How Kaamwork aligns India's leave policy with your global employee experience

Expanding to India seems great, until we touch on the leave policy in India. One state says employees are entitled to X number of national holidays, another adds regional holidays.

There's earned leave, casual leave, sick leave, national holidays, maternity and paternity leave, and more. Each entitlement exists to protect workers. However, for global firms, this creates confusion and operational delays.

That mismatch between India's rules and your global standards can frustrate teams and chip away at trust. At Kaamwork, we have experienced this closely with our clients, including Thrasio and Tripadvisor, among others.

So, with this blog post, I will tell you how Kaamwork's Employer of Record (EOR)-first model bridges this gap. We'll cover the key types of leave policy in India, how they work, and what to watch out for.

This way, you can stay 100% compliant, and people in India also feel part of the same culture.

So grab a cup of chai as we dive into leave policies together!

Why leave policies deserve attention in global hiring

Now, circling back to where we started… leave in India isn't just a box to tick. It's a trend that keeps tripping up global companies. To make sense of it, let's get a hunch on the basics first.

Understanding the basics of leave policy in India

A leave policy is simply the set of rules that decides how much time off an employee is entitled to, and under what conditions. Leave policy in India is governed by central labor laws and state-specific laws.

Here's what you're dealing with:

• Earned Leave (EL): Time off employees accumulate for longer breaks or vacations. In India, it's usually 12–20 days a year.
• Casual Leave (CL): For short absences or emergencies. Mostly, it's a minimum of 12 days a year.
• Sick Leave (SL): Paid for medical absences. These are around 15 days per annum.
• National Holidays: Mostly, India has a minimum of 7 national holidays (including state-specific festival breaks). Of this, there are three compulsory holidays (Republic Day, Independence Day, and Gandhi Jayanti).
• Maternity & Paternity Leave: Covered under the Maternity Benefit Act of 1961. Women employees who have worked at least 80 days in the preceding year are entitled to 26 weeks of fully paid leave.

Speaking of paternity leave, it is not standardized by the law. But global employers pay to stay ahead of competitors.

• Comp Offs: When employees work on an official holiday, they are allowed equivalent days off later.

Looking at this, many underestimate compliance risk, thinking they can simply extend their HQ leave policy to India. But that's exactly where they get it wrong and pay hefty prices.

Note that India has 28 states, each with a diverse population from various religious backgrounds. So, each one has their own festival holidays.

For example, Maharashtra recognizes Ganesh Chaturthi, West Bengal gives time off for Durga Puja, Kerala observes Onam, and Tamil Nadu marks Pongal. And none of these are optional if your office is registered in that state.

The hidden risks of getting it wrong

So, what happens when leave isn't aligned properly?

• Financial penalties and reputational risks.
• Employee dissatisfaction when policies differ from HQ norms.
• Attrition caused by a lack of parity with global peers.
• Managers struggling with inconsistent approvals and last-minute escalations.
• A perception of unfairness that damages trust in leadership.
• HR teams losing hours reconciling mismatched rules.

Which is why the next step is critical. Let's explore how to bridge the gap between law and culture, and develop leave policies that align with both global standards and Indian regulations.

Finding your way between culture and the law

Your US company has clean, simple leave policies that are easy to understand and fair across all employees. Then you recruit your first engineer in India and find out that there are festival advances for different religions and states, which makes your head spin.

Welcome to the wonderful world of Indian employment law.

What global companies expect from HR policies

Most US companies want their leave policy in India to mirror their domestic approach. Same weekends off. Similar vacation days. Recognisable holidays like Christmas or Thanksgiving swapped with local equivalents.

And ultimately, it makes sense as you manifest to create a seamless employee experience that builds brand loyalty. Why should your software engineer in India get different treatment than your software engineer in San Francisco?

But Indian law has slightly other plans.

What Indian regulations demand

You have earned leave, sick leaves, maternity/paternity leaves, unpaid leaves, national holidays, festival leaves, menstrual leaves for women, and even something called privilege leave that accumulates over time.

Oh, and employees can carry forward unused leave, cash out earned leave when they quit, and take advance leave against future accruals.

The tension point for global teams

Due to the mismatch, many US startups stumble with their policies.

Some overcomplicate their policies, creating endless custom clauses for every region. Others underdeliver and lose out on top talent within six months. Because if your leave policy in India is stingy compared to what they had, why would they stay dissatisfied?

Both the above approaches hurt scalability and employee trust. Your India team either feels like second-class citizens or is completely overwhelmed by bureaucracy. So, the way out is finding the sweet spot where Indian law meets US expectations.

Kaamwork's way of managing leave policy in India

Want to keep employees happy and avoid paperwork? Kaamwork EOR model is here to help you.

