Holiday Plans?
Category Covid-19 Campaign
Day 25 Covid Campaign
Many of us are either employers or employees and the topic on our minds during lockdown (especially the extended lockdown and the roll out of business after that), is the issue of employee leave.
The implication of the lockdown on employee leave in terms of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA) are in a nutshell:
- All employees in South Africa as a condition of their employment are entitled to leave provisions as set out in the Act.
- The Act recognises certain forms of leave, which may, depending on the circumstances, be applicable to the employees' absence as a result of COVID-19.
- During lockdown, an employee may be requested by the employer to take annual leave from his/her annual leave credits.
- The BCEA also allows employers to determine the time that employees can take their annual leave.
The Government directive also goes on to say that employers are encouraged to rather make use of the COVID-19 Temporary Employer/Employee Relief Scheme ("TERS"). However, keep in mind that the payments in terms of TERS will cover only a portion of the actual salary up to a limit of R6,730 per month per employee. There is also no guarantee when payments will actually be processed and made.
On Friday the 17th of April, there was a further update from Government stating that the annual leave employees are asked to take during lockdown, may indeed be covered by the UIF scheme. This will mean that, if companies are successful in claiming relief on this basis, staff should be able to be credited with a portion of the leave that is covered by the actual UIF payments received (this should only cover a portion of leave taken).
We trust you will manage your teams with the best possible view of the situation and your business.
Best regards
Louw & Coetzee Group of Companies
Article reference: https://www.gov.za/speeches/employee-leave-during-coronavirus-covid-19-26-mar-2020-0000
Author: Louw & Coetzee Properties