THE PUNJAB SCHOOL EDUCATION BOARD LEAVE REGULATIONS

General

Regulation 1. Short title.--

These Regulations may be called the Punjab School Education Board Leave Regulations.??

Regulation 2. Commencement.--

These Regulations shall come into force at once.??

Regulation 3. Extent of application.--

Subject to the provisions of Regulation 29, they shall apply to all the employees of the Punjab School Education Board. The employees who are on foreign service with the Board, will, however, continue to the governed by their respective rules or by the terms of their deputation, as the case may be.??

Regulation 4. Definitions.--

In these Regulations, unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context :-

(a)      "Completed years of Service" and "One Year's continuous service" means continuous service of the specified duration under the Board and includes periods spent on duty as well as on leave including extraordinary leave.

 

(b)      Duty includes

 

(i)       service as a probationer or apprentice provided that service as a probationer is followed by confirmation without a break;

 

(ii)      Joining Time; and

 

(iii)     any other period declared by the Board as such.

[Note. - The Chairman may delegate his powers to the Vice-Chairman or to the Secretary. The powers conferred on the Secretary under item No. (i) of this regulation may be delegated by him to any officer not below the rank of a Deputy Secretary.][1]

(c)      "Earned Leave" means leave earned in respect of period spent on duty.

 

(d)      "Employee" means any person appointed to any post by the Board or by another authority subordinate to it in connection with the affairs of the Punjab School Education Board.

 

(e)      "Half pay leave" means the amount of half pay leave earned in respect of completed years of service.

 

(f)       "Leave Salary" means the monthly amount paid by the Board to an employee on leave as determined in Regulation 18.

 

(g)      "Pay" means the amount drawn monthly by an employee as :-

(i) ???the pay, other, than the special pay or pay granted in view of his personal qualifications which has been sanctioned or a post held by him substantively or in an officiating capacity or to which he is entitled by reason of his position in a cadre;

(ii) ???technical pay, special pay and personal pay; and

(iii)? ?any other emoluments which may be specially classed as pay by the Board.

(h)     "Permanent Employee" means a person who holds substantively a permanent post or holds a lien on a permanent post or would hold a lien on a permanent post had his lien not been suspended.

 

(i)       "Specified Medical Authority" means :-

(i) ???for employees in pay scale the minimum of which is less than Rs. 400/- p.m. a Registered Medical Practitioner or a Registered Void or Hakim or a Medical Officer of the Board.

(ii) ???for other employees, Civil Surgeon or the Principal Medical Officer as the case may be or a Medical Officer of the Board.

(j)       "Substantive Pay" means the pay, other than special pay, personal pay or emoluments classed as pay by the Board to which an employee is entitled on account of a post to which he has been appointed substantively or by reason of his substantive position in a cadre.

 

(k)      "Leave" includes earned leave, half pay leave, commuted leave, extra-ordinary leave and casual leave.

 

(l)       "Holiday" means :-

 

(a)      a holiday prescribed or notified by or under section 25 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881; and

 

(b)      a day on which office of the Board is ordered to be closed for the transaction of business without reserve or qualification.

 

(m)    All other terms relating to the leave used in these Regulations, shall have the meaning respectively assigned to them in the Punjab Civil Service Rules, Volume-I, Part-I.??

Regulation 5. Authorities empowered to grant leave.--

Power to grant leave of all kinds, except casual leave shall vest in the authorities indicated below :-

Note. - The Chairman may delegate his powers to the Vice-Chairman and the Secretary to the next Officer according to the Seniority.??

Regulation 6. Power to refuse leave or recall employees on leave.--

Leave cannot be claimed as of right. When the exigencies of service so require, discretion to refuse or revoke leave of any description is reserved to the authority empowered to grant it and employee already on leave may be recalled by that authority when it is considered necessary in the interest of the Board.??

Regulation 7. Lapse of leave on cessation of service.--

Leave earned by an employee lapses on the date on which he ceases to be in service.??

Regulation 8. Earlier return from leave.--

An employee on leave may not return to duty before the expiry of the period of leave granted to him, unless he is permitted to do so by the authority which granted him leave.??

Regulation 9. Commencement and Termination.--

(i)       Leave shall commence from the day on which transfer of charge is effected and end on the day preceding that on which the charge is resumed; provided that no transfer of charge shall be necessary in the case of casual leave.

 

(ii)      An authority competent to grant leave may permit Sundays or other recognised holidays to be prefixed and/or suffixed to leave.??

