[Question] Sick leave vs annual leave

[cindyreuben]

Hi all

Please would you give me your opinions on the following:

An employee has a medical certificate from a state hospital that says that he has been booked off from 30.11.2015 - 14.12.2015 for a surgical condition. The sick note says he can return to work on the 04.01.2016. The employee drives back from Pretoria and spends the next week visiting employees at work etc. The company closes for the December break from the 18.12.2015 until the 03.01.2016, and all employees are required to fill in leave forms taking annual leave for that period. The employee arrives at work on the 04.01.2016 with another sick note stating that he can work light duty until the 14.01.2016.

Is the period from 18.12 2015 - 03.01.2016 sick leave or annual leave for this employee?

[HR Solutions]

This is a quote from this labour site:

Annual leave may not be substituted for sick leave and sick leave is in addition to any other leave entitlement. Sick leave, however, is not in addition to a period of notice of termination of the employment contract.

From this site:


http://www.labourguide.co.za/conditi...types-of-leave


Interesting question - hope this answers it

[Dave A]

It is an interesting question!

It would seem it's a compulsory annual leave period, a situation that pre-dates the need for sick leave.

If the period is deemed as sick leave due to being booked off as sick for the full period and more, this means the annual leave entitlement remains for this person and would have to be given at another time, which defeats one of the objectives of having a shut-down period in the first place.

I confess, I wouldn't just roll over and assign the shut-down period as sick leave without taking up the issue with the employee first. And there are some angles for the employee to consider.

For example, there's the possibility of running out of sick leave, which would mean unpaid leave...

[Leonp]

The sick note is questionable and I would not accept it as valid. It books him off sick until the 14 th but says he may only return in january, which is contradictory so id question the doctor who signed it for clarity failing which the period after 14 dec would be annual leave or unpaid leave.

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