Case Study: Sundays & Paid Holidays in Service Calculation

📜 Case

Lal Chand Jindal vs. Bank of Baroda

🏛 Court and Date

Rajasthan High Court
Hon’ble Justice Anoop Kumar Dhand
CWP No. 1334/2015 | Date: 19th March 2025

📂 Relevant Law

• Industrial Disputes Act, 1947
  • Section 25B(2) – Definition of continuous service (240 days requirement)

📖 Background

• The workman, Lal Chand Jindal, claimed he had completed 240 days of continuous service with the Bank of Baroda.
• The Industrial Tribunal excluded Sundays and paid holidays while calculating service days, holding that only 227 days were worked.
• Based on this, the Tribunal denied the workman the benefit of continuous service under Sec. 25B(2) of the ID Act.

❓ Legal Issue

Whether Sundays and paid holidays should be included while calculating the 240 days of continuous service under Section 25B(2) of the Industrial Disputes Act.

🔑 Key Legal Findings

• The High Court relied on the Supreme Court ruling (AIR 1986 SC 458), which held that Sundays and paid holidays must be included when computing continuous service.
• The Tribunal erred in excluding them, thereby miscalculating the number of days worked.
• Once Sundays and holidays were included, the workman crossed the 240-day threshold required under law.

🏛 Judgment

• The impugned award of the Tribunal was quashed.
• The matter was remanded back to the Tribunal for fresh adjudication in accordance with law.

📌 Conclusion

The Rajasthan High Court reaffirmed that Sundays and paid holidays cannot be excluded when determining whether an employee has completed 240 days of continuous service under Section 25B(2) of the ID Act.

💡 Key Learning

• 240 days service = actual days worked + paid holidays + weekly offs (like Sundays).
• Tribunals must follow Supreme Court precedents while interpreting continuous service.
• Employees wrongly denied benefits due to miscalculation can seek judicial redress.

Download the PDF copy of this Case:

Join the community that’s changing the way businesses handle compliance in India.