27Annual leave with wages

(1) Without prejudice to such holidays as may be prescribed, every motor transport worker who has worked for a period of two hundred and forty days or more in a motor transport undertaking during a calendar year shall be allowed during the subsequent calendar year leave with wages for a number of days calculated at the rate of--

(a) if an adult, one day for every twenty days of work performed by him during the previous calendar year; and

(b) if an adolescent, one day for every fifteen days of work performed by him during the previous calendar year.

(2) A motor transport worker whose service commences otherwise than on the first day of January shall be entitled to leave with wages at the rate laid down in clause (a) or, as the case may be, clause (b) of sub-section (1) if he has worked for two-thirds of the total number of days in the remainder of the calendar year.

(3) If a motor transport worker is discharged or dismissed from service during the course of the year, he shall be entitled to leave with wages at the rate laid down in sub-section (1), even if he has not worked for the entire period specified in sub-section (1) or sub-section (2) entitling him to earned leave.

(4) In calculating leave under this section, fraction of leave of half a day or more shall be treated as one full day's leave, and fraction of less than half a day shall be omitted.

(5) If a motor transport worker does not in any one calendar year take the whole of the leave allowed to him under sub-section (1) or sub-section (2), as the case may be, any leave not taken by him shall be added to the leave to be allowed to him in the succeeding calendar year:

Provided that the total number of days of leave that may be carried forward to a succeeding year shall not exceed thirty in the case of an adult or forty in the case of an adolescent.

(6) In this section "calendar year" means the year commencing on the first day of January.

Explanation.--For the purposes of this section, leave shall not include weekly holidays or holidays for festival or other similar occasions whether occurring during or at either end of the period of leave.