Half Pay Leave

Half pay leave is 20 days a year at half leave salary under Rule 29, on medical certificate or private affairs, with no accumulation ceiling. The rules and the salary.

Updated 19 July 2026 · Reviewed by Salary-Calculator.in

Half pay leave is a recognised form of leave for central government employees under Rule 29 of the CCS (Leave) Rules 1972, credited at 20 days a year in two instalments of 10 days on 1 January and 1 July, on which the employee draws half the leave salary; it is admissible on a medical certificate or for private affairs without distinction, has no accumulation ceiling, and is the account from which commuted leave and leave not due are drawn.

Half pay leave is the workhorse of the leave system for the serious and the long. Where casual leave covers the odd day and earned leave the planned break, half pay leave is the reserve an employee builds through a career and calls on for a long illness, an extended personal need, or a spell that outruns the earned leave balance. Its defining feature is in its name: the employee draws half the leave salary, not full pay, which is the price of a leave that accrues without limit and is admissible for any purpose. It is also the base for two derived leaves, commuted leave and leave not due, which is why understanding half pay leave is the key to the whole half-pay side of the leave rules.

This article sets out half pay leave in full: what it is, how it is credited under Rule 29, the leave salary an employee draws on it and how it is computed, the fact that it is admissible on a medical certificate or for private affairs and accrues without a ceiling, the commuted leave and the leave not due that are drawn from it, its use in the retirement encashment, and who is credited it. The framework of all the recognised leaves is in the CCS (Leave) Rules article; this article is the detail on the half-pay account and the leaves that hang off it.

What half pay leave is

Half pay leave is leave in the full technical sense, unlike casual leave: an employee on half pay leave is on leave, the leave is debited from an account, and the period is treated as authorised absence. What distinguishes it from earned leave is the rate of pay. On earned leave the employee draws full leave salary; on half pay leave the employee draws half. That single difference shapes everything about it, because a leave paid at half the salary can be granted more freely, for any purpose and without an accumulation limit, than a leave paid at full pay.

The purpose of half pay leave is to give an employee a large, slowly accruing reserve for the times when earned leave is not enough. Earned leave is capped at 300 days and is the leave of the planned holiday and the leave preparatory to retirement; half pay leave is the deeper reserve, uncapped, that covers a long illness or an extended absence for private affairs. Because it accrues at 20 days a year and never lapses, a long-serving employee can accumulate a year or more of half pay leave, which is available at half pay, or, through commutation, at full pay on a medical certificate.

Half pay leave is admissible on a medical certificate or for private affairs, and the rules draw no distinction between the two for the purpose of entitlement. An employee does not have to justify half pay leave by illness; it can be taken for a personal reason just as validly, subject to the leave being sanctioned. The distinction between medical and private affairs matters not for half pay leave itself but for commuted leave, where a medical certificate unlocks full pay, as set out below.

How half pay leave is credited

Half pay leave is credited in advance under Rule 29, in two instalments of 10 days each, on 1 January and 1 July of every year, which comes to 20 days a year. The credit is made at the start of each half-year for the half-year ahead, on the assumption that the employee will serve through it, which is why it is called an advance credit. This advance-credit mechanism has applied since 1 January 1986; before that, half pay leave was earned on completed service rather than credited in advance.

For the half-year in which an employee joins service, and the half-year in which they retire, resign, or otherwise leave, the credit is not the full 10 days but a proportionate amount. The rule credits 5/3 days, that is one and two-thirds days, for each completed calendar month of service in that half-year, which works out to 10 days for a full six-month half-year and less for a part of it. So an employee who joins in the middle of a half-year is credited half pay leave for the completed months of that half-year at 5/3 days each.

One further adjustment reduces the credit. Where an employee had a period of dies non, a period that does not count as duty, or extraordinary leave in the previous half-year, the half-yearly credit is reduced by one eighteenth of that period, subject to a maximum reduction of 10 days. This is the mechanism by which a spell of unauthorised absence or leave without pay in one half-year trims the half pay leave credited for the next, so that the credit reflects the service actually rendered.