Regulation 10. Obligation to furnish leave address.--

An employee shall, before proceeding on leave intimate to the authority granting leave, his address while on leave and shall keep the said authority informed of any change in the address previously furnished.??

Regulation 11. Report on return from leave.--

An employee on leave shall, unless otherwise instructed to the contrary, return for duty to the post from which proceeded on leave.??

Regulation 12. When medical fitness certificate may be demanded.--

The authority sanctioning leave may require an employee who applied for leave for reason of health to produce a medical certificate of a Specified Medical authority.

Similarly, it may require him to produce a medical certificate of fitness before he resumes duty even though such leave was not actually granted on a medical certificate. These Certificates should be in the forms given as annexure 'A' and 'B' to these Regulations.??

Regulation 13. Leave not admissible to an Employee under Suspension.--

Leave may not be granted to an employee under suspension or against whom proceedings for disciplinary action are pending.

Note. - The period spent under medical treatment by an employee under suspension, shall be treated as spent under suspension and the subsistence allowances as admissible under the regulations shall be given for that period. On reinstatement, it shall be specified whether it is to be treated as 'duty' or 'Non-duty' with reference to the provisions of the regulation unless the employee concerned desires and the competent authority orders that it may be converted into leave of the kind due and admissible to him.??

Regulation 14. Leave Account.--

A leave account showing the various kinds of leave earned by an employee shall be maintained in the form given as Annexure 4C.??

Regulation 15. When application should be submitted.--

(1)     Applications for earned, half pay and extraordinary leave shall ordinarily be submitted at least one month before the date from which leave is required.

 

(2)     Applications which do not satisfy the requirement of sub-regulation (1) may be refused without assigning any reason. Ordinary leave??

Regulation 16. Earned Leave.--

(1)     The earned leave admissible to an employee is :-

 

(a)      l/24th of the period spent on duty during the first 10 years of his service,

 

(b)      1/18th of the period spent on duty during the next 10 years of his service; and

 

(c)      1/12th of the period spent on duty thereafter.

Note. - For the purpose of assessing the length of service under this regulation, break in service accrued as a result of retrenchment shall not entail forfeiture of previous service. Further in case of women employees break in service due to resignation as a result of family circumstances of the employees, shall also be condoned by the reappointing authority; provided that break does not exceed 10 years;

(2)     (a) The half pay leave admissible to an employee in respect of each completed year of "service" is 20 days.

(b) ??The half pay leave due may be granted to an employee on medical certificate or on private affairs.

(c) ???Commuted leave not exceeding half the amount of half pay leave due may be granted to an employee on medical certificate only subject to the following conditions :-

(i) ????Commuted leave during the entire service shall be limited to a maximum of 240 days;

(ii) ???When commuted leave is granted, twice the amount of such leave shall be debited against the half pay leave due;

(iii) ??Half pay leave up to a maximum of 180 days shall be allowed to be commuted during the entire service where such leave is utilised for an approved course of study, certified to be in the public interest by the leave sanctioning authority :

Provided that no commuted leave may be granted under this regulation unless the authority competent to sanction leave has reason to believe that the employee will return to duty on its expiry and provided further that no commuted leave may be granted unless it has been applied for at least 30 days at a time.

Note 1. - The option once exercised will be final and debars an employee from claiming re-conversion, as a matter of right, though the authority which granted leave can (if so disposed) allow it.

Note 2.  When commuted leave is granted to an employee under this regulation and he intends to retire subsequently, the commutated leave should be converted into half pay leave and difference between the leave salary in respect of commuted leave and half pay leave should be recovered. An undertaking to this effect should, therefore, be taken from the employee who avails himself of commuted leave, but the question whether the employee concerned should be called upon to refund the amount drawn in excess as leave salary should be decided on merits of each case i.e. if the retirement is voluntary, refund should be enforced, but if their retirement is compulsorily thrust upon him by reason of ill health, incapacitating him for further service or in the event of his death, no refund should be taken.

(d) ???Save in the case of leave preparatory to retirement "leave not due" may be granted to an employee in permanent employ for a period not exceeding 360 days during his entire service out of which not more than 90 days at a time and 180 days in all, may be otherwise than on medical certificate. Such leave will be debited against the half pay leave the employee may earn subsequently.

Note 1. - Leave not due should be granted if the authority empowered to sanction leave is satisfied that there is reasonable prospect of the employee returning to duty on the expiry of the leave and should be limited to the half pay leave, he is likely to earn thereafter.

