Q: What is the right way to pay a full month on unpaid leave?
We are on a monthly salary cycle.
When an employee books unpaid leave, it is booked in hours. In some months it is above 173.33 or below.

Option 1: When it is above 173.33, then deduction from base salary down to 173.33 to be processed
When it is below 173.33, then base salary to be paid to 173.33

Examples:
Unpaid Leave less than the 21.6666 days paid
Units Days
Salary 5.3333 21.6666 307.69
Leave 168 21
So, 307.69 to be paid to employee

Unpaid Leave more than the 21.6666 days paid
Units Days
Salary -2.6667 21.6666 – -153.8480769
Leave 176 22 –
Deduction to be processed -153.84

Option 2: Process as 0 in both scenarios.

Please advise what is the correct option or what is the best practice.

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A: There is no law that covers this as unpaid leave is an agreed term. So what was agreed needs to be looked at first. If nothing agreed (which is the norm), fall back on how a month has been agreed in the employees employment agreement.

If it does not help being in hours when the act states weeks. What about the issue if the period is counted as continuous employment or not? Under the Holidays Act, only the first week is counted as continuous employment.

If the employee has asked for a month based on what a month is stated in their employment agreement, then nothing would be paid for this period of unpaid leave.