The leave salary: half of pay

The leave salary during half pay leave is, as the name says, half. Under Rule 40 of the CCS (Leave) Rules 1972, the leave salary on half pay leave is half the amount of leave salary admissible during earned leave. Because the leave salary on earned leave is the pay drawn immediately before the leave, the half pay leave salary is half of the basic pay, with dearness allowance calculated on that half-pay leave salary rather than on the full pay.

A worked example makes it concrete. Take an employee whose basic pay is Rs. 50,000 a month, at a dearness allowance of 60 per cent, the current rate. On earned leave the employee would draw the full basic pay of Rs. 50,000 plus dearness allowance of Rs. 30,000, a leave salary of Rs. 80,000. On half pay leave the employee draws half the basic pay, Rs. 25,000, plus dearness allowance on that Rs. 25,000, which is Rs. 15,000, a leave salary of Rs. 40,000. The dearness allowance follows the leave salary down: it is worked out on the Rs. 25,000, not on the Rs. 50,000, so the half pay leave salary is genuinely half of the full-pay figure, not merely half the basic pay with full dearness allowance on top.

Note the governing rule, because it is often misstated. The leave salary is fixed by Rule 40, the leave-salary rule. It is not Rule 33, which deals with leave to a probationer, a different subject. The important point for the employee is the arithmetic: half pay leave pays half of what the same period of earned leave would, which is the trade for a leave that accrues without limit and can be taken for any purpose.

Commuted leave: half pay leave at full pay

Commuted leave is the device that lets an employee draw full pay from the half pay leave account when illness requires it. Under Rule 30, half pay leave can be commuted into leave at full pay on a medical certificate: the employee draws the full leave salary instead of half, but two days of half pay leave are debited for each day of commuted leave. So commuted leave spends the half pay leave account twice as fast as ordinary half pay leave, which is the cost of drawing full pay instead of half.

Commuted leave on a medical certificate is granted where the leave-sanctioning authority is satisfied that there is a reasonable prospect of the employee returning to duty, and it is limited to not more than half the amount of half pay leave due, bounded by the half pay leave balance rather than by any fixed career figure. There are two situations where commuted leave is allowed without a medical certificate. The first is an approved course of study certified to be in the public interest, for which commuted leave up to a career limit of 180 days may be granted. The second is in continuation of maternity leave , on adoption, and with child care leave , where a limited period of commuted leave may be taken without a medical certificate.

There is a recovery rule. If an employee who has taken commuted leave resigns or retires voluntarily without returning to duty, the commuted leave is re-treated as ordinary half pay leave and the difference in leave salary is recovered, because the full pay was granted on the basis that the employee would come back. The recovery does not apply where the employee is retired on invalidation for ill-health incapacity, or dies, since in those cases the premise of return has failed through no choice of the employee. The commuted leave article sets out the mechanics and the certificates in full.

Leave not due: half pay leave in advance

Leave not due is half pay leave granted before it has been earned. Under Rule 31, where an employee has no half pay leave at credit but needs it, the leave-sanctioning authority may grant half pay leave in advance, to be debited against the half pay leave the employee earns afterwards. It is, in effect, an overdraft on the half pay leave account, given on the expectation that the employee will earn the leave back by continued service.

Leave not due is available to a permanent employee for any purpose, subject to conditions, and to a temporary employee only where they are suffering from tuberculosis, leprosy, cancer or mental illness, and have the minimum service and prospect of continuation the rule requires. It is limited in two ways: to the amount of half pay leave the employee is likely to earn thereafter, and to a maximum of 360 days in the entire career on medical certificate. And it carries a recovery rule of its own: if the employee does not return to duty, or resigns or retires before earning back the leave, the leave salary is recovered, with the same carve-outs for retirement on invalidation and for death. The leave not due article covers it in detail.

