HR 101 – What to do When . . . You’re not sure about Leave – Part 1.

 HR 101 – What to do When . . . You’re not sure about Leave – Part 1.

By Nikki Viljoen – Viljoen Consulting (Pty) Ltd.

Please note that this pertains to South African Labour Relations and Best Practice requirements.

Annual Leave and the various requirements is something that we hear about time after time.

The Basic Conditions of Employment Act – Section 20, deals with some of the conditions that apply to annual leave.

The Act says:

(1) An employer must grant an employee: -

(a) at least three calendar weeks (15 days) annual leave on full pay in respect of each 12 months of employment (the ‘annual leave cycle’)

(b) by agreement, at least one day of annual leave on full pay for every 17 days on which the employee worked or was entitled to be paid, or

(c) by agreement, at least one hour of annual leave on full pay for every 17 hours on which the employee worked or was entitled to be paid.

(2) An employer must grant an employee an additional day of paid leave if a public holiday falls on a day during an employee’s annual leave on which the employee would otherwise have worked.

(3) An employer may reduce an employee’s entitlement to annual leave by the number of days occasional leave on full pay granted to the employee at the employee’s request in that annual leave cycle.

(4) An employer must grant at least three calendar weeks annual leave on full pay in respect of each 12 months of employment (the annual leave cycle) not later than six months after the end of the annual leave cycle or the year in which the leave was earned.

(5) Annual leave must be taken: -

(a) in accordance with an agreement between the employer and the employee; or

(b) if there is no agreement in terms of paragraph (a), at a time determined by the employer in accordance with this clause.

(6) An employer may not require or permit an employee to take leave during: -

(a) any other period of leave to which the employee is entitled in terms of this part of the Sectoral determination; or

(b) any period of notice of termination of employment.

(7) An employer may not require or permit an employee to work for the employer during any period of annual leave.

(8) An employer may not pay an employee instead of granting paid leave in terms of this clause except on termination of employment.

(9) An employer must pay an employee leave pay at least equivalent to the remuneration that the employee would have received for working for a period equal to the period of annual leave, calculated on the basis of the employee’s rate of remuneration immediately before the period of leave.

(10) An employer must pay an employee leave pay: -

(a) before the beginning of the period of leave; or

(b) by agreement, on the employee’s normal payday.

Jot down any issues that you are unsure about and we’ll have a look at what this all means next time. 

Nikki is an Internal Auditor and Business Administration Specialist who can be contacted on 083 702 8849 or nikki@viljoenconsulting.co.za or www.viljoenconsulting.co.za