BCEA Annual Leave Days Policy and Procedure

The South African Labor legislation has a dedicated annual leave policy regulated under the procedures outlined in the Basic Conditions of the Employment Act BCEA of 1997. For starters, the employee is entitled to 21 consecutive days of leave on full days within one annual leave period. Here is everything you need to know about how annual leaves work along with some queries.

Leave Days South Africa

Section 20 of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act clarifies the ruling over annual leaves. Every employer is required to follow some ground rules under their collective agreements in regard to the annual leave days.

• The employee can take annual leave for 21 consecutive days on full pay during each cycle.
• A leave cycle refers to the 12-month period, starting from the first day of employment or from the end of the previous cycle.
• The employee is paid for the number of working or paydays during these 21 consecutive days.
• Annual leaves are accrued. Simply put, the number of leave an employee is entitled to starts at zero and eventually increases as the cycle progresses. For instance, on the seventeenth day of the annual leave cycle, the employee gets one day of annual leave.
• The annual leave can only be taken by mutual agreements between the employee and employer.
• The employee is not entitled to leave days during the notice period. Employers may not permit it during the same period.
• The annual leave is not sellable, hence the employer may not purchase these leaves from the employees. The only condition where it is permissible is the termination of the employment contract for whatever reason, retirement, or death of the employee.
• The employee can receive accumulated annual leave in a leave cycle on consecutive days. For instance, if the employee requests to take 11 accumulated days off in one go, the employer cannot refuse. Moreover, if the employee requests the annual leave accrued to him in the cycle after 6-month expiration from the end of the cycle, the employer must grant him the leave.
• If the employee does not request to take the annual leave, his leave days will be added to the credits of the employee.
• The annual leave does not apply to the employee who works less than 24 hours per month for the same employer.

How Many Leave Days Per Year in South Africa?

Employers working more than 24 hours in a month under the same employer have the right to enjoy 21 consecutive days of annual leave in a cycle, which mostly lasts for 12 months. The aim of these leaves is to make sure employees have the opportunity to rest for consecutive three weeks, away from work.

However, the employees are not paid for all the days in these three weeks. Rather, they will be paid for the 21 days they would’ve normally worked for during the leave weeks. For instance, if the person works five days per week, he is only eligible for 15 days of payment during the leave period.

How Do You Calculate the Payment for Annual Leave?

The payment for annual leave is pretty straightforward. An employer is obligated to pay the employee at least equivalent to the remuneration that he/ she would otherwise receive for a working day. According to Section 35 of the BCEA, the employer must pay the employee before the start of the period of leave.

Moreover, considering the BCEA, the employee’s remuneration includes a housing allowance or equivalent cash, car allowance, any cash payments outlined by the employer in the employment contract, and other contributions (medical, provident fund, pension, etc). It may also include relocation allowances, incentive schemes, entertainment allowances, education allowances, or funeral or death benefit schemes.

Calculation of Accrual of Leave

According to BCEA, if the employee is working five days per week, their annual leave will accrue at the rate of 1.25 days per month. However, if they are working six days a week, their annual leave will accrue at the rate of 1.5 days per month. Simply put, the accrual of annual leave is around one hour for every 17 hours worked.

Does Annual Leave Expire in South Africa?

Yes, according to BCEA Section 20(4), the annual leave not taken within the twelve months of the cycle or within six months thereafter will be invalid. Simply put, if the employee has not used his/ her annual leaves from the previous cycle and six months of the new leave cycle, the employee can demand the unused leave days.

This also means that if you are an employee with unused sick leaves in the credit, the employer cannot force you to use the annual leaves instead of sick ones. However, after this duration of 18 months, the employer is under no obligation to grant you a leave day.

Can an Employer Refuse to Pay Out Annual Leave After Resignation?

Section 40 B and C of BCEA mainly deal with annual leave entitlement during resignation or termination of employment. According to this, the employer must make payments to the employer for any unused or accumulated annual leaves left in their credit. Similarly, though the employee is prohibited from taking annual leave during the notice period, they will receive their due compensation.

Incapacity Leave

Incapacity in Labor legislation is defined as workers not getting their work done, which can result in resentment by co-workers and reputational damage. However, it is a non-blameworthy breach, which means the employee is unable to cope with the work but it is not due to his/ her fault.

There are usually two types of capacity in the labor law of South Africa, one because of poor performance or the second as a consequence of ill health or injury. In an event where the employee is not able to carry out their employment obligation, they become eligible for medical boarding, during which the employer will have to compensate them.

Unfortunately, if the employee’s medical condition does not improve and results in the employee’s continued inability to perform his/ her functions, the employer should discuss it with the employee. During this period, the employer may or may not compensate the employee, depending on the nature of their agreement.

The employer may offer the possibility of alternative employment. However, in case of no alternative employment or the employee not being able to work at all, the employer can terminate the employment agreement.

Sick Leave During Annual Leave

What if the employee becomes ill during the period of annual leave? Well, in such a case, if the employee insists that the employer take this period as sick leave, he/ she must follow suit. However, there is another contested view on this issue.

The first one states that Section 20 (5) clearly states that the employer may not do so, as the condition is only applicable where an employee is scheduled to work and becomes ill. Here, the employer may request the employee to take annual instead of sick leave.

Emergency Leave

The South African labor legislation offers an emergency leave, also known as family responsibility leave, only applicable for urgent situations. Employees working for more than months under the same employer have the right to enjoy up to three leave days to sort out their family matters. This leave applies when the worker’s child is born, their child is sick (less than 18 years of age), and an event of death of the worker’s partner, parent, adoptive parent, grandparent, child, adopted child, sibling, and grandchild.

Usually, these emergency leaves are compensated by the employer, according to their ordinary wages for a regular payday. However, to receive the compensation, the employee is required to provide proof to suggest that the leave was taken because of an emergency.

Leave Encashment Meaning

Section 20 (11) of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act states that the employer must pay an employee for the annual leave upon the termination of employment. It is the only time when the employer can perform leave encashment. For instance, if the employee is working five days a week and is entitled to 20 paid days of leave per cycle, then these days will be regulated by the policy and paid out to the employee.

FAQs

Final Words

In conclusion, if you are working for more than 24 hours per month under the same employee, the BCEA South Africa 1997 allows you to take 21 consecutive days off within each annual leave period. However, while doing so, you must follow some procedural guidelines. I hope this guide was helpful for anyone confused about how these leaves work.