Optional holidays chosen by an employee from a pre-approved list of cultural or religious observances, up to a set annual quota.
- Category
- Attendance & Leave
- Legal status
- Governed by Indian law
- Relevant to
- HR, managers & employees
- Reading time
- 3 min
What is Restricted Holidays (RH)?
Restricted Holidays (Optional / Floating Holidays) are culturally inclusive leave provisions. An employer publishes a comprehensive list of 15 to 20 regional, religious, or cultural holidays, allowing employees to select 2 to 3 days that align with their personal cultural traditions without using regular Earned Leave.
Key takeaways
- 1Restricted Holidays (Optional / Floating Holidays) are culturally inclusive leave provisions.
- 2An employer publishes a comprehensive list of 15 to 20 regional, religious, or cultural holidays, allowing employees to select 2 to 3 days that align with their personal cultural traditions without using regular Earned Leave.
Why Restricted Holidays (RH) matters
Champions religious and cultural diversity within a multicultural workforce, ensuring fair holiday flexibility for all communities.
How Restricted Holidays (RH) works in practice
- 1
Set the policy
Define how Restricted Holidays (RH) works: eligibility, accrual or limits, approval flow and carry-forward rules.
- 2
Capture data
Record Restricted Holidays (RH) through biometric, mobile or web check-ins and leave requests rather than paper registers.
- 3
Approve & regularise
Managers review exceptions, missed punches and requests related to Restricted Holidays (RH) within a fixed window.
- 4
Feed payroll
Lock the cycle so Restricted Holidays (RH) flows into salary, loss-of-pay and encashment calculations.
Real-world example
An employee selects Mahavir Jayanti and Chhath Puja as their two allotted Restricted Holidays from the corporate annual holiday calendar.
Indian statutory reference
Standard leave policy practice in government organizations and progressive private enterprises.
Rates, limits and state rules change often. Confirm against the latest notification or with your compliance advisor.
Best practices and common mistakes
Best practices
- Publish a clear policy for Restricted Holidays (RH) and keep it in the employee handbook.
- Use one source of truth for attendance, leave and shift data.
- Set approval timelines so requests do not pile up before payroll.
- Audit overtime and loss-of-pay entries each cycle.
- Align policies with the applicable Shops & Establishments rules.
Common mistakes
- Applying Restricted Holidays (RH) differently across teams, which causes disputes.
- Letting attendance corrections happen after payroll is processed.
- Not tracking leave balances in real time.
- Ignoring state-wise holiday and weekly-off rules.
Managing Restricted Holidays (RH) in SleetHR
SleetHR manages Restricted Holidays (RH) with configurable policies, self-service requests and approvals, and sends the final numbers to payroll automatically.