Unpaid leave in South Africa 2022: Everything you ought to know
Anyone may require time off at some point, whether it is maternity leave, bereavement leave, or for any other reason. The dictates of unpaid leave in South Africa are not very different from the International Labour Laws. Is an employee entitled to take unpaid leave or not? Read here to learn more regarding unpaid time off work in South Africa.
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There are many life events that may give rise to leave eligibility. For example, how should you handle an employee who requests a leave of absence as a manager? Here is a summary of all the essentials of time off work.
Leave policy in South Africa
As an employer in South Africa, a leave policy lets you specify the number of days off duty your employees are entitled to, the kinds of absences they are qualified for, and the procedures for requesting leaves.
The Republic of South Africa's labour laws stipulates how businesses, workers, and unions interact. For example, unfair acts or omissions between an employer and an employee are described in Section 186 of the Labour Relations Act. In addition, the laws stipulate how and when time off work is to be administered.
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Annual Leave in South Africa
According to South African labour rules, an annual leave cycle is a term of 12 months. For example, if an employee works five days a week, their entitlement is 21 consecutive days of paid annual vacation, which equates to 15 working days. It is also equivalent to 18 working days if the employee works six days a week.
Unpaid leave policy
While you have the entitlement to 21 consecutive days of paid yearly leave in each leave cycle as a worker in South Africa, the BCEA act only refers to unpaid leave in terms of what the employer may do once an employee has used all of their sick or yearly leave.
At that point, the employer may permit the employee to take unpaid time off work. Therefore, an employee may not request unpaid days off because the BCEA does not provide for a predetermined entitlement to unpaid leave.
What does unpaid leave mean?
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In simple terms, unpaid time off work means the employee's income will be reduced for any other days off work taken during the year beyond the agreed days. Whether or not to offer an employee time off without any payment is totally up to the company.
Can you take unpaid leave from work?
Most unpaid leave is usually unplanned, and labour laws in South Africa dictate that if your work contract does not specify otherwise, you will not be paid if you are out of work.
Because it depends on the circumstances, there is no predetermined period that you can take off. Ultimately, such leave details will be bound by your initial agreement with the employer.
How is unpaid leave calculated in South Africa?
When determining how much unpaid time is provided, the computation is based on the typical number of working days per period. Example: To determine the amount that would be withheld for each day of unpaid vacation, a monthly-paid employee who works five days a week would divide their pay by 21.67.
How are 21.67 working days calculated?
Employees who work five days a week for a full month are considered to have worked for 21.67 days. There are 45 regular hours in a working week. Working hours each day divided by the typical monthly hours equals the typical monthly days. 173.33 / 8 = 21.67
Unpaid leave rights in South Africa
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What are the rules on unpaid leave?
In most cases, the employer may feel that the employee is taking excessive time off. Such may be due to an employee's family emergency or the need to perform public duties.
Consequently, employers may reject a request for unpaid time off duty. Companies are requested to provide their employees with enough notice if they decline their request for days off work. Although you can impose a leave of absence, the decision to provide an unpaid employee with time off rests solely with the employer.
Can an employer make a worker take an unpaid leave of absence? Of course, no one should be forced to take unpaid time off work. However, as an employer, you must provide your employee with a sufficient notice on work modalities based on company policies.
Sick leave in South Africa
Employees can use sick leave, which is time off from work, to recover from illnesses and look after their health. The BCEA stipulates that sick leave is paid time off, and employees are entitled to the same number of days in six weeks as they would typically work.
In practice, this implies that their right to sick leave is determined by multiplying the number of regular working days they have by six. So, for example, employees who work five days a week are entitled to 30 days of sick leave (5 x 6 = 30) every 36 months.
Can I take study leave?
Study leave is a topic of agreement between the employer and employee; hence South African labour law is unclear on the subject. However, if the employer specifies that study leave must be taken as unpaid or deducted from the employee's annual time off work entitlement, then that choice must be followed.
Can my employer force me to take my annual leave?
Yes, employers are entitled to tell their staff to take days off work, such as bank holidays or Christmas. This includes asking you to take your holiday during your notice period.
How can you, as an employer, strike a balance between providing your personnel with the time off they need and limiting the negative effects a leave of absence has on your business? The fortress of laws that protect employees makes it easy for everyone to take unpaid leave in South Africa, but different organizations may apply the same laws differently.
READ ALSO: Leave days calculator South Africa 2022 | Effectively calculate your leave days
Briefly.co.za shared an article on how to calculate leave days in South Africa. Whether attending to a personal matter is very important to know the number of days you are entitled to.
So how do you know the number of days off work you are supposed to have? Continue reading to understand how days off duty are calculated in South Africa.
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Source: Briefly News
