Casual Leave
Casual leave is short-notice paid leave for unplanned personal reasons, usually limited to a few days at a time and typically neither carried forward nor encashed.
Also known as: CL, casual leave meaning
It exists for the things that cannot be scheduled: a domestic emergency, a document appointment, a day that simply has to be taken. That is why policies commonly restrict it to two or three consecutive days — a longer absence is planned, and planned absence is earned leave.
Casual leave is usually credited annually and lapses at year end rather than carrying forward. That is deliberate: accumulating a buffer of emergency leave defeats the purpose, and making it encashable would turn it into a bonus for people who had no emergencies.
The common policy question is whether casual leave can be combined with earned or sick leave in a single absence. Most policies say no, precisely to stop it becoming a way of extending a planned holiday.
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Leave Management
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See leave managementRelated terms
Earned Leave (Privilege Leave)
Earned leave is paid time off accrued through service — typically credited monthly or annually, carried forward within limits, and usually encashable on exit.
Sick Leave
Sick leave is paid leave for illness or medical treatment, often requiring a medical certificate beyond a set number of consecutive days.
LOP (Loss of Pay)
LOP is an unpaid absence — a day an employee did not work and had no paid leave balance to cover, so the corresponding salary is deducted from that month's pay.
Comp Off (Compensatory Off)
Comp off is a paid day off granted in exchange for working on a weekly off, holiday or rest day, rather than paying overtime for that work.