Leave · verified August 2026

What is Casual leave?

Also called CL.

Definition

Casual leave is short-notice paid leave for unforeseen personal reasons, usually taken in ones and twos, and typically neither carried forward nor encashed.

How it works

Casual leave exists to absorb the small unpredictable absences that would otherwise become loss of pay or an argument. Because it is not meant to accumulate, most policies cap the number of days that can be taken consecutively.

What it means in India

Casual leave is provided for in several state Shops and Establishments Acts, with the number of days and the conditions varying by state, and it is not a universal statutory entitlement in the way annual leave with wages is. Check your own state act before writing the number into a policy.

What people get wrong

Assuming a fixed number of casual leave days applies nationally. It is a state provision where it exists at all.
Allowing casual leave to be carried forward or encashed by default, which turns a buffer into an accrued liability.

Terms this one depends on

Earned leave. Earned leave is paid annual leave that accrues with days worked, usually carries forward, and is generally encashable on exit. It is the leave type most closely governed by statute.Sick leave. Sick leave is paid leave for illness, usually granted separately from casual and earned leave, and commonly requiring a medical certificate beyond a stated number of consecutive days.Loss of pay. Loss of pay is a deduction from salary for days absent without any leave balance to cover them. The size of the deduction depends entirely on which divisor the employer uses, and there is no single correct one.

More on leave

Leave encashment Compensatory off

Where this shows up in practice

Almost everything on this page ends up as a line on a payslip or a figure in a register. Shiftelio keeps attendance, leave, salary structure and the statutory deductions in one place, so the number in the letter and the number in the payslip come from the same record.

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This entry was written and checked in August 2026 for Indian employers. It is general information, not legal or tax advice. Statutory thresholds, contribution rates and slab tables are revised from time to time, and several of the rules described here come from state legislation that genuinely differs between states, so check the position that applies to your own establishment before acting. If you believe anything here is inaccurate, write to support@shiftelio.com and we will correct it.