversity among the employees in the organisation.

How Do Restricted Holidays Work?

Employers usually issue a list of 15–20 restricted holidays per year for employees to choose from. Each employee is permitted to select and avail a certain number, usually 2 or 3, of RHs based on personal preferences.

An employee may choose to observe a holiday on Good Friday, Eid, or Parsi New Year, and these do not have to be observed as company-wide holidays.

Are Restricted Holidays Mandatory for Companies?

No, restricted holidays are not provided for under the Indian labour law. However, a number of businesses incorporate them within their leave policy to enhance diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives and increase workforce satisfaction.

The inclusion of restricted holidays (RHs) reflects respect for employee cultural and religious practices, particularly within multicultural workforces.

Comparison Between Restricted and Gazetted Holidays

Why Are RHs Important in Workforce Management?

From a workforce management perspective, RHs support;

• Decrease absenteeism by providing managed flexibility.
• Demonstrate appreciation of employee diversity without impairing operations.
• Enhance control over smooth scheduling since not everyone utilises RHs on the same day.

Key Takeaways

• RHs offer employees autonomy to observe a holiday or leave deemed personal.
• They support inclusion in the workplace.
• HR has the responsibility of monitoring and controlling RHs as part of leave governance.
• Reduced operational confusion by expressing policy negations of the RH policy avoids uncertainty and policy missteps.