Holiday Calendar for Branches in Several States: Festival Holiday Minimums and Setup by Location

A company with offices in Bengaluru, Chennai and Pune cannot publish one holiday list and stop there. Paid holidays for private employees come from state laws, each with its own minimum and its own fixed dates. This post sets out those minimums for three common states, explains where restricted or optional holidays fit, and shows how to set up a calendar per location in an HRMS.

Where holiday rules come from

• ✓National holidays. Republic Day (26 January), Independence Day (15 August) and Gandhi Jayanti (2 October) are observed across the country, but the obligation on a private employer to give them as paid holidays comes through state law.
• ✓State National and Festival Holidays Acts. Karnataka and Tamil Nadu each have an Industrial Establishments (National and Festival Holidays) Act covering factories, shops and plantations.
• ✓State Shops and Establishments Acts. Maharashtra's Shops and Establishments (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 2017 sets paid festival holidays for establishments it covers.
• ✓The labour codes. The OSH Code governs weekly rest and working hours, but festival holiday entitlements still come from these state laws.

Minimums in three states

Points to note:

• ✓These are minimums. Most employers give more. Your company list can exceed them but cannot fall below any state's figure, and must include that state's fixed dates.
• ✓1 November is mandatory in Karnataka only. A Pune or Chennai employee has no right to it unless your policy grants it.
• ✓Eligibility for festival holidays under the Karnataka and Tamil Nadu Acts depends on the worker having worked 30 days in the 90 days before the festival. National holidays apply from the first day.
• ✓Working on a holiday triggers double wages or a substituted holiday under these laws; in Maharashtra, Section 18 gives both double the daily average wages and a substitute holiday. Treat that as a comp-off and payroll rule, not just a calendar entry.

Other states have their own laws and lists, so repeat the check for every state where you employ staff.

Restricted or optional holidays

Restricted holidays (also called optional or floating holidays) let employees choose from a longer list of festivals. They are a company policy, not a statutory requirement. They work well in a mixed workforce where Onam matters in Kochi and Chhath in Patna.

Rules that keep them manageable:

1. Fix the number, for example 2 a year, and publish the full list at the start of the year.
2. Count them separately from the statutory minimum. A restricted holiday the employee may never take does not count towards a state's mandatory total.
3. Set a booking rule, such as applying at least 7 days ahead, with the manager approving for coverage.
4. Decide what happens to unused ones. Most policies let them lapse at year-end without encashment; say so in writing.

Setting it up per location in an HRMS

1. Create a calendar per state, not per office. Two branches in Karnataka share one statutory base.
2. Load the fixed dates first, then the festival holidays, then the restricted list.
3. Tag each holiday by type: national, festival, restricted. Reports and audits need the split.
4. Assign employees by work location, not by home state or payroll entity. A Chennai-based employee on a Bengaluru payroll follows the Tamil Nadu calendar.
5. Handle transfers by effective date. An employee moving from Pune to Bengaluru in July picks up Kannada Rajyotsava on 1 November.
6. Connect the calendar to attendance and payroll, so holiday work is flagged for double wages or a comp-off automatically.
7. Display the list at each workplace and keep the year's calendar as a record, as state rules generally require.
8. Publish before the year starts. Maharashtra's festival holidays must be agreed before the calendar year begins.

A worked example

A Bengaluru software firm has 120 staff in Bengaluru, 40 in Chennai and 30 in Pune. Its policy is 10 company holidays plus 2 restricted holidays.

Company list (10): 26 Jan, 1 May, 15 Aug, 2 Oct, plus 6 festival holidays.

Per state:

• ✓Karnataka: add 1 November. The 10 company holidays include 4 fixed dates and 6 festivals; replacing one festival with 1 November gives 5 fixed + 5 festivals = 10, meeting the minimum.
• ✓Tamil Nadu: 4 fixed + 6 festivals = 10, above the minimum of 9.
• ✓Maharashtra: 4 fixed + 6 festivals = 10, above the minimum of 8, with the 4 statutory festival holidays agreed before 1 January.

Cost of keeping Chennai open on Pongal: 6 support staff each earning ₹900 a day work the day and choose double wages: 6 × ₹900 × 2 = ₹10,800 for the day, paid through that month's payroll. Of that, ₹5,400 is over and above the holiday pay they would have received anyway.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• ✓Tamil Nadu Industrial Establishments (National and Festival Holidays) Act, 1958, Tamil Nadu Labour Department
• ✓Maharashtra Shops and Establishments Act, 2017, Section 18, LawGist
• ✓Karnataka national and festival holidays, Simpliance
• ✓Tamil Nadu national and festival holidays, Simpliance

This is a summary, not legal advice. Confirm each state's current holiday list and notice rules with its labour department or a labour-law professional.