Leave

 

Leave

Annual Leave

  • Annual leave may not be less than three weeks per year for full-time workers or by agreement, one day for every 17 days worked or one hour for every 17 hours worked.
  • The leave must be granted not later than six months after completion of the period of 12 consecutive months of employment. The leave may not be granted concurrent with any period of sick leave, nor with a period of notice of termination of the contract of employment.

Sick leave

  • During every sick leave cycle of 36 months an employee is entitled to an amount of paid sick leave equal to the number of days the employee would normally work during a period of six weeks.
  • During the first six months of employment, an employee is entitled to one day’s paid sick leave for every 26 days worked.
  • The employer is not required to pay an employee if the employee has been absent from work for more than two consecutive days or on more than two occasions during an eight-week period and, on request by the employer, does not produce a medical certificate stating that the employee was unable to work for the duration of the employee’s absence on account of sickness or injury.

Maternity leave

  • The employee is entitled to at least four consecutive months’ maternity leave. The employer is not obliged to pay the domestic/farm worker for the period for which she is off work due to her pregnancy. However, the parties may agree that the domestic/farm worker will receive part of or her entire salary/wage for the time that she is off due to pregnancy.

Family responsibility leave

  • Employees employed for longer than four months and for at least four days a week are entitled to take five days’ paid family responsibility leave during each leave cycle when the employee’s child is born, or when the employee’s child is sick or in the event of the death of the employee’s spouse or life partner or parent, adoptive parent, grandparent, child, adopted child, grandchild or sibling.