How Paid Sick Leave works in South Africa | Medical certificates, policy, traditional healers & more
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- čas přidán 27. 07. 2024
- This video unpacks, with examples, common mistakes and practical considerations about paid sick leave as it is detailed in Section 22 & 23 (and a mention of Section 24) in the Basic Conditions of Employment Act.
This video starts by explaining how sick leave works in the first 6 months of employment. Covering the common mistake of calculating sick leave per hour and not per day, and not implementing the sick leave cycle from the start of employment. I discuss in detail how the sick leave cycle works (and how it differs from other leave cycles). Then I move on to the full sick leave entitlement and how that is calculated. I provide some practical examples of how to calculate sick leave.
I discuss the lesser known sick leave agreement (Section 22(6)) where Employers and Employees can agree to extend the sick leave entitlement, with a reduction in payment.
Once sick leave is sufficiently covered I move on to Section 23 (Proof of incapacity) and here I provide a detailed explanation of what Employers and Employees need to know about medical certificates and what constitutes a valid and acceptable medical certificate. I briefly mention Section 24 (referring to COIDA) and then I end of the video with a practical discussion on dealing with fraudulent medical certificates (altered medical certificates and certificates from unregistered doctors).
Download the documents mentioned in the video:
fourieemploymentrelations.com...
Employment Relations Website:
employmentrelations.co.za/
HPCSA register (to check doctors registration): isystems.hpcsa.co.za/iregister/
Allied Health Professions Council: ahpcsa.co.za/
My credentials:
Employment Relations practitioner for over 5 years, assisted over 450 clients in various industries across South Africa, over 2000 disciplinary hearings chaired, numerous CCMA cases, retrenchments, restructuring, contracts of employment, incapacity investigations, grievances facilitated, and negotiations.
I am also the Director of Fourie Employment Relations (Pty) Ltd and, lectured and mentored the subject of labour relations at the University of Stellenbosch.
MCom Cum Laude (Industrial Psychology)
BCom Hons Cum Laude (Industrial Psychology)
BCom Management Science (Entrepreneurship & Industrial Psychology)
Numerous courses completed on Nonviolent Communication
Time codes:
0:00 - Introduction
0:36 - Who is this video helpful for?
2:32 - Where to find sick leave
2:41 - Sick leave cycle
3:00 - Sick leave in the 1st 6 months of employment
5:00 - Full sick leave entitlement
7:45 - Payment for sick leave
8:06 - Agreement to extend sick leave & reduce payment
10:14 - Proof of incapacity / Medical Certificates
15:24 - Policy that requires certificates on Monday, Friday & around Public Holiday
17:52 - Validity of medical certificate
25:00 - Section 23(3)
25:37 - Section 24
26:00 - My Disclaimer
26:23 - Fraudulent medical certificate
33:43 - Conclusion
Disclaimer: This video is for education purposes. Seek assistance from a professional if required.
This is a lot more complicated than I expected. Thank you for the clarity!
Thank you for watching and for your comment!
Hi Carmen.
Wow, I have stumbled onto your channel while doing some research on behalf of a friend who is currently in a situation at his work.
I immediately subscribed to your channel since it indeed entices me into checking out more videos.
My friend's situation is the following;
He is a shuttle driver for his company, which in essence renders shuttle services etc.
He was in a car accident whilst on duty with his work kombi.
He sustained some injuries which is deemed probably minor by the company, since company did not bother to report accident to COIDA. In fact, until today. My friend enquired to the company when they gonna do such, and pressurized the company. He was off sick for about 10/11 days(sick note submitted). When he received his salary, he was paid well short of his normal pay(I must mention that his "contract states" the "NO TRIP NO PAY" rule), but he has an average for the last year or so.
He queried his salary, and then company re-imbursed a part of the pay, but not upto what he was expecting.
Another point pertaining to sick leave, or normal leave, is that the company informed him about a shuttle client's complaint against my friend, and aligned it to severe headaches he subsequently suffers from. This prompted the company to suspend him on condition that he furnish the company with a medical report clearing him to drive passengers. He's done that, but suspension is not lifted. He must instead now attend a "meeting" on Monday at the office to discuss the IOD matter, but with emphasis on the client complaint taking preference.
I am still compiling strategy for him to follow, which include intervention from Dept of Labour (COIDA), and CCMA intervention.
Can you maybe clarify the leave/sick leave issue, and the suspension as a "punitive measure" as we suspects?
Hi Carmen, Trust you well. Thank you for your awesome video it was very helpful. I would just like to confirm with you I have been with my current employer for 1yr & 1 month and I was booked off from work since the 13th March till 24th March, I am to return to work on Monday. I had an bacterial infection which caused a massive abscess on my lower neck/neck. I have sick notes for all those days. Today we got paid and I was almost R2000 short paid and when asking my boss why he said that he paid me for as much sick days as he could and that i have depleted my sick leave. In total since starting there including these 9 days I have been off sick 14days in the year that i have been there pls bare in mind that the 21st March was a public holiday which we don't work only Monday to Friday. Could u pls clarify if this is correct cause according to your video and my understanding it is not i should of been paid in full for all those sick days. Keep up the good work😊
Thank you so much, I am writing my paper on Tuesday and i needed clarity .
All the best!
Brilliant, this is absolutely brilliant. From Namibia
👋 Thanks for visiting my channel from Nam! Glad you enjoy/found the video helpful.