Commuted leave and leave not due are the two leaves drawn from the half pay leave account, and they pull in opposite directions: commuted leave spends the balance faster, at two days for one, to give full pay, while leave not due spends a balance the employee does not yet have, to be repaid by future accrual. Both are half pay leave at heart, which is why they belong with it.

Half pay leave and the retirement encashment

Half pay leave has a second life at retirement, in the leave encashment. Under Rule 39, on superannuation an employee is paid the cash equivalent of leave for earned leave and half pay leave together, up to a combined ceiling of 300 days. Earned leave is counted first, and half pay leave is used only to fill the shortfall where the earned leave at credit is below 300 days, so that the two together reach the ceiling. An employee who retires with 300 days of earned leave draws the encashment on earned leave alone; one who retires with, say, 240 days of earned leave has 60 days of half pay leave added to reach 300.

The half pay leave portion of the encashment used to be worth less than it appeared, because the cash equivalent of the half pay leave component was reduced by a deduction equal to the pension and the pension-equivalent of other retirement benefits, which often cut it to little or nothing. That pension-based deduction was removed by a 2011 amendment to the leave rules, so the half pay leave component is now paid without it, and the half pay leave days that fill the shortfall carry their proper cash value. The full formula and the income-tax treatment under Section 10(10AA) are in the leave encashment article, which carries the calculation for both the earned leave and the half pay leave portions. The cash equivalent carries no house rent allowance or city compensatory allowance.

Who is credited half pay leave

Half pay leave is credited to government servants generally, not only to permanent employees. A temporary employee accrues half pay leave in the same way as a permanent one, though the grant of leave not due to a temporary employee is restricted to the serious illnesses named in Rule 31, and the sanction of half pay leave to a temporary employee may be subject to the authority being satisfied about the likely continuation of the post. The credit itself, however, is not confined to permanent staff.

One category is now outside the half pay leave system. Following an amendment that took effect in 2018, the staff of a Vacation Department, such as teachers who enjoy vacations, are credited earned leave in lieu of half pay leave, so they do not accrue half pay leave in the ordinary way. This is a deliberate exception that recognises the vacations such staff already receive, and it is the main class of central government employee to whom the half pay leave described in this article does not apply. For everyone else, the 20-day annual credit at half leave salary, uncapped and drawable at full pay through commutation on a medical certificate, is the reserve the leave rules provide for the long and the serious absences.

When half pay leave runs out: invalidation

Half pay leave, and the commuted leave and leave not due drawn from it, are the leave rules’ answer to a long illness, but they are not unlimited, and a serious illness can outlast them. An employee on a prolonged illness draws down the half pay leave account, at half pay, or twice as fast at full pay through commutation, and may take leave not due in advance when the balance is exhausted. When even that is spent and the employee is still unable to resume duty, the position passes out of the leave rules and into the pension rules.

Where a medical authority certifies that the employee is permanently incapacitated for further service, the employee is retired on invalidation and draws an invalid pension , the pension granted on a medical exit regardless of the length of service. Half pay leave is therefore the bridge between an ordinary illness and a career-ending one: it carries the employee through an illness that duty can survive, and where the illness proves permanent, the invalid pension takes over. This is why a large half pay leave balance matters to a long-serving employee: it is the reserve that funds a long recovery at half pay, or at full pay on commutation, before the question of invalidation arises at all.

Half pay leave among the leaves

Half pay leave is best understood in the company of the other leaves, because each answers a different need at a different price. The table sets the four principal kinds side by side.

