66. Holidays and leaves for sales promotion employees and working journalist.-

(1) A working journalist or sales promotion employee shall be entitled to ten holidays in a calendar year.

(2) Where a working journalist or sales promotion employee is required to attend on a holiday, a compensatory holiday shall be given to them , within thirty days immediately following the holiday, on a day mutually agreed upon by them and their employer.

(3) The working journalist or sales promotion employee shall be entitled to wages on all holidays as if such employee was on duty.

(4) The working journalist or sales promotion employee shall be entitled to wages for the weekly day of rest as if such employee was on duty.

(5) The working journalist or sales promotion employee may designate one or more officers in that establishment as competent officers for the purposes of these rules.

(6) The working journalist or sales promotion employee who desire to obtain leave shall apply in writing to the competent officer of the establishment.

(7) On an application for leave under sub-rule (6), other than casual leave, leave on medical certificate and quarantine leave, shall be made not less than one month before the date of commencement of leave, except in urgent or unforeseen circumstances.

(8) When leave is refused or postponed, the competent officer of the establishment shall record the reasons for such refusal or postponement, as the case may be and send a copy of the order to the working journalist or sales promotion employee as the case may be.

(9) Holidays, other than weekly days of rest, shall not be prefixed or suffixed to any leave without the prior sanction of the competent officer of the establishment.

(10) A holiday including a weekly rest day, intervening during any leave granted under this rule shall form part of the period of leave.

(11) (i) An establishment may recall an working journalist or sales promotion employee on leave, if that establishment considers it necessary to do so and in the event of such recall, such working journalist or sales promotion employee shall be entitled to traveling allowance, if at the time of recall such working journalist or sales promotion employee is spending their leave at a place other than headquarters;

(ii) The traveling allowance, which shall be paid under clause (i) shall be determined in accordance with the rules of the establishment governing traveling allowance for journeys.

(12) A working journalist or sales promotion employee who has availed themselves of leave for reasons of health may, before they resume duty, be required by their employer to produce a medical certificate of fitness from the designated qualified medical practitioner who issued the medical certificate.

(13) Every establishment employing working journalist or sales promotion employee may designate one or more qualified medical practitioners.

(14) (i) An working journalist or sales promotion employee shall be entitled to earned leave on full wages for a period not less than one month for every eleven months spent on duty:

Provided that such working journalist or sales promotion employee shall cease to earn further such leave when the earned leave due amounts to one hundred twenty days;

(ii) The period spent on duty shall include the weekly holiday, holidays, casual leave and quarantine leave.

(15) The working journalist or sales promotion employee on earned leave shall draw wages equal to their average monthly wages earned during the period of twelve complete months spent on duty or if the period is less than twelve complete months, during the entire such period, immediately preceding the month in which the leave commences.

(16) (i) When a working journalist or sales promotion employee voluntarily relinquishes their post or retires from service on reaching the age of superannuation, they shall be entitled to cash compensation for earned leave not availed of up to a maximum of one hundred and twenty days:

Provided that working journalist or sales promotion employee who has been refused earned leave due to such employee shall be entitled to get cash compensation for the earned leave so refused:

Provided further that working journalist or sales promotion employee who dies while in service and who has not availed earned leave due to them immediately preceding the date of their death, their heirs shall be entitled to cash compensation for the leave not so availed of.

(ii) Where the services of a working journalist or sales promotion employee is terminated for any reason whatsoever, other than as punishment inflicted by way of disciplinary action, shall be entitled to cash compensation for earned leave not availed of up to a maximum of one hundred and twenty days.

(iii) Such cash compensation shall not be less than the amount of wages due to an employee for the period of leave not availed of, the relevant wage being that which would have been payable to such employee had they actually proceeded on leave on the day immediately preceding the occurrence of any of the events specified in clause (i) or clause (ii), as the case may be.

(17)(i) A working journalist or sales promotion employee shall be entitled to leave on medical certificate on one-half of the wages at the rate of not less than one month for every eighteen months of service:

Provided that such employee shall cease to earn such leave when the leave on medical certificate amounts to ninety days.

(ii) Such medical certificate shall be from a qualified medical practitioner:

Provided that when a working journalist has proceeded to a place other than their headquarters with the permission of employer and falls ill, they may produce a medical certificate from any qualified medical practitioner:

Provided further that the employer may, when the registered medical practitioner whose certificate is produced is not in the service of the Government, arrange at their own expense for the medical examination of the working journalist or sales promotion employee concerned by any Government Medical Officer not below the rank of a Civil Assistant Surgeon or by any other Medical Officer in charge of a hospital run by a leave authority or a public organisation at that place.

(iii) Leave on medical certificate may be taken in continuation with earned leave but the total duration of earned leave and leave on medical certificate taken together shall not exceed a hundred and twenty days at any one time:

Provided that Medical Board may recommend for leave beyond one hundred twenty days.

(iv) A working journalist or sales promotion employee shall be entitled at their option to convert leave on medical certificate on one-half of the wages to half the amount of leave of full wages.

(v) The ceiling laid down in the provision to clause (i) and (iii) on the accumulation and total duration of leave may be relaxed by the competent officer in the cases of working journalists or sales promotion employees suffering from lingering illness such as tuberculosis;

(vi) Leave on medical certificate or converted leave on medical certificate referred to in clause (i) and

(iv) respectively may be granted to a working journalist or sales promotion employees at their request notwithstanding that earned leave is due to them.

(18) (i) Quarantine leave on full wages shall be granted on medical certificate of the designated qualified medical practitioner as under sub-rule (13) or where there is no such designated qualified medical practitioner, by a district public health officer or other Municipal Health Officer of similar status, for a period not exceeding twenty-one days or, in exceptional circumstances, thirty days.

(ii) Any leave necessary for quarantine purposes in excess of that period shall be adjusted against any other leave that may be due to the working journalist or sales promotion employee.

(19) A working journalist or sales promotion employee who has no leave to their credit may be granted extraordinary leave without wages at the discretion of the establishment in which such working journalist or sales promotion employee is employed.

(20) A working journalist or sales promotion employee who has no leave to their credit may be granted leave at the discretion of the establishment in which such working journalist or sales promotion employee is employed.

(21) A working journalist or sales promotion employee may be granted study leave with or without wages at the discretion of the establishment in which such working journalist or sales promotion employee is employed.

(22) (i) A working journalist or sales promotion employee shall be eligible for casual leave at the discretion of the establishment for fifteen days in a calendar year:

Provided that not more than five days shall be taken at any one time and such leaves shall not be combined with any other leave.

(ii) Casual leave not availed of during a calendar year will not be carried forward to the following year.