Tag: illness benefits

On 1 January 2019, section 73A of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act 75 of 1997 (BCEA) came into effect. This relatively new provision permits employees earning below the prescribed threshold to claim monies owing to them in terms of the National Minimum Wage Act, the BCEA, a collective agreement, a sectoral determination or a contract of employment at the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA).

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.

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.