November / December 2011
Focus Areas
 Old practices and the new Leave policy – what does it
mean for:  Line Managers / Supervisors
 Staff
 Transition Arrangements – i.e. the move from our
current dispensation the new one including leave
payouts
Major changes from the current
dispensation to the new one
 Annual leave
 Split between statutory and contractual leave
 Forfeiture of contractual leave if not taken
 Leave paid out on termination – has increased from a
maximum of 26 days to a maximum of 30 days
 Long Leave
 Sick leave
Applicability
 All permanent support staff positions
 Long-term contract positions that are funded by
Rhodes University
 Support staff in Institutes, Centres and Units of
Rhodes University (subject to budget constraints and
to particular operational requirements)
 Contract staff in specific circumstances as outlined in
the policy
Key Principles
 Ethical and legal approach
 Transparent
 Shared responsibility / partnership – i.e. staff,
management and HR
 Fair and equitable treatment of staff
 Accountability by staff
 Recognition of diversity
 Timing of leave – ideally leave should suit both the
staff member and the institution
Specific Responsibilities
 Human Resources
 Ensure that the leave rules and provisions are clear and
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properly communicated
Ensure consistent application
Provide Support and guidance to staff and managers
Adhere to relevant legislation
Provision of accurate leave information
Where necessary, champion staff rights within this
process
Raise concerns with management and staff in respect of
leave
Specific Responsibilities
 Manager/Supervisor
 Ensure that they are their staff have a basic
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understanding of the institution’s various leave policies
Ensure consistent and fair treatment
Ensure adherence to the policy
To raise any concerns they have regarding the leave
policy with HR and to provide input as to what is
working/not working when the policy is due for review
To attend to staff leave applications timeously
To work within the framework of the disciplinary code if
their staff violate the leave policies of the institution
Specific Responsibilities
 Staff
 Ensure that you have a basic understanding of the leave policies of
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the institution
Apply for leave timeously
Raise any concerns you have regarding the leave policies with your
line manager and/or HR (including the approval and management
of your leave)
To engage ethically and responsibly in terms of your application for
and taking of leave
To understand that violating the leave policies of the institution
could lead to disciplinary action in terms of the Staff Disciplinary
code
Leave Application and
Administration of Leave
 Leave applications – generally not less than one working
week
 Leave applied for must be approved in writing by your line
manager and confirmed by HR
 Concerns regarding consistent application and failure to
apply for leave timeously and/or approval leave timeously
must be escalated to HR
 In cases where there is a legal risk to the Institution, HR
will have final decision-making responsibilities (HR will
endeavour to ensure that all relevant stakeholders are
consulted prior to any final decision taking place)
Key Principles and Guidelines
Annual Leave (including shut-down
leave)
 Annual Leave
 30 days (15 statutory, 15 contractual) per leave cycle. A leave
cycle is January to December. For new staff their annual leave
will be pro-rata in their first year of employment
 In general must be applied for in advance and is subject to
operational requirements
 BCEA requires every staff member to take at least 15 working
days annual leave per annum (ideally consecutively) and for
the employer/the line manager to facilitate this (in instances
where this is not possible the leave should be taken no later
than 6 months after the leave period)
 Institutionally we require staff to take annual leave at the end
of the year (known as shut-down leave)
Annual Leave (including shut-down
leave) continued
 Annual Leave (continued)
 May not accrue from one cycle to the next nor is it possible for staff
to forfeit statutory annual leave. It is for this reason that generally
statutory annual leave will always be deducted first.
 Contractual leave that is not taken within 6 months of a leave
cycle will be forfeited. This means that at any given time staff will
start to forfeit leave when their balance reaches 45 days
 Upon termination of employment one leave cycle will be paid out,
i.e. 30 days
 Staff may ‘cash-in’ a maximum of 50% of their contractual leave
(provided there is budget and the staff member has sufficient leave
for shut down).
Annual Leave (including shut-down
leave) continued
 Shut down leave
 Will generally be between 8 to 9 working days
 The last day of work before shut-down is a full working day
 There are areas of the University that are required to stay
open during shutdown – protocols exist for this and include
standby during shutdown
 No-one who is on annual statutory leave may be on standby
 Staff who do not have enough leave will be given leave in
advance (in instances where staff are unlikely to accumulate
the necessary leave unpaid leave will be granted)
Long Leave
 Excludes the following staff
 Those employed after 01 July 2009
 Catering and housekeeping staff on grades 6 to 9 even if
employed before 01 July 2009
 Staff on grades 1 to 5 even if employed before 01 July 2009
 Any staff who received a once off payout in lieu of long leave
not having being granted as a benefit prior to 01 July 2009
 Any individuals for whom the cash portion of their
remuneration or part thereof has been adjusted by the value
of the long leave
Long Leave
 Accumulates annually and has a January to December cycle
 Long leave retained acquired a value from January 2010
 Staff have 2 years to take their long leave – if not taken it will
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automatically be paid out at the rate it was earned
Staff who have their long leave and move from position to another
within the Institution may elect to retain their current long leave
entitlement (no increase of long leave e.g. from 26 to 56 days if moving
to higher grade).
May be taken in conjunction with other types of leave, e.g. annual leave
Accumulation of long leave from one cycle to the next may only be
done provided there is an agreement with the line manager (subject to
operational requirements) and it is consistent with policy.
HR after consultation with the manager is able to decline requests to
accumulate long leave
Sick Leave
 Granted to staff who are unable to report to work
because of illness or injury
 If not ill or injured, is not permissible time off work in
addition to other leave!
