Dear Reader

Welcome to this week’s Labour bulletin.

I’ve decided to do things a little differently this week. As you know, our labour subscribers have access to a free question and answer advisory service. I have a look at all the queries and it’s amazing how many of you suffer the exact same employee issues!

One of the subjects many of you have questions about is leave.  I’ve included a couple of interesting leave questions in this week’s bulletin so you can benefit from the answers too.

Q&A from our subscribers

Do my shift workers get less leave than Monday to Friday employees?

Question

Our normal office employees get 15 days annual leave per annum, but I’m not sure if this is correct for our shift employees.  They work a 12-hour shift three days a week.

Do they get less leave per annum than the Monday to Friday workers?

Answer

You can’t give your employees less than 15 working days leave.

You may, however, by agreement structure the annual leave arrangements so they’re entitled to one day for every 17 days worked or one hour for every 17 hours worked.

This may work better for shift workers.

Must I pay out sick leave in this situation?

Question

During December my employee went on leave on 12 December 2008 for the holidays and was due back at work on 12 January 2009.

I paid him up until 12 January 2009. He didn’t return to work and his family has advised us today, 10 February that he passed away on 01 February 2009. They’ve given me a copy of the death certificate.

Must I pay out sick leave from the 12 January until the 1 February?

Answer

If he was unable to work due to illness from 12 January to the day he passed away, you may have to pay out the sick leave. This is if he had sick leave days to his credit.  If he didn’t have sick leave days to his credit, you don’t have to pay out his sick leave.

Will this time period for maternity leave apply?

Question

One of our employees went on maternity leave in November and suffered a still-birth in December. Her maternity leave is due to end in May 2009. Will this time period still apply?

Answer

Maternity leave for a still-birth is a period of six weeks after the still-birth.  Your employee must return to work long before May 2009.

I hope you’ve found this useful. Have a look at the chapters in the L section of your Handbook for more information on all types of leave.

Remember, you can simply email labour@fsp.co.za to get your labour questions answered. But, you have to be a subscriber.

Until next time...

Sarah-Jane Bosch

Managing Editor