Employer of Record-first compliance

Kaamwork becomes your legal employer in India. You can use our EOR platform to hire Indian candidates from day 1 and leave all the compliance, payroll, and technical stuff to us. And while we take care of the statutory side, you still control salaries, promotions, and career paths.

You don't need separate finance, payroll, and HR departments for your Indian team. Our EOR model supports this just for a flat fee of $599 a month per employee you hire.

Blending global standards with local rules

Based in India, we know the ins and outs of local rules and culture. We configure policies that feel familiar to your US employees while embedding all the statutory requirements Indian law demands. Many of our clients have scaled teams this way.

You focus on building products. We focus on making sure your Indian employees get proper benefits, your US HR team avoids legal headaches, and everyone wins.

Tech-enabled clarity

You don't need to make Excel sheets and spend hours on an employee performance report. On our platform, employees see balances, apply for time off, and track approvals in seconds.

Moreover, managers get real-time visibility and clean records that stand up to any audit. That clarity is part of why our clients save 1000 setup hours.

What employees experience on the ground

Feeling part of the same company culture

India hires see the same equity and benefits as peers in the US, UK, or Europe. At Kaamwork, there is always a sense of belongingness as team members are not outsourced staff.

Trust in long-term careers

Right from onboarding, we lay down clear policies on leave and benefits. That's how we help you attract high bar from companies like Amazon and Expedia.

Lower attrition through better HR practices

Fair treatment and transparent HR practices keep people around. Kaamwork clients experience under 5% employee attrition, compared to the 30%+ market rate.

Our Client snapshots: How brands handled leave in India

TripAdvisor: Building a full-time team without an entity

The challenge: TripAdvisor wanted to grow an India team but didn't want the 6–12 month wait or $100K+ cost of setting up an entity.

How Kaamwork helped: Kaamwork's EOR + build-direct model helped them hire full-time employees from Day Zero. That too on compliant payroll, with benefits and equity eligibility.

Results:

• ~80% overhead savings compared to entity setup
• ~50% lower salaries vs. U.S. benchmarks
• Built ~10 roles in six months without setup delays

Thrasio: Scaling engineering at breakneck speed

The challenge: Thrasio set aggressive growth targets only to face a workforce shortage. They needed engineering and data capacity fast. However, vacancies for these technical roles remained open for weeks, slowing down product delivery.

How Kaamwork helped: We set up their India team on our EOR platform in one week. We also made the leave policy, benefits, and compliance as per Indian standards.

Results:

• Critical hire filled in one week
• ~20 FTEs ramped in <4 months
• Fully compliant, equity-ready team without new entity setup

Practical guidance for global leaders

The way you design your leave policy in India can decide how attractive and credible your company is for the Indian employees. Here are three practical rules global leaders should follow.

Treat compliance as the foundation, not the end goal

Meet statutory leave laws in India, but don't stop there. Mirror your global norms so teams feel aligned across locations.

Position leave policy as part of your value proposition

The current employable youth in India falls in the Gen Z category. And they value work-life balance, mental health, and culture very seriously. That's exactly why a strong leave policy can be the edge in competitive hiring.

Skip the entity burden

Don't lose the initial 6 -12 months setting up a subsidiary just to get compliant. With Kaamwork, you can start hiring and roll out a compliant leave policy in India from day zero.

Beyond compliance: Kaamwork as your India HR backbone

More than just leave policy

Kaamwork doesn't just stop at strategizing for leave policy. Our remote HR platform supports hiring, cross-border payroll, appraisals, promotions, and exits. Although employees interact with our HR platform, they experience your brand front and center.

Why Kaamwork's approach stands apart

We don't source B or C-level employees from freelance gig platforms like Fiverr or Upwork. Kaamwork EOR provides access to a deep, vetted talent pool of professionals who have already proven themselves at top MNCs. Salaries and benefits are managed with complete transparency, so there are no markups or hidden costs - just a flat fee of $599 per month per employee.

Your team, your culture — with zero compromise

Leave policy is one piece of a bigger picture. Kaamwork's employee-first model ensures your India hires grow as true brand ambassadors, not vendor staff.

Aligning policies, strengthening loyalty

Leave policy in India isn't just compliance..it shapes how talent perceives your company. Having a clear & thoughtful leave policy shows people they're valued and sets the tone for how they'll experience your company.

When your Indian developers or marketers see that they get the same respect for time off as your US team, they think differently about their role. They're not just contractors filling seats - they're team members building something together.

Kaamwork makes it simple for global teams to get this balance right in India. With our EOR model, you stay compliant without losing sight of culture, and your people grow as part of your brand, not as vendor staff. We help you build trust, retain talent, and scale with confidence.

Ready to build teams in India the right way? Let's talk.