Note 2, - The half pay leave earned by an employee in respect of a completed year of service can be availed of by him during the course of leave or during an extension thereof within which the date of anniversary of service falls.

Note 3. - Where an employee who has been granted "Leave not due" under this clause applied for permission to retire voluntarily, the leave not due shall, if the permission is granted, be cancelled and his retirement shall have effect from the date on which such leave, commenced. An undertaking to this effect should, therefore, be taken from the employees who avail of "leave not due". But the question whether an employee should be called upon to refund the amount of leave salary should be decided on the merits of each case. e.g. if the retirement is voluntarily, refund should be enforced, if it is unavoidable by reason of ill health incapacitating him for further service or in the event of his death no refund should be insisted upon.

Note 4. - When "leave not due" is granted to an employee under this clause and he applied for permission to retire voluntarily or resign of his own volition at any time after returning to duty, the question of refund of leave salary in respect of the "leave not due" already availed of before return to duty shall, to the extent it has not been subsequently wiped off. be treated in the same way as laid down in note (3) above.

Note 5. - The temporary' employees who are suffering from T.B./Leprosy/Cancer or mental illness, "leave not due" may be granted to such employee, for a period not exceeding 360 days during the entire service subject to the fulfillment of conditions of regulation 16(2)(d) ibid and also subject to the following further conditions :-

(i)       That the employee has put in minimum of one year's service:

 

(ii)      that the post from which the employee proceeds on leave is likely to last till his return to duty;

 

(iii)     that the request for the grant of such leave is supported by medical certificate of the medical officer of the Board.??

Regulation 17. Limit up to which leave may be taken.--

Accumulation of leave shall be permissible to any extent but the period of earned leave which can be taken at one time shall be 120 days. Leave on half pay will not ordinarily be allowed for more than 360 days at a time. Earned leave and leave on half pay can, however, be combined.??

Regulation 18. Leave Salary.--

(1)     An officer on earned leave shall I be entitled to leave salary equal to the pay drawn immediately before proceeding on earned leave.

 

(2)     An officer on half pay leave or leave not due is entitled to leave salary equal to half the amount specified in sub-regulation (1).

 

(3)     An officer on commuted leave is entitled to leave salary equal to the amount admissible under sub-regulation (1).

 

(4)     An officer an extraordinary leave is not entitled to any leave salary.

 

(5)     (a) An employee who is granted leave beyond the date of compulsory retirement or quitting of service, as the case may be, shall be entitled during such leave to leave salary as admissible under this regulation.

(b) ???Where such an employee is re-employed during such leave, the leave salary shall be restricted to the amount of leave salary admissible while on half pay leave.

(c)?? ?If during such re-employment, he is granted leave earned by him during the period of re-employment, the leave salary shall be based on the pay drawn by him.

(6)     Leave salary up to one month may be allowed in advance to all employees proceeding on earned leave subject to the following conditions :-

 

(a)      No advance may be granted when the leave taken is less than thirty days;

 

(b)      The amount of the advance should be restricted to the net amount of leave salary for the first month of leave that is clearly admissible to the employee after deduction on account of Income Tax, Contributory Provident Fund, House Rent, repayment of advances etc.

 

(c)      The advance should be adjusted in full in the leave salary bill in respect of the leave availed of where the advance cannot be adjusted in full the balance should be recovered from the next payment of pay or/and leave salary.

 

(d)      The amount of advance will be debited to the head of account to which the pay etc. of the employee is debited and the adjustment of advance will be watched through objection book by the Finance and Accounts Officer.

 

(e)      Advances shall be sanctioned in whole rupee.

 

(7)     In case an employee dies while in service, the cash equivalent of the leave salary (carrying the appropriate amount of dearness allowance) that the deceased employee would have got had he gone on earned leave that would have been due and admissible to him but for his death on the date immediately following the date of death and in any case  not exceeding leave salary for 120 days shall be paid to his family.

Note 1.--The leave salary of an employee who is reinstated after period passed under suspension and who proceeds on leave shortly after or immediately on reinstatement should be calculated on the basis of the pay actually drawn by or allowed to him immediately before the leave commenced.

Note 2.--In the case of leave preparatory to retirement or refused leave, an undertaking for recovery of leave salary if any, paid in excess shall be taken from the employee.

Note 3.--The leave salary payable under these regulations shall be drawn in rupees in India.??

