Joining time

Joining time is the period a central government employee is allowed, on transfer in the public interest from one post to another involving a change of station, to hand over charge, travel, and take up the new post. It is governed by the Central Civil Services (Joining Time) Rules, 1979, notified under the proviso to Article 309 of the Constitution and effective from 8 May 1979. During joining time the employee is treated as on duty and draws pay.

This article explains joining time: what it is and its statutory basis, how many days are allowed by distance, the joining-time pay, when it is admissible and when it is not, how it combines with leave and how unused joining time is credited, and what happens on overstayal. Joining time is the time allowed for a move; the money side of a transfer, the fare and the composite transfer grant , is a separate entitlement, so the two should not be run together.

What joining time is

Joining time was consolidated by the CCS (Joining Time) Rules, 1979, which replaced the older, more generous Fundamental Rules regime that gave separate preparation and transit time. Under the 1979 rules the entitlement is a single consolidated period by distance, and the employee remains on duty and on pay through it, so the transfer does not cost a day’s pay or leave. The rules were made in consultation with the Comptroller and Auditor General, and the operative clarifications are in the Department of Personnel and Training Office Memorandum No. 21011/08/2013-Estt.(AL) of 25 March 2013.

How much joining time you get

The joining time on a transfer is fixed by the distance between the old and the new headquarters, by the direct route and the ordinary mode of travel, under Rule 5. The days shown are the whole joining time, inclusive of preparation and travel; there is no separate preparation time added on top.

Where the transfer involves travel by air, the joining time is a maximum of 12 days whatever the distance. For a posting to a special area, the North Eastern region, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep or Ladakh, two additional days are allowed. Where the transfer is to a post in the same station, or does not involve a change of residence, the joining time is only 1 day, and if that day is not availed it is not credited to the leave account.

So an employee transferred from Delhi to Chennai, about 2,180 km apart, gets 15 days of joining time, while a transfer within 1,000 km gets 10 days. The joining time runs from the date the employee gives up charge of the old post, and the family may follow later within the time limit that applies to the transfer travelling allowance. The joining time can be extended, up to 30 days by the Head of Department and beyond that by the Government, but the guiding principle is that the total should be kept to about eight days for an ordinary move.

Joining-time pay

During joining time the employee is treated as on duty and draws joining-time pay under Rule 7. That pay is the pay drawn immediately before relinquishing charge of the old post, plus the dearness allowance , the house rent allowance and any city compensatory allowance as drawn on that pay. So the joining time is paid at the old post’s rate, not the new one, until the employee reports at the new station.

There is one carve-out. A temporary central government servant with less than three years of regular continuous service gets joining time but not joining-time pay, under Rule 4(4). And an increment falling due during the joining time is released notionally on its accrual date, but the money benefit runs only from the date the employee reports at the new station, not from the increment date during the transit.

When joining time is admissible

Joining time is not a benefit that comes with every move, and the distinction that matters most is between a transfer in the public interest and one at the employee’s own request.

Joining time is admissible on a transfer in the public interest involving a change of station. It is not admissible on a transfer at the employee’s own request; there the transit is covered by the employee availing earned leave , and no joining time is granted as of right. It is not admissible on first appointment to government service, because joining time is for a serving employee moving between posts, and a fresh recruit simply reports on the appointed date. And it is not admissible for a temporary transfer not exceeding 180 days, which is treated as a tour and covered by the travelling allowance , not by joining time. It is also available on return from leave in the defined cases where the rules provide for it.

Combining joining time with leave, and unused joining time

Joining time can be combined with leave. Under Rule 6(2), it may be combined with vacation or with regular leave of any kind or duration, except casual leave, so an employee can tag leave onto a transfer.

Unused joining time is not simply lost. Under Rule 6(1), where an employee joins the new post without availing the full joining time, because they were ordered to join without it, or because they proceeded alone and took the family later within the transfer window, the joining time admissible under Rule 5, subject to a maximum of 15 days and reduced by the days actually taken, is credited to the leave account as earned leave. This is subject to the condition that the earned leave at credit plus the joining time so credited does not exceed the 300-day ceiling on earned leave. The ceiling was 240 days under the 1989 amendment and rose to 300 in step with the earned leave accumulation limit. So an employee who reports early is not penalised; the unused days are turned into earned leave, up to the cap.

Overstaying the joining time

Failing to join within the joining time has consequences, under Rule 8. There is no pay or leave salary for the period of overstayal, which is treated as non-duty, or dies-non, and it postpones the next increment. Wilful absence after the expiry of the joining time may be treated as misbehaviour for the purpose of Fundamental Rule 15(a), which is to say as misconduct attracting disciplinary action. So the joining time is a defined window, and an employee is expected to report within it or seek an extension, not simply overstay.

Joining time and the transfer travelling allowance

The joining time and the transfer travelling allowance are two separate entitlements that a transfer triggers, and they answer two different questions. Joining time is the time allowed to make the move without losing pay or leave. The transfer travelling allowance is the money that meets the cost of the move: the fare for the employee and family, the transport of personal effects, and the composite transfer grant of 80 per cent of the last month’s basic pay, governed by the Department of Expenditure order of 13 July 2017, which the travelling allowance article covers. The take-home salary is not affected by the joining time, because the employee stays on duty and on pay throughout it.

See also

• Travelling allowance (TA)
• Deputation in central government
• Pay fixation on promotion
• Pay fixation
• Transfer
• Earned leave
• CCS (Leave) Rules, 1972
• Leave encashment
• Technical resignation
• Lien
• Seniority
• Fundamental Rules
• Annual increment
• Dearness allowance
• House rent allowance
• Transport allowance
• Allowances for central government employees
• Take-home salary for central government employees
• Basic pay
• Pay matrix
• 7th Central Pay Commission
• Qualifying service
• Superannuation
• Department of Personnel and Training
• Department of Expenditure
• Central government employees in India
• Central Secretariat Service
• Children education allowance
• Leave Travel Concession
• 7th CPC salary calculator

External references

• Department of Personnel and Training
• DoPT establishment orders
• Department of Expenditure

References

1. Central Civil Services (Joining Time) Rules, 1979 (notified under the proviso to Article 309 read with Article 148(5) of the Constitution, effective 8 May 1979), Rules 4 (admissibility), 5 (amount of joining time), 6 (unavailed joining time and combination with leave), 7 (joining-time pay) and 8 (overstayal).
2. Central Civil Services (Joining Time) Amendment Rules, 1989 (ceiling on unavailed joining time credited as earned leave).
3. Department of Personnel and Training Office Memorandum No. 21011/08/2013-Estt.(AL) dated 25 March 2013 (clarifications on joining time).
4. Department of Expenditure Office Memorandum No. 19030/1/2017-E.IV dated 13 July 2017 (travelling allowance on transfer, cited for the cross-reference).
5. Fundamental Rule 15(a) (wilful absence beyond joining time as misbehaviour).