(1)(a) Every employee who has been in employment for not less than twenty days in any year shall be entitled to one days earned leave for every such twenty days:
Provided that a young person shall be entitled to one day’s earned leave for every fifteen days of employment.
(b) If an employee is discharged or dismissed from or leaves service, he shall be entitled to wages in lieu of the unavailed leave at the rates laid down in clause (a).
(c) In calculating leave under this section, fraction of half a day or more shall be treated as one day’s leave, and fraction of less than half a day shall be ignored.
(d) If an employee does not in anyone year take the whole of the leave allowed to him under clause (a), any leave not taken by him shall be carried forward and added to the leave to be allowed to him in the succeeding year:
Provided that:-
(i) subject to any specific agreement between the employer and the employee, the total number of days of leave that may be carried forward to a succeeding year shall not exceed forty in the case of a young person or thirty in any other case;
(ii) the provisions of this section shall not operate to the prejudice of any rights to which an employee may be entitled under any other law or under the terms of any award, agreement or contract of service;
(iii) where such award, agreement or contract of service provides for a longer leave with wages or weekly holidays than those provided under this section, the employee shall be entitled to such longer leave or weekly holidays as the case may be.
(2) Leave provided in clause (a) of sub-section (1) shall not, when applied for, be refused except for a valid reason to be communicated in writing by the employer to the employee within fifteen days of the application:
THE HIMACHAL PRADESH SHOPS AND COMMERCIAL ESTABLISHMENTS 13 ACT, 1969
Provided that the leave so refused shall, if applied for again, be granted within thirty days of the date of the application.
(3) (a) For the purpose of computing the period during which an employee has been in employment within the meaning of clause (a) of subsection (1), the period during which he was on leave under this section and the off days in a week referred to in section 11, shall be included.
(b) The unavai1ed leave of an employee shall not be taken into consideration in computing the period of any notice required to be given before discharge, removal or dismissal.
(4) Notwithstanding anything contained in the foregoing sub-sections, every employee in an establishment shall be allowed with wages seven days casual leave and seven days sick leave in a year.