Tag: sick leave

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lockdown, and now face a highly unnerving state of anxiety about if they will start or not or if their offers will be withdrawn or if they should even hand in their resignations.

Employers and employees have rights when it comes to sick leave, but fraudulent sick notes are a rising problem. In the wake of Jacob Zuma’s alleged medical certificate presented to court in January 2020, there has been widening controversy around these documents and their validity in the South African workplace.

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.

An interview with Johan Olivier, Partner Webber Wentzel, and Dr Ivor Blumenthal, CEO, ArkKonsult, discussing employer responsibility with regard to the impact of COVID-19 on the workplace and employees.

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 global economy has been hit by five shocks as the coronavirus spread rapidly. This could not have been predicted, though with hindsight the market was initially much too complacent. The situation is so uncertain now that a strategy based on trying to predict the future is bound to get it wrong.

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.

In terms of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, 75 of 1997 (BCEA), all employees are entitled to a minimum number of days leave per year. This minimum leave entitlement is 21 consecutive days leave per annual leave cycle, which is in effect 15 working days leave per annum.