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You deserve a family responsibility leave during each 12-month annual leave. The leave falls under the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA). These off days allow you to attend to urgent family matters like injury, illness, and death. Not all workers have the right to get compassionate leave, and SA's labour law on family responsibility leave determines under what circumstances one qualifies to have it.
A compassionate or family responsibility leave improves the workers' mental health. These off days give employees peace of mind since they do not have to choose between work and their loved ones when facing unavoidable circumstances. Please note that you must request this leave from your employer in writing.
A family responsibility leave are paid off days per year granted to full-time employees who work more than four days per week and after four months of employment. It is an addition to any other leave entitlement like the annual and sick leaves.
Employees who have worked for more than four months and at least four days a week must get the three-day paid compassionate leave during each leave cycle. The 5 days of family responsibility leave only applies to domestic workers who meet the requirements.
SA's labour law on family responsibility leave has a section called the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA), which outlines conditions one must meet to get this leave. Family responsibility leave in South Africa is only applicable under these circumstances:
Please note that the BCEA labour law of South Africa does not cover off days for illness or death of any other relative in the compassionate leave. Therefore, such cases are treated as annual leave or other types of leaves the worker is entitled to.
Additionally, BCEA's family responsibility leave only covers illness and death of loved ones and no other emergency. An accident can be treated as a sickness.
Other conditions for someone to qualify for the family responsibility leave days are:
Your employer is entitled to demand proof such as a death certificate, medical report from the hospital, or a birth certificate if you request compassionate leave.
After submitting proof, the employer must pay an employee for the compassionate leave days using either of these criteria:
According to the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, all workers exempted from the compassionate leave are:
Accrue all your family responsibility leave days or use them separately. You can also spend them as full days, a few hours, or exceed a day, but remember that the maximum allowable days are three.
However you spend your compassionate leave, the hours you take should total three working days. Section 9 of the BCEA stipulates that employees should not work more than 45 hours per week.
You should only work nine hours a day (excluding lunch break) if it is a working week of five days or less and eight hours a day (excluding lunch break) if it is a working week of five days or more.
However, the section of the Act that regulates working hours does not apply to the following:
According to the BCEA family responsibility leave law, your employer has the right to reject your request for a compassionate leave under these circumstances:
An employee planning to take leave should inform the employer in advance. You can also notify your employer that you cannot make it to work if the situation is unexpected. It is important to follow your organization's guidelines regarding off days.
You can email your boss a family responsibility leave letter requesting to be exempted from work to attend to your family. Check out this example:
A compassionate leave letter sample
Some companies analyze an employee's reasons for requesting a compassionate leave and will only grant it to you if your situation is reasonable.
In some cases, an employee might look at your pattern of absences, the number of leave days you request per month, examine your evidence, request more proof, etc.
For instance, an employee seeking a leave because a family member suffered a car accident has to present a police report or an invoice given by an auto mechanic or a towing company. A medical report is not enough in this case because it might be fake.
In the case of an illness or injury, employers should not demand medical notes from the employee. Therefore, your boss should not request you disclose your loved one's medical status. However, they can ask about your relationship with the loved one to determine if they are immediate family members.
Here are some facts you should know about taking compassionate leave:
A leave of absence is authorized time away from work for special circumstances in an employee's life. It may be paid or unpaid depending on what the labour laws of South Africa state.
If you have been wondering, "how many days is a family responsibility leave in South Africa in 2022?" Domestic workers are entitled to 5 days, while other workers get 3 days. All of them should meet the requirements for the leave.
Do not worry if you do not meet the requirements for family responsibility leave. Some empathetic employers will grant you a special leave or any other type of leave they deem fit for your situation. Therefore, do not hesitate to approach your boss whenever you have pressing issues.
READ ALSO: How does sick leave work in South Africa? Full guide
Briefly.co.za also posted how sick leave works in South Africa. A worker has the right to request some days off when ill.
A disease is not the only reason you can be granted sick leave. For example, an injury from an accident, childbirth, mental illness, and other situations are enough to take sick leave.
Source: Briefly News
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