Sandwich Leave Policy: Meaning, Examples & Loopholes

The approach to leave management is different for all companies. It can range from having unlimited paid time off to having policies for sandwich leaves.

One of the main reasons why businesses consider having a sandwich policy is because it avoids employees planning extended leave periods. This helps reduce mass absenteeism and low team productivity.

Having efficient leave policies in your organization makes things easier for both employees and the management. Although there’s some confusion around the sandwich leave policy faced by employees, it’s definitely not rocket science.

This blog explains the sandwich leaves in detail, its benefits, and its drawbacks.

Interestingly, sandwich leaves receive a lot of backlash and are termed as “anti-employee experience’. We will give deeper to understand if these kinds of leaves are actually helpful or hurtful to businesses in the long run.

What is a Sandwich leave policy?

A sandwich leave policy limits employees from taking personal/casual leave in between scheduled holidays. If they do so, the holidays also account for leaves from the leave balance regardless if they are public or national holidays.

Let’s understand this better with a scenario.

August 15th, 2024 is a national holiday for Independence Day which falls on a Thursday. August 19th is Raksha Bandhan which is a public holiday in some states in India and falls on the following Monday.

Suppose you take a leave on August 16th (Friday), ideally, you’ll be enjoying a vacation of 5 days at the cost of spending only one leave from your balance.

But, if your organization has a sandwich leave policy, you’ll be charged with three leaves including the Independence Day and Raksha Bandhan.

The details of this policy differ according to the rules set out by the organizations. Some companies also cut leaves for Saturday and Sunday if leaves are taken on Friday and Monday.

How do Sandwich leaves work?

The sandwich leave policy is not standardized in Indian labor laws. Employers have the flexibility to create their own policies, including rules on sandwich leaves, as long as they comply with basic leave entitlements mandated by law.

To learn more about the legal considerations, read: How to create a leave policy?

The sandwich leave policy should be clearly defined in company rules and applied consistently. Specific provisions may vary by company, industry, and location.

The sandwich leave policy originated from factory work schedules, where productivity directly correlated with employee working hours.

Under this policy, employers may count intervening non-working days (like weekends) as part of the leave period when an employee takes time off before and after these days. For example:

If an employee takes leave on Friday and Monday, Saturday and Sunday might also be counted as leave days.

This practice is permissible if:

• It’s clearly stated in the employment contract or company policy.
• It’s consistently applied to all employees.
• Employees must accept this leave calculation if it’s part of their agreed-upon employment terms.

Components of a Sandwich leave policy

A sandwich leave policy contains three main components: 

1. Objective: Defines the purpose of the sandwich leave policy, typically to provide guidelines to manage leaves efficiently and maintain productivity.
2. Scope: Specifies which employees, departments, or situations the policy applies to within the organization.
3. Entitlement/calculation: Outlines how sandwich leave is calculated, including which days are counted and how it affects leave balances.

Exceptions with documents: Lists situations where the policy may not apply. This includes emergencies such as sick leaves, or wedding leaves. It also specifies the required documentation for these exceptions.

How does sandwich policy benefit a business?

A sandwich leave policy helps businesses by avoiding employees exploiting a regular leave policy by clubbing leaves with holidays to get extended time off. It prevents employee absenteeism and ensures better workforce availability and productivity.

Here are four more advantages of using a sandwich leave policy:

Maintains productivity

The sandwich leave policy helps maintain consistent productivity by discouraging fragmented leave periods. This allows teams to better plan and distribute work, ensuring projects stay on track even when team members are absent.

Sustains business continuity

By encouraging employees to consolidate their leave, the policy helps businesses maintain operational continuity. It reduces the frequency of start-stop interruptions in work processes. This is particularly beneficial in customer-facing roles or time-sensitive operations.

Controls cost

The policy discourages the accumulation of leave, which can result in lengthy absences that are costly to cover and disruptive to operations. This strategy not only saves on direct leave-related expenses but also on indirect costs tied to reduced productivity and employee replacement.

Increases customer satisfaction

With more predictable employee availability and fewer fragmented absences, businesses can provide more consistent service to customers. This leads to improved response times, better follow-through on commitments, and ultimately higher customer satisfaction. 

4 Drawbacks of using a sandwich leave policy

Even though the sandwich leave policy has its own benefits, the disadvantages of this policy are more profound among employees.

Mangesh Bhide, Head-HR, Reliance Jio Infocomm says

“Many companies aped this concept from the West and the IT giants also copied it blindly. But we should learn to modify some policies as per the needs of the employees”

Here are some common drawbacks of using a sandwich leave policy:

Deprioritizes work-life balance

The policy may discourage employees from taking shorter breaks when needed, as they might feel pressured to maximize their leave days. This can lead to stress accumulation and reduced overall well-being.