Maternity, extra-ordinary and Casual Leave

Regulation 19. Maternity Leave.--

The competent authority may grant to a female employee maternity leave on full pay for a period not ordinarily exceeding three months. The grant of leave should be so regulated that the date of confinement falls within the period of this leave. This leave may be extended to six months on the certificate of the Principal Medical Officer or Medical Officer of the Board or of a member of the Women's Medical Service, India. Maternity leave is not debited against the leave account. Provided that no leave under this regulation shall be granted to a female employee who has three or more children.

Note 1.--During such period she shall be paid leave salary equal to the pay drawn immediately before proceeding on leave. The term 'pay' in this regulation includes officiating pay provided the authority sanctioning the leave certifies that the employee would have continued to officiate had she not proceeded on leave.

Note 2.--Maternity leave under this regulation may also be granted in cases of miscarriage, abortion, including abortion induced under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971, subject to the conditions that :-

(i) ???The leave does not exceed six weeks;

(ii) ??The ?application for the leave is supported by a certificate from a registered medical practitioner. The certificate of the Medical Officer of the Board be called for in cases of doubt.

Note 3.--Any other kind of leave may be permitted to be prefixed to maternity leave without insisting on a medical certificate. But any leave applied for in continuation of the materrtity leave may be granted only if the request in supported by a medical certificate.

Note 4.--The amendments, if any, made by the State Government in regard to the grant of maternity leave to its employees, shall also be applicable to the employees of the Board.??

Regulation 20. Extra-ordinary leave.--

(1)     Extraordinary leave may be granted to any employee in special circumstances :-

 

(a)      When no other leave is admissible; or

 

(b)      When other leave is admissible, but the employee concerned applies in writing for grant of extraordinary leave.

 

(2)     The authority empowered to grant leave may commute retrospectively :-

 

(a)      Period of absence without leave into extra-ordinary leave.

 

(b)      extraordinary leave granted, into leave of different kind if the latter type of leave was admissible at the time extraordinary leave was granted.

Note 1. - The power to commuting retrospectively, period of absence without leave into extraordinary leave under clause (b) is absolute and not subject to the conditions mentioned in clause (a). In other words, such a commutation is permissible even when other leave was admissible to the employee concerned at the time his absence without leave commenced. This concession, however, cannot be claimed by the employee as a matter of right.

Note 2. - The concession admissible under clause (2) cannot be claimed by an employee as a matter of right.

Note 3. - Extra-ordinary leave granted to an employee on medical certificate may be commuted retrospectively into leave not due at the discretion of the authority competent to sanction leave in respect of extra- ordinarily leave taken on medical certificate. Such a commutation is also permissible in a case where extraordinary leave was granted to an employee on medical certificate during temporary service, and he is subsequently confirmed or declared quasi-permanent with effect from a date earlier than the commencement of the extraordinary leave.

Note 4. - Extraordinary leave taken by an employee otherwise than on medical certificate, may also be commuted into leave not due at the discretion of the authority competent to sanction leave.

Note 5. - For permanent employee rule 3.25 of Punjab Civil Services Rules, Volume-I Part-I, shall apply.

(3)     Subject to the provision of clauses (1) and (2), extraordinary leave not exceeding the following limits may be granted to a temporary employee by the competent authority on any one occasion .-

(i) ???One year;

(ii)?? ?twelve months in a case where the employee has completed three years' continuous service on the date of expiry of leave of the kind due and admissible under the regulations [including one year's extraordinary leave under (i) above] and this request for leave is supported by a medical certificate as required under the regulations;

(iii) ??eighteen months, where the employee is undergoing treatment for -

(1)     pulmonary tuberculosis or pleurisy of tubercular origin in a recognised sanatorium, or

 

(2)     tuberculosis of any other part of the body by a qualified tuberculosis specialist or a civil surgeon, or

 

(3)     leprosy in a recognised leprosy institution or by a Civil Surgeon or a specialist in leprosy recognised as such by the State Administrative Medical Officer concerned.

 

(4)     twelve months where an employee is undergoing treatment for cancer, or for mental illness in an institution recognised for the treatment of such disease or by a Principal Medical Officer or a specialist in such disease.

Note. - This concession will be admissible only to those employees who have been in continuous service of the Board for period exceeding one year.

(iv) ??Twenty-four months where the leave is required for the purpose of prosecuting studies certified to be in the public interest provided the employee concerned has completed three years' continuous service on the date of expiry of leave of the kind due and admissible under the regulations (including one year extraordinary leave under (i) above).

