Sick leave rules in India: state acts and ESI
Sick leave for shop and office employees comes from the state Shops and Establishments Act, and the numbers run from 7 to 15 days a year. Four states pay it at half wages. On top of that, employees covered by ESI can claim a cash sickness benefit from ESIC, paid by the corporation and not by you. This page has the state table and explains how the two systems fit together.
Last updated 12 September 2026.
How many sick leaves does each state give?
Day counts from the leave section of each state act. Where the act merges sick and casual needs into one pool, the row says so. Asterisked rows carry data not confirmed from official sources.
| State or UT | Sick leave under the state act |
|---|---|
| Andaman and Nicobar Islands | 12 days |
| Andhra Pradesh * | 12 days |
| Arunachal Pradesh | None |
| Assam | 7 days on medical grounds, lapses |
| Bihar | 12 days at half pay |
| Chandigarh | 7 days |
| Chhattisgarh | No separate head, CL covers illness |
| Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu | 7 days on medical grounds, lapses |
| Delhi | Merged with CL |
| Goa | 9 days |
| Gujarat | 7 days on medical grounds, lapses |
| Haryana * | 7 days |
| Himachal Pradesh | 7 days |
| Jammu and Kashmir * | No separate head |
| Jharkhand | 12 days at half pay, certificate needed |
| Karnataka | 12 days, covers sickness, accident or any other reasonable cause |
| Kerala | 12 days |
| Ladakh * | No separate head |
| Lakshadweep | None |
| Madhya Pradesh * | No separate head, CL covers illness |
| Maharashtra | No separate head, CL covers illness |
| Manipur | One month at half wages, certificate needed |
| Meghalaya | 12 days |
| Mizoram * | Medical leave on certificate |
| Nagaland | 12 days of medical leave |
| Odisha | 15 days, only after one year of service |
| Puducherry | At least 12 days |
| Punjab | 7 days |
| Rajasthan | None in the act |
| Sikkim | 12 days |
| Tamil Nadu | 12 days |
| Telangana | 12 days |
| Tripura | 14 days at half pay, certificate; bank of up to 112 days |
| Uttar Pradesh * | 15 days, after 6 months of service |
| Uttarakhand | No separate head, CL covers illness |
| West Bengal * | 14 days at half pay, bank of up to 56 days |
* Data not confirmed from official sources. Compiled 31 August 2026 from the act texts on India Code and state labour portals.
Which states pay sick leave at half wages?
Bihar and Jharkhand give 12 days at half pay, with a medical certificate. Tripura gives 14 days at half pay and lets unused days bank up to 112. West Bengal's department summary shows 14 days at half pay with a 56 day bank. Manipur gives a month of sick leave at half wages, with no accumulation.
A few acts have no sick leave head at all. Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh cover illness through the casual leave pool. Odisha gives 15 days but only after a year of service. Karnataka runs one 12 day pool that covers sickness, accident, or any other reasonable cause, so it works as both SL and CL.
If you write one policy for offices in several states, the simplest approach is to give your chosen number at full pay everywhere, and note that it meets or exceeds each state floor. Paying one office at half and another at full is legal, but employees will compare.
How does the ESI sickness benefit work?
For employees covered by ESI, sickness has a second funding line. ESIC pays a sickness benefit of 70 percent of wages for up to 91 days in a year, provided the employee contributed for 78 days in the six month contribution period. For 34 listed long term diseases the benefit extends up to two years at 80 percent of wages.
The two systems answer different questions. Your state act sick leave decides whether the absence is paid by you and counts as leave. The ESI benefit is cash from the corporation, claimed on ESIC certification, and it matters most for absences longer than the sick leave balance. The contribution rates and wage ceiling are in the ESI contribution guide.
Tell covered employees the sequence for a longer illness: inform the manager, see the ESIC dispensary, hand HR the certificate. Most confusion in these cases is about the sequence, not the money.
Can an employer ask for a medical certificate?
Yes. Some acts require one for the statutory entitlement, Jharkhand's half pay head and Mizoram's medical leave for example. Elsewhere it is a policy condition. A workable rule is to ask for a certificate only beyond two or three consecutive days. Asking for paper on a single day of fever just produces resentment and fake slips.
Two more clauses help. A notification rule: inform the manager by a set time on day one, on any channel. And an exhaustion rule: what happens when sick leave runs out, usually earned leave first, then leave without pay. Write the sequence down in advance. See also the casual leave guide and the types of leave index.
What should a sick leave policy cover?
Half days. Allow sick leave in half day units. A person who is mildly unwell should not have to choose between a wasted full day and a full shift.
Probationers. Some acts tie sick leave to service length, Odisha's one year rule is the longest. Your policy can start earlier, and a small allowance from month one is better than leaving new joiners with nothing.
Work from home is not sick leave. A person who is unwell but working from home is working, and should lose no balance. A person too unwell to work should be on sick leave, not half answering messages. Write that line down or the sick balance turns into a remote work quota.
The long illness path. Sick leave in days cannot cover a six week illness. Name the sequence in the policy: sick leave, then earned leave, then leave without pay, with the ESI benefit running in parallel for covered staff. It is much easier to follow a written sequence than to negotiate one mid illness.
Common questions
How many sick leaves per year does the law give in India?
There is no central figure for private shops and offices; the state act decides. Typical numbers are 7 days in Punjab, Haryana and Gujarat, 9 in Goa, 12 in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Karnataka, 15 in Uttar Pradesh and Odisha. A few states fold sickness into the casual leave pool instead.
Is sick leave paid at full salary?
In most states, yes. Bihar, Jharkhand, Tripura and West Bengal are the exceptions, paying the statutory sick days at half wages. Your policy can top the half pay states up to full pay, and many employers do that for consistency.
Can an employer ask for a medical certificate?
Yes. Some acts require one for the statutory entitlement, Jharkhand for instance, and elsewhere it is a reasonable policy condition. The common practice is to ask for a certificate only when the absence crosses two or three consecutive days.
What is the ESI sickness benefit?
ESIC pays insured employees 70 percent of average daily wages for up to 91 days of certified sickness in a year, once they have contributed for 78 days in the relevant six month period. For 34 listed long term diseases the benefit runs up to two years at 80 percent of wages.
Does unused sick leave carry forward or get encashed?
Usually neither. Most acts let sick leave lapse at year end, and the exit encashment provisions attach to earned leave only. Tripura and West Bengal are exceptions that let sick leave bank up, at 112 and 56 days respectively, still without encashment.
Sick leave rules belong in a written policy
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