Tag: annual leave

As the year wraps up, many companies start to slow down, with some even opting for a 'soft closure' so employees can take leave during the festive season. While the focus might be on finishing year-end tasks, this is actually a great time to think about your recruitment needs.

Are employers obliged to grant employees leave over the holiday period where they have exhausted sick leave provisions due to COVID-19 infection or exposure? Employers have dedicated much of the year to implementing adequate health and safety measures in the workplace, including placing employees on paid sick leave at the onset of COVID-19 symptoms or following exposure to the virus.

Not everything you hear about tax is true. There are many myths and misconceptions about payroll tax in South Africa that simply won’t go away. Let’s look at a few of them and what the tax and labour laws actually say. No matter whether your employer calls what it pays you a salary, overtime or commission, it is taxed at the same rate on the payroll according to the standard PAYE tax tables.

Companies have been facing tough decisions over the past few months, particularly those with employees who cannot work during the crisis. The South African lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on industry, market and business.

The globe is on lockdown at the moment as we all face the COVID-19 pandemic, and this is a time which is creating a lot of fear, anxiety and uncertainty in the workplace. It is not just with people now having to work from home, but for those who have pursued new job opportunities and received job offers to start during or after lockdown, and now face a highly unnerving state of anxiety about if they will start or not or if their offers will be withdrawn or if they should even hand in their resignations.

We are at the second week and lockdown is still our new normal. This week would have been hyped with items signifying the Easter period. It would have also been the first long weekend since December. This would have been a much-needed break from the first quarter of the work year however we have been experiencing a break since the lockdown kicked in.

An interview with Michael Yeates, Director Employment Practice, Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr, and Dr Ivor Blumenthal, CEO, ArkKonsult, discussing the relief and assistance for employers and employees as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Department of Employment and Labour has recently provided much needed guidance in respect of questions which employers have been grappling with since President Ramaphosa's declaration of a National State of Disaster on Sunday 15 March 2020.

The Basic Conditions of Employment Act 75 of 1997 (BCEA) regulates sick leave entitlement. In terms of section 22 of the BCEA, the 'sick leave cycle' means the period of 36 months’ employment with the same employer immediately following an employee’s commencement of employment. 

The Department of Health has confirmed the first case of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in South Africa. There is a strong likelihood that there will be other cases of COVID-19 across the country. Naturally, employers will need to bear in mind various employment and health and safety considerations to manage the risk of COVID-19 in the workplace.