Statutory basis and typical entitlement
The Factories Act does not prescribe sick leave separately; factories provide it through standing orders, settlements or policy. Shops, offices and commercial establishments derive sick leave from the state Shops and Establishments Act, with entitlements that vary by state and are commonly up to 12 days a year. Some states combine casual and sick leave into a single pool.
Company policies often exceed the statutory minimum and add rules on carry-forward (some states allow SL to accumulate), certificate requirements and half-day sick leave.
Medical certificate norms
The common rule is self-declaration for up to two or three consecutive days and a certificate from a registered medical practitioner beyond that. Policies should state who can issue the certificate, whether a fitness-to-resume certificate is needed after a longer illness, and how the certificate is submitted (a photo through the employee app is the practical answer for field staff).
Requiring a certificate for a single day of sick leave drives employees to take casual leave or unpaid absence instead, and inflates LOP; most HR teams settle on a two-day self-declaration threshold.
- Self-declaration for short spells (typically up to 2–3 days)
- Registered medical practitioner's certificate for longer spells
- Fitness certificate on return after extended illness, where the role warrants it
- Sick leave records are medical information and should be access-restricted
Interaction with ESI sickness benefit
For employees covered under ESI (gross up to ₹21,000 in a covered establishment), ESIC pays a cash sickness benefit for certified illness, subject to contribution conditions, at a rate and for a duration fixed by ESIC. Many employers do not pay salary for ESI-certified sickness days because ESIC compensates the worker, and treat those days as unpaid on the payslip with the worker claiming from ESIC. Others pay sick leave from the company pool for short spells and route longer certified sickness to ESIC.
The policy must state which approach applies and the attendance system must mark ESI sickness days distinctly so they are not counted as LOP for disciplinary purposes.
A packing worker on ₹16,000 gross is off sick from Monday to Friday. Under the company's policy, the first two days are self-declared sick leave paid by the employer. From day three she has an ESIC medical certificate and claims sickness benefit from ESIC for the remaining days; the company marks those three days as ESI sickness, unpaid on the payslip. Her salary for the month shows 27 paid days (including 2 SL) and 3 ESI-sickness days, and her EPF and ESI contributions are computed on the ₹14,400 actually paid.
Attend Mitra lets you configure sick leave as a distinct leave type with per-request limits and certificate attachments in the app, so approvals and documents are on record before payroll locks and the day is classified correctly as paid leave or unpaid ESI sickness.