Employees may start postponing necessary time off to avoid “wasting” leave days. Ultimately, employees with poor work-life balance will have reduced productivity. 

Distrusts employees

Implementing a sandwich leave policy can be perceived as a lack of trust in employees’ judgment and professionalism. It may send a message that the company assumes employees will abuse leave policies if not strictly regulated.

A workforce majorly dominated by millennials and GenZ can view the sandwich leave policy as morally demeaning. It might even damage the employer-employee relationship.

More importantly, it facilitates a command-based leadership culture. The latest human resource development frameworks focus on leading with vision and trusting employees to be self-accountable. Policies like sandwich leave may spread malaise and discontent within the organization.

Reduces flexibility

The policy limits employees’ ability to manage their time off according to their personal needs and preferences. This reduced flexibility can be particularly challenging for employees with family responsibilities or those who need to attend to personal matters that don’t always align with traditional leave periods.

Increases administrative burden

Implementing and managing a sandwich leave policy can create additional administrative work for HR and managers. It includes more complex leave calculations, increased communication requirements to explain the policy, and potential dispute resolution. 

The extra administrative load can divert resources from other important HR functions and potentially increase operational costs.

Implementing a sandwich leave policy: 3 easy steps

Here are a few steps to follow to implement a sandwich leave policy in your business:

Draft the policy

The first step to include a sandwich leave policy in your company is to draft a policy document as a part of the main leave policy or as a stand-alone. Clearly outline how the sandwich calculation will be done against the leave balance. 

Communicate the policy with your employees

Explain the policy details to all the employees of your company without any exceptions. Provide written documentation to them either in the employee handbook or as a part of their contracts.

Update your leave management software

Modify the settings of your leave management or attendance tracking software to include the sandwich leave policy and its calculation. If you’re using Keka, this can be done from the ‘Time Attend’ dashboard under the ‘Leave’ section in a few easy steps.

Under the ‘Additional settings’ of any given leave type, you can simply check the boxes related to Sandwich Policy and save the settings.

How do employees manage the sandwich leave policy: Loopholes 

No matter how strict is any policy drafted by a business, some employees will always find a way around it. Confusion or no confusion, employees are hardly a fan of the sandwich leave policy.

More often, they see it as very restricting and focus on its drawbacks more than its benefits. Hence, it’s important for the HR and management to be aware of how employees strategize their leaves to go around the policy.

Here are five common loopholes of the sandwich leave policy:

1. Planning leave to avoid triggering the policy, such as taking Thursdays and Tuesdays off instead of Fridays and Mondays.
2. Taking half-days before or after weekends to circumvent full-day deductions.
3. Combining various leave categories (e.g., sick leave, personal days) to avoid consecutive days off.
4. Asking to work remotely on days that would otherwise trigger the policy.

Strategically planning leave around public holidays to maximize time off.

Wrapping up

Now we know about the sandwich leave policy debate along with its employee loopholes, benefits for the business, and its implementation. While drafting such a policy, keep it mind not to make it so rigid, that it brings down your employees’ morale. 

Finding the right balance is the key. Although we have talked about the administrative burden that comes along with this policy, that needn’t be the case. 

You can opt for a policy that is fair and flexible in a system that allows your employees to practice well-being while maintaining transparency. 

Such a system would be to make use of efficient leave management software that not only reduces HR’s burden but also serves as a tool for employees to ensure flexibility. 

Keka offers self-service for employees to view their leave balances, past leave history, approvals, etc. Plus, it has built-in configurable policies and settings for HR along with loss of pay calculation. 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What is a sandwich policy?

A sandwich policy is a leave management practice where non-working days (like weekends or holidays) that fall between leave days are counted as part of the employee’s leave period. For example, if an employee takes Friday and Monday off, the intervening Saturday and Sunday would also be counted as leave days.

What are the best practices for managing leave policies?

Some of the best practices for managing leave policies are:

• Clearly communicate policies to all employees
• Ensure consistency in policy application
• Regularly review and update policies
• Provide flexibility where possible
• Comply with local labor laws and regulations
• Use technology to streamline leave management

How does the sandwich policy affect employees’ leave balance?

The sandwich policy typically reduces an employee’s leave balance more quickly than traditional policies. By including non-working days in the leave period, employees use more leave days for the same amount of time off. This can result in fewer total days of leave available throughout the year.

Are sandwich leave policies legal?

Yes, sandwich leave policies are legal as long as they are properly implemented and communicated. However, they must not conflict with minimum leave entitlements mandated by local labor laws. Organizations must consult with legal experts to ensure compliance in their specific locations.

What are some alternatives to the sandwich policy?

Some alternatives to the sandwich leave policy include:

• Flexible leave policies that allow employees to manage their time off more freely
• Half-day leave options to provide more flexibility
• Personal day allotments separate from vacation time
• Remote work options to reduce the need for formal leave
• Earned time off systems based on hours worked