Leave	Pay	Accrual	Ceiling	Typical use
Casual leave	Full pay (a concession, not leave)	8 days a year, fixed	Lapses yearly	The odd day off
Earned leave	Full leave salary	30 days a year	300 days	Planned holidays; leave before retirement
Half pay leave	Half leave salary	20 days a year	None	Long illness; extended private affairs
Extraordinary leave	No leave salary	Not accrued; granted when no other leave is due	Rule 12 five-year cap	When no other leave is admissible

The pattern is a ladder of pay against availability. Casual leave is full pay but small and concessional. Earned leave is full pay but capped and used for planned absences. Half pay leave is half pay but uncapped, the reserve for the long absence. Extraordinary leave is no pay at all, the last resort when nothing else is due, used to keep a long absence authorised without a leave salary. An employee moves down the ladder as the absence lengthens and the other leaves are exhausted: earned leave first, then half pay leave, then, if needed, extraordinary leave, with commuted leave and leave not due sitting inside the half pay leave rung to vary the pay and the timing.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What is half pay leave?

Half pay leave is a recognised form of leave under Rule 29 of the CCS (Leave) Rules 1972, credited at 20 days a year, on which the employee draws half the leave salary. It is admissible either on a medical certificate or for private affairs, without any distinction of purpose, and unlike earned leave it has no accumulation ceiling, so it can build up over a career. It is also the reservoir from which commuted leave and leave not due are drawn.

How is half pay leave credited?

It is credited in advance in two instalments of 10 days each, on 1 January and 1 July every year, which is 20 days a year, for a government servant in service through the half-year. In the half-year of joining or of retirement, the credit is proportionate, at 5/3 days for each completed calendar month of service in that half-year. The credit is reduced where the employee had a period of dies non or extraordinary leave in the previous half-year, by one eighteenth of that period, subject to a maximum of 10 days.

How much is the leave salary during half pay leave?

The leave salary during half pay leave is half of the leave salary admissible during earned leave, which is half of the basic pay, plus dearness allowance calculated on that half-pay leave salary. So an employee whose basic pay is Rs. 50,000 draws a half-pay leave salary of Rs. 25,000 plus dearness allowance on Rs. 25,000, not on the full Rs. 50,000. This is governed by Rule 40 of the CCS (Leave) Rules 1972.

What is the difference between half pay leave and commuted leave?

Commuted leave is half pay leave taken at full pay on a medical certificate. When an employee needs full pay during an illness, half pay leave can be commuted: the employee draws full leave salary, but two days of half pay leave are debited for each day of commuted leave, so it draws down the half pay leave account twice as fast. Commuted leave on a medical certificate is limited to not more than half the half pay leave due, and it requires a reasonable prospect of return to duty.

Is there a limit on how much half pay leave I can accumulate?

No. Half pay leave has no accumulation ceiling, unlike earned leave, which is capped at 300 days. Half pay leave keeps accruing at 20 days a year and stays to the employee’s credit, which is why a long-serving employee can have a large half pay leave balance available for a serious illness or for commuted leave at full pay.

Can half pay leave be encashed on retirement?

Half pay leave is used to top up the leave encashment on superannuation. Under Rule 39 the cash equivalent is paid for earned leave and half pay leave together, up to a combined ceiling of 300 days: earned leave is counted first, and half pay leave fills the shortfall where earned leave is below 300 days. The cash equivalent of the half pay leave portion was earlier reduced by a pension-based deduction, but that reduction was removed by a 2011 amendment, so the half pay leave component is now paid without it.

External references

References

Central Civil Services (Leave) Rules, 1972, Rule 29 (half pay leave), including the advance credit of 20 days a year and the proportionate credit in the half-year of joining or retirement.
Central Civil Services (Leave) Rules, 1972, Rule 40 (leave salary): half pay leave salary equal to half the earned-leave leave salary.
Central Civil Services (Leave) Rules, 1972, Rule 30 (commuted leave) and Rule 31 (leave not due).
Central Civil Services (Leave) Rules, 1972, Rule 39 (cash payment in lieu of unutilised leave on retirement), read with the 2011 amendment removing the pension-based deduction on the half pay leave component.
Income-tax Act 1961, Section 10(10AA) (exemption of leave encashment).