Very Helpful thanks. My organization gives 30 days per year and not for the whole leave cycle.(36 months) This is a more favorable balance to what the BCEA requires which should be ok opposed to not meeting the minimum requirements. It's a compensation strategy in terms of benefits.
Thank you for watching and for your feedback. I am glad to hear you found it helpful. Giving more than the minimum sick leave is definitely more favourable and hopefully contributes to your retention rates, being an employer of choice and also your overall productivity and output as employees get more time to heal and rest when they need to.
Hey. Using this hypothetical timeline T1, T2 and T3(occasion 1 , ocassion 2 and occassion 3 of taking sick leave). Say I take sick leave that was three consecutive days or longer at T2; two or 3 weeks after taking sick leave at T1, came back to work and provided a medical certificate and this is after I took sick leave at T1 for only two consecutive days where I didn't provide a medical certificate upon my return and I'm looking to take sick leave again for only two days at T3. From which date, leading up to T3, would I have to count the 8 weeks in which medical proof would not be necessary.From T1where I took sick leave for two consecutive days only OR from T2 which was the second occassion on which I took sick leave that i had to supply a medical certificate for since the sick leave was more than 3 consecutive days or longer?
Hi Carmen, thanks for good and thorough information! After major surgery, heart, joint replacements etc, employees are booked off for extended periods. Some employers puts pressure on the employee to start work "part time" before the sick leave period are completed. That might be in many cases a reasonable request, especially working in office environments. However, what is your advice in these cases? Especially taking into account the real world issue, that once an employee has been contacted for work in this scenario, they are being held responsible for that piece of work, even if it might be detrimental to their rehabilitation process.
Thanks for your comment Jaco. I would recommend that after any major surgery and/or recovery from an illness that employers send employees a letter to give to their primary medical practitioner to complete. This letter details what the employee is required to do everyday (physical and mental challenges) as well as the other requirements like hours or works, number of days of work etc. and it asked the medical practitioner to provide the employer with information about the employee's ability to fulfil the requirements and if time off is needed to rehabilitation or appointments, then how much and when, or if the there needs to be adaptations made to the work or workplace, what adaptions are recommended, etc. I will make a video on this and then I will post my letter that I send to employers to use for this on my website. Thanks for asking about it.
Does a public holiday count as a day worked if you don't normally work on public holidays
In most cases, yes. For example it counts towards annual leave accrual.
Hi if my usual monthly off day is for eg the 6th and i take off sick from 5th to 6th without a note for 2 days ..can my off day be moved to another date ..im being told i need a note because its a day before my off day ..and will be unpaid if no note..am i not entitled to 2 days without cert in SA
Yes, you are entitled to 2 days without a certificate on condition that you did not take sick leave on more than 2 occasions in 8 weeks before this.
Hi Carmen thank you for clarity please advise.
I'm an FTP in the company I'm working for so I'm still in phase where I accumulate 1 sick day after 26 days worked.
My sick note stated that I'm not feet to work for a week and I had a follow up on Friday.
So basically my question to you, the follow up is it going to be unpaid because I don't I have sick days or they were suppose take it from my leave days? What does the law say on sick notes that has a follow up?
Hi Sthembele - it depends. If the follow up is simply a checkup, you may not necessarily be booked off as being unable to work on that day (unable to work due to illness or injury that is) and therefore it would be considered unpaid leave or annual leave. The rationale would be that a checkup can take place outside of working hours, where sick leave is to be used when you are unfit / unable to work.
That being said - this is something you can discuss with your employer, and I am responding based off limited information. Hope this is helpful.
Hi Carmen, thanks so much for your page. If I may ask, I started permanent employment with a company after two years of being on a contract with them. I was informed of the 6 month clause but rather than them claiming sick days when the 36 month cycle begins, they insist on taking it as unpaid sick leave. In other words, I haven't been permanent for six months yet but I've fallen ill, I have no sick days on sage therefore they deduct my pay for the days I haven't worked. Is this legal? Thanks
Thanks for your question. I am not able to provide an answer without having all the relevant information and knowing the exact details of the two years you were on a contract and whether you were considered an employee / an independent contractor, and/or whether you earn above of below the threshold if those contracts were fixed term contracts, etc.
I also have the same case. was on a fixed contract for a year as an employee then became permanent after the year, now the employer is counting my sick leave cycle from the date of permanent instead of the date of commencement which is the fixed contract date. Is this correct
What's the protocol if an employee takes sick leave once every 3 weeks?
It they take sick leave on more than 2 occasions in an 8 week period the employer may request a medical certificate to grant paid sick leave (as well as if the sick days extends for 3 or more consecutive days). If it falls beyond this and the employer feels the employee is misusing their sick leave, they can manage this through corrective measures.
If an employee is required to collect medication in a monthly basis due to a health condition is it a leave day or sick leave?
This would be normal leave unless otherwise arranged with the employer. The reason is - collecting medication does not equate to being to ill on that particular day to work. I recommend negotiating with the employer around collection of meds.
@@carmenfourie5346 thank you !
Can an employee take 3 months leave in one year if a doctor prescribes it
If a doctor says an employee is unfit/unable to work for 3 months then they will not work during those 3 months. Once the paid sick leave entitlement has run out, the employee will no longer be entitled to paid sick leave, but will still be on leave. The employee can then complete the necessary documents to claim illness benefits from UIF for the remaining period that they are not able to work.
@@carmenfourie5346 thank you so much
@@sibonisokhayelihle9916 you're welcome. Thanks for watching my video.