11 Types of Leave Policies Every HR Person Must Know
Key Takeaways
- A clear leave framework helps HR balance compliance, wellbeing, and operational continuity.
- Statutory leaves create the essential baseline every organization must standardize.
- Family-related leave benefits increasingly influence talent attraction and retention.
- Optional leave types strengthen culture, engagement, and employer branding.
- Modern leave strategies focus on flexibility aligned with business needs.
Clients do not come first. Employees come first.
It's important in any company to have a coherent leave policy. A clear leave policy ensures employees understand their entitlements and supports HR in managing compliance. Whether you’re updating your leave policies in Malaysia or elsewhere, these guidelines will help. Some types of leave are mandated by law, but others are not. Nevertheless, having a flexible yet defined leave policy with various types of leave gives certainty to employees. Here, we describe 10 of the most popular leave policies that every HR professional and business owner should know. Your organization’s leave policy plays a huge role in attracting and retaining top talent, so keep this in mind when deciding which policies will work best for the business.
Sick Leave in Your Leave Policy
Sick leave is meant for rest and recuperation from injury or disease. Employees who are unwell not only heal faster in the comforts of home; they also prevent infectious diseases from spreading around the office. The latter concern is even more pertinent now given the awareness of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Many jurisdictions have the right to paid sick leave as a key component of their employment laws. In Malaysia, the Employment Act 1955 governs the provision of sick leave.
In Malaysia, the legal entitlement to paid sick leave from work is as follows:
- 14 days per year if employed for 1–2 years,
- 18 days per year if employed for 2–5 years,
- 22 days per year if employed for longer than 5 years.
Hospitalization Leave in Your Leave Policy
Aside from sick leave, there are also provisions for hospitalization leave should the employee need to be admitted into hospital. Under the Employment Act 1955, employees are entitled to 60 days of hospital leave per year. Note that hospitalization leave is separate from sick leave. An employee will need to be certified by a doctor in order to utilize their hospitalization leave.
When taking into account the legal entitlement to paid sick leave, the total amount of sick leave plus hospitalization leave days is as follows:
- 74 days per year if employed for 1–2 years,
- 78 days per year if employed for 2–5 years,
- 82 days per year if employed for longer than 5 years.
Annual Leave as Part of a Leave Policy
Like sick leave, resting with paid time off from work is important for employees’ mental wellness, preventing burnout and a loss of productivity. Equally, paid annual leave is also included in many employment laws around the world. In Malaysia, the legal entitlement to paid time off from work is as follows:
- 8 days per year if employed for 1–2 years,
- 12 days per year if employed for 2–5 years,
- 16 days per year if employed for longer than 5 years.
Maternity Leave: A Critical Part of Leave Policies
Leave for new mothers is given so they can recover from childbirth and fully focus on caring for the newborn child. In Malaysia, the legal entitlement to maternity leave is 98 days. Nevertheless, many private companies give maternity leave in excess of the required 98 days for female employees. Maternity leave of 120 days or even 180 days is not uncommon.
Paternity Leave as a Leave Policy Benefit
Male employees are now legally entitled to paternity leave by virtue of the newly amended Employment Act 1955. The Act introduces seven-day paternity leave for working fathers, who need to be married to the mother in question.
Many private companies also offer longer periods of paternity leave for new families to settle down after the birth of a child. These can range from 14 days, or up to 30 days in larger companies.
Emergency Leave
Normally, an application for annual leave is required several days in advance to enable work planning and approvals. However, if this is not possible, emergency leave is meant for employees to take a personal absence from work if they need to handle any private affairs on short notice.
This can be applicable to a variety of scenarios, including caring for sick family members, meeting with a minor accident, or any other unforeseen circumstance that will likely result in an absence from work.
Understandably, employers do not encourage such absences. Thus, they may only limit emergency leave to two or three days per year. Any further absences will likely be unpaid leave or deducted from the employee’s annual leave allocation.
There is no legal entitlement for emergency leave.
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Replacement Leave: Managing Leave Policies
If an employee is required to work weekends or on public holidays, the company may offer them the option of taking a different day off as a substitute. It is sometimes referred to as “time-off in lieu”. Thus, if staff are required to work on public holidays, employers are obliged to either pay the overtime rate or grant replacement leave.
Such leave is also sometimes offered to employees who are not eligible for overtime pay, i.e. employees earning above RM4,000 per month as defined by the Employment Act 1955. For this class of employees, there is no legal entitlement for replacement leave.
Compassionate Leave in Workplace Leave Policies
When an employee loses a loved one in the course of their employment with the company, the company may offer paid time off in the form of compassionate leave. This gesture allows employees time to grieve and return to work with a clear mind. A normal compassionate leave policy would include three to seven days of leave per year. There is no legal entitlement for compassionate leave.
Study Leave as Part of a Leave Policy
Study leave is normally granted when an employee is taking a short course that is regarded as beneficial to the organization. Such leave may also be granted if the employee is taking examinations towards a certification that will upgrade their expertise and/or professionalism in their career. There is no legal entitlement for study leave.
Volunteer Leave and Your Leave Policy
Taking time off for volunteering is increasingly popular among employees who want to support the community and contribute back to society. At the same time, companies also want to highlight their social values and mission to do good in the world. With this in mind, more and more companies are including paid leave for employees to do social volunteering projects. Such projects can also be part of the company’s corporate social responsibility agenda to encourage more employees to participate. There is no legal entitlement for volunteer leave.
Unpaid Leave in Company Leave Policies
For whatever reason, employees may want to take leave even though they may not have enough paid leave days left. Or an employee may want to take an extended sabbatical from work. In this case, the organization can offer the employee the option to take unpaid leave. Depending on the organization, there is much leeway on how the unpaid leave policy is implemented. Some companies may offer up to six months’ unpaid leave, while others may not even give the option. There is no legal entitlement for unpaid leave.
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Conclusion
- A comprehensive leave strategy transforms policies from administrative rules into a powerful driver of employee experience.
- HR leaders who balance compliance with flexibility position their organizations for stronger retention and workforce resilience.
- Expanding beyond mandatory leave types helps companies compete more effectively for modern talent.
- Clear, well-communicated policies reduce friction while improving trust and planning across teams.
- Ultimately, the most effective leave programs align employee wellbeing with long-term business performance.
Manage Leave Easily with brioHR
If you’re looking to manage leave policies for your business, BrioHR helps you get started in a fuss-free, user-friendly way. BrioHR’s leave function is mobile-ready so employees can apply for leave wherever they are, and managers can also approve them easily.
To learn more about how brioHR can transform your HR processes, check out BrioHR’s website or request a demo.
