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.
Also known as: EL, privilege leave, PL, annual leave
It is called earned because it accrues: an employee builds entitlement by working, rather than receiving a full year's allowance on day one. Accrual is commonly monthly, which means a joiner in October has a fraction of the annual entitlement by December, and a policy that ignores this over-credits every new hire.
Carry-forward and caps are where policy does real work. An uncapped balance becomes an unfunded liability that grows every year and lands as encashment at exit; a cap that is too tight pushes people to take leave they do not need in March. Most companies settle on carrying forward up to a ceiling and lapsing the rest.
Earned leave is generally the encashable type, which is why the distinction from casual and sick leave matters financially as well as operationally.
Statutory note
Minimum annual leave entitlements are set by state shops and establishments legislation and by the Factories Act for covered workers. Company policy can be more generous but not less.
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See leave managementRelated terms
Leave Encashment
Leave encashment is payment for unused paid leave — converting a remaining balance into money, either annually or when an employee leaves.
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.
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.