Ornella* started work at a company 6 months ago. She wants to take leave to go visit her family, but she is not sure how leave works at her company – will she be paid while she is on leave or will these days come out of her salary? None of her colleagues have been very helpful, and the HR lady has not been in the office so Ornella can ask her. Scorpion Legal Protection discusses how leave works according to SA’s labour laws.

Scorpion Legal Protection’s advice

Every employee is entitled to 21 consecutive days’ annual leave on full pay in every leave cycle. This works out to 15 working days per year if the employee works a five-day week, and 18 working days per year if the employee works a six-day week. A leave cycle is 12 months, starting from the first day of employment or from the end of the previous leave cycle.

The Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA), Section 20, lays down certain conditions applicable to annual leave. One of the conditions is that the employer may not pay an employee instead of granting paid annual leave, except on termination of employment, and in terms of section 40 (b) & (c).

Another thing to consider is the company’s leave policy. Annual leave can only be taken by agreement between the employer and employee. In the absence of any such agreement, annual leave must be taken at a time that suits the employer. This means that the employer is entitled to have a policy stating that a certain period will be regarded as a shutdown period, and employees are required to take annual leave for the period of closure. If Ornella wants to take leave at a time other than the annual shutdown (if this is part of her employment contract), then she might have to take unpaid leave if she doesn’t have enough leave days left over after taking them for the compulsory shutdown period. This will also have to be in agreement with her employer though.

So in Ornella’s case, depending on how long she wants to take leave for, and what her arrangement with her employer is, she will be able to take regular, annual, paid leave to go visit her family – which means she will still get paid for the days she’s on leave.

Tips:

• Annual leave is paid leave, which means you get paid for the days you are on leave.
• The BCEA protects your right to leave – every employee is entitled to 21 consecutive days’ annual leave on full pay in every leave cycle.
• No employer is allowed to pay you out for leave instead of allowing you to take the leave, except where you have terminated employment with the employer.

If you have a query, follow us on our Facebook page and ask your question during our next Live Q&A (every first Thursday of the month).

* This is only basic advice and cannot be relied on solely. Names have been changed to protect identity.