Note 1.-The concession of extraordinary leave up to eighteen months will be admissible also to an employee suffering from pulmonary tuberculosis or pleurisy of tubercular origin who receives treatment at his residence under a tuberculosis (sic) recognised as such by the State Administrative Medical Officer concerned and produces a certificate to be signed by that specialist to the effect that he is under his treatment and that he has reasonable chances of recovery on the expiry of the leave recommended. '

Note 2.- The concession of extraordinary leave up to eighteen months under this sub-regulation will be admissible only to those employees who have been in continuous service for a period exceeding one year. " 

Note 3.- Where an employee who is not in permanent employ or quasi- permanent employ fails to resume duty on the expiry of the maximum period of extraordinary leave granted to him or where such an employee who is granted a lesser amount of extraordinary leave than the maximum admissible re- mains absents from duty for any period which together with the extra-ordinary leave granted exceeds the limit up to which he could have been granted such leave under this regulation, he shall be removed from service after following the procedure laid down in the Punjab School Education Board Employees (Punishment & Appeal) Regulations, 1978. 

Note 4.--Where an employee avails himself of the above leave concession for undergoing treatment for T.B. or leprosy, he should be required to produce a fitness certificate before he is permitted to resume duty on the expiry of the leave from the medical officer in charge of recognized sanatorium/or from a T.B. Specialist recognised by a State Government while such an employee suffering from Tuberculosis of any other part of the body should produce a certificate from a qualified T.B. Specialist or a Civil Surgeon.??

Regulation 21. Casual Leave.--

(1)     Casual leave may be granted as under :-

Note 1.--From the date on which an employee completes his 10th or 20th year of service as the case may be, he will be given leave in that year according to the next higher scale. Thus if an employee completes 10 years service on the 30th April. 1979. he will be entitled to 15 days casual leave for the entire year 1979.

Note 2.--Casual leave to the employees the minimum of whose pay scale is less than Rs. 825/- p.m. shall be granted by the Superintendent under whom they work or the Branch Officer as the case may be. For employees the minimum of whose pay scale is Rs. 825/- or above, casual leave shall be granted by the Vice-Chairman.

Casual leave may be granted forming maximum spell of sixteen days including holidays at a time within the limits prescribed above. Holidays may be permitted to be included which shall not be debited to the casual leave account but the total period of absence shall be not exceed 16 days.

(2)     Persons employed temporarily for a period of less than one year may be allowed casual leave at the rate of one day for every month of service actually put in but not exceeding 10 days in all.

 

(3)     If an employee overstays his casual leave for any reason whatsoever, for example a breakdown on the road due to floods, landslide the entire period of absence will be debited to his leave account other than that of casual leave and not only the period by which he has overstayed his casual leave.

 

(4)     Casual leave is treated as duty and cannot be combined with any other kind of leave. It shall not be granted so as to cause evasion of the rules regarding :-

(i)       Date of reckoning pay and allowances;

 

(ii)      Change of office; and

 

(iii)     Return to duty.

 

(5)     An employee may not leave his head-quarter during casual leave or in holidays without the permission of the authority competent to sanction him casual leave.

Note.--Casual leave at the credit of an employee shall lapse on the last day of the calendar year.??

Miscellaneous

Regulation 22.

 These Regulations will not apply to employees who have been allocated to the Board from the Punjab University. Such employees shall continue to be governed by the Regulations of the Punjab University applicable to them at the time of their allocation unless any employee specifically opts for leave Regulations of the Board. Such option shall be exercised within 3 months of the date of enforcement of these Regulations and option once exercised shall be final.??

Regulation 23. Interpretation of Relaxation.--

(1)     In matters relating to leave not specifically provided for in these Regulations, the Rules contained in the Punjab Civil Services Rules Volume-I, Part-I and Part-II as amended from time to time shall apply.

 

(2)     The power to interpret these Regulations will vest with the Board whose decision shall be final.

 

(3)     Where the Board is satisfied that the operation of any of these Regulations causes undue hardship in any particular case, it may by order dispense with or relax the requirements of that Regulation to such extent and subject to such conditions as it may consider necessary for dealing with the case in a just and equitable manner.

 

(4)     Notwithstanding anything provided in the above referred Regulations, the instructions/amendments of the Government issued from time teatime except Regulation No. 5, shall mutatis mutandis be applicable to the Board's employees.??