Fundamental Rule (FR) 26(2) under the Telangana Fundamental Rules dictates the conditions for calculating qualifying service for annual increments.
It specifies the periods of duty, leaves, and absences that count towards the required one-year timeframe for a government employee to receive their pay increment
Understanding FR 26(2) involves the following key components:
1. Primary Rule
To earn an annual increment, an employee must complete one year of "qualifying service". This service comprises all duty periods in a post on a time-scale, as well as periods spent on leave that earn allowances. Service rendered in a higher post also counts towards increments in a lower post.
2. Periods that Count for Increments
Under the stipulations of FR 26 and its sub-rules, the following periods are considered as duty and count toward the necessary 12-month requirement
- Active Duty: Time spent actively working in a sanctioned post.
- Leave with Allowances: All kinds of leave, except Extraordinary Leave (EOL) taken on private affairs.
- Medical EOL: Extraordinary Leave on Medical Certificate (MC) up to a maximum of 6 months, which may be counted by the Head of the Department (HOD).
- Study Leave: Periods of Extraordinary Leave taken for the prosecution of higher scientific and technical studies, subject to specific government undertakings.
3. Periods that DO NOT Count for Increments
The following periods are excluded and break the continuity of service required for an increment, effectively postponing the date of the next increment:
- Unregularized Suspension: Periods of suspension that are ultimately not treated as "duty".
- EOL on Private Affairs: Extraordinary Leave granted for personal reasons.
- Unapproved Absence (Dies Non): Days of willful absence or unauthorized leave that are not covered by sanction, which can also break continuous service.
4. Special Provisions
- Leave and Increments: If an employee’s increment falls due while they are on leave, the increment is granted notionally on paper, but the monetary benefits are only paid from the date the employee resumes duty.
- Competent Authority: While an HOD can sanction the counting of up to 6 months of medical EOL towards an increment, any extension beyond 6 months generally requires explicit Government approval.
EXAMPLE :
FR 26: Regulate the annual grade increment of an employee with the following details.
Sri Sarveswar Reddy, direct recruit, Asst. Audit Officer joined in service on 29-12-2006 in the scale of 9285-21550. He availed the following leaves during 2007 and 2008.
a. Extraordinary leave on private affairs for 58 days from 28-01-2007.
b. Extraordinary leave on medical certificate for 45 days from 29-0108.
Explanation:
His due date of increment will be 01-12-2007. Since he availed EOL on private affairs for 58 days from 28-01-07, which means 2 months, that has to be added to the due date of the increment, i.e., 01-12-2007. His next increment will be accrued on 01-02-2008.
But he is on EOL on medical certificate for 45 days from 29-01-2008, which counts for increment as per FR 26 (b) (ii). As he is on leave on the due date of increment, the monetary benefit will be available from the date of joining duty, i.e., 13-03-2008.
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