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| Work leave |
Leave At Work Is The amount of hours or days employees of an organization is permitted to be away from their employment position within a year's time without consequences. This time off is paid by the company and employees are allowed to request the time for any reasons they wish to be off of work.
As an employee in an organization, this simply guide will help to understand your legal rights at your working place.
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This article will helps shed some light on what you are entitled to in terms of leave:
1. Annual leave
This type of leave refers to paid time off work, which every employee is entitled to. According to the South African Labour Guide, by our country's legislation, every employee is entitled to 15 days paid leave per year. Public holidays that fall within a period of leave cannot be counted as annual leave.
Should you not take your full 15 days leave, you should consult with your employer regarding accumulation of leave. "All employers should have in place an Annual Leave Policy which regulates the accumulation of annual leave, placing limits on the amount of annual leave that may be accumulated," states the SA Labour Guide.
2. Maternity leave
The Act entitles pregnant members of staff up to four months of unpaid leave to prepare, give birth and care for their newborn. Pregnant workers may take maternity leave one month before their due date (or earlier or later as agreed upon by their doctor). According to the SA Labour Guide, you are entitled to your maternity leave over and above your annual leave. "The annual leave continues to accrue during the period of maternity leave," it states.
3. Sick leave
Sick leave is based on a 36-month (three year) cycle under the same employment. "The amount of the sick leave entitlement is a number of days that the employee would ordinarily have worked during a six-week period," states the SA Labour Guide. While the details of sick leave are complicated, the SA Labour guide somewhat simplifies them by explaining that "if the employee works a five-day week then it is 30 days sick leave in each leave cycle or every three years, and a six-day week would result in 36 days leave". Should you be absent from work for more than two consecutive days, your employee is entitled to ask you to present a medical certificate as proof of your illness (Friday and Monday does not qualify as two consecutive days, nor does absenteeism the day before or after a public holiday, therefore proof of illness or incapacity is not necessary in these instances, unless stipulated by company policy).
4. Study leave
Since South African Labour Law makes no mention of study leave, this matter must be arranged entirely between you and your employee. In some instances, employers insist that study leave must be deducted from the employee's annual leave entitlement.
5. Family responsibility leave
According to the SA Labour Guide, employees who have worked for the same employer for over four months at more that four days a week are entitled to three days family responsibility leave per year. This form of leave is in addition to annual leave, but does not accumulate if not used in the stipulated period. "Family responsibility leave applies when the employee's child is born, when the employee's child is sick, or in the event of the death of the employee's spouse or life partner, or the employee's parent, adoptive parent, grandparent, child, adopted child, grandchild or sibling", states the SA Labour Guide.
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