Contractual employees are entitled to same leave benefits as Regular Employees

The Delhi High Court in Sonia Gandhi v. Government of NCT of Delhi, held that Contract appointed employees working in public sector undertakings are entitled to leave of all kinds at par with regular employees, including maternity and sick leave. In that case, the court was concerned with contractual employees working in various hospitals established by the Government of NCT of Delhi and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, wherein there was large scale contract appointments. 

The court also highlighted that good governance would require the Government to ensure regular posts being sanctioned commensurate to the public need as it ill serves the interest of the society if requisite number of public posts are not sanctioned. In that case, the court also sanctioned equal wages at part with regular employees, and directed the government to frame a one-time regularization scheme, to absorb the large number of contract labour working in government hospitals.