 Has a 3 year cycle which starts from the date of
employment or the completion of the prior sick leave
cycle
 30 working days in a 3 year cycle
Sick Leave
 When applying for sick leave
 If ill or injured staff must notify their line manager/supervisor no
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later than 10h00 on the 1st day of absence
Upon return to work applications for sick leave must be submitted
within 24 hours
A valid medical certificate must accompany ALL sick leave
applications that are more than 2 consecutive days in order for paid
sick leave to be granted.
If a staff member is absent from work for more than 2 occasions (no
matter for how long) during an 8 week period the line manager may
request a valid medical certificate
In general Saturdays and Sundays do not count as sick leave days
unless they happen to be a work day
Sick Leave
 When applying for sick leave (continued)
 Where a staff member falls ill during annual and/or long leave this may
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be converted to sick leave. A request to have this done must be sent to
HR in writing with the necessary medical certificate, irrespective of the
number of days of sick leave
If sick leave is exhausted before the 3 year cycle is complete the staff
member may be required to use annual leave, long leave or special sick
leave. In some instances unpaid leave may apply.
Sick leave does not carry over from one cycle to the next
If a staff member comes to work and goes home after 12h45 (i.e. 4 hours
and 45 minutes of work) because she/he is not feeling well this shall
generally not count as sick leave . If the staff member goes home
before 12h45 then the day will be counted as a day of sick leave.
There is provision for staff to see doctors/specialists during work hours
Special Sick Leave
 Is used when sick leave is exhausted
 Is granted at the discretion of HR in consultation
with the line manager
 Is granted taking into account the following:  Length and nature of service
 Patterns of sick leave
 Those found guilty of abuse of sick leave will not be
considered for special sick leave
 The availability of other leave
 The reasons for the request for special sick leave
Parental Leave
 There is a separate policy for this that covers both the
benefits and leave allotments for staff
 Covers
 Maternity Leave
 Paternity Leave
 And the conditions applicable to both
Additional Leave
 6 days over a 3 year cycle
 Is applied for via a written motivation (including
reasonable proof) to your line manager who in turn
submits to HR
 Does not accumulate from one cycle to the next
 Is not paid out upon termination of employment
 May be used for:  The celebration of religious/recognised Holy days that are not
already declared public holidays
 Representing South Africa at national/provincial level
 Supplementing family responsibility leave
Family Responsibility Leave
Family responsibility leave has been extended (beyond
that specified by the BCEA) to include the following: • The birth of a staff member’s child or adopted child or
foster child;
• Illness of a staff member’s child, adopted or foster
child or spouse/life partner;
• Death of a staff member’s spouse/life partner, child,
adopted child, parent, parent-in law, adoptive parent,
grandparent, grandparent in law, grandchild or sibling.
Study and Examination Leave
 One working day of study leave prior to the exam being written as well
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as the day of the exam up to a maximum of 10 working days per annum
(i.e. 5 working days for study leave and 5 working days for exams)
If the exam is on a Monday the staff member may take the Friday
before as study leave
For courses that are not examinable, e.g. Masters, PhD’s etc the
equivalent amount of study leave will be granted, i.e. 10 working days
Reasonable proof is required
Does not accumulate from one year to the next
Staff who fail their exams and/or do not write will generally not be
eligible the following year
Unpaid Leave and Leave in Lieu of Overtime
(LILO)
 Unpaid Leave
 Must be applied for and is granted at the discretion of the manager
after consultation with HR (to ensure consistent practice)
 Together with possible disciplinary action, is used where there is
leave without prior approval
 Leave in Lieu of Overtime (LILO)
 Must be taken within 3 months of having been earned otherwise it
will be paid out at not less than the rate it was earned
 Injury on Duty (IOD)
 If staff are injured on duty and provided the necessary medical
reports are in place and the accident has been reported to HR the
leave granted to staff as a result of an IOD shall not be taken off a
staff members sick leave but recorded as IOD leave
Annual Leave
 No annual leave payouts (exception is staff retiring in 2012 – if they have 2 x
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their annual entitlement at the end of 2012 it will be paid out)
Opening balances for 2012 not to exceed 20 working days (15 on the
statutory leave line and 5 on the contractual leave line)
Balance to be moved to an accumulated annual leave line where it will
remain until it is either taken or the staff member leaves
Once your annual leave balance exceeds 45 working days you will start to
forfeit leave, i.e. from 01 January 2012 any accumulated leave beyond 45
working days will not be moved to the accumulated annual leave line, it
will be forfeited
Any payouts on annual leave are subject to budget and to a maximum of
50% of a staff members contractual annual leave allotment. In any given
year where there is a budget for this HR will notify staff and ask for
requests for staff wishing to have some of their contractual leave paid out
Long Leave
 It is proposed that there are leave payouts for long leave(subject to
Council approval):  To pay staff for long leave not sold for: 
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2010 and 2011 at their respective rates unless the staff motivate in writing
to HR not to have their long leave paid out, i.e. the payment of leave will
be the default. A payout will only be made once a staff member has
signed and submitted their leave declaration.
Council meets 01 December 2011 – if payment is approved letters will go
out on 02 December 2011 in respect of leave payouts.
Staff have until 07 December to advise HR in writing if they do not want
their long leave paid out.
Provided we have sufficient funds to pay out some 2009 leave at the 2009
rate and that all leave declarations have been received.
Long Leave
 Opening balances for long leave will be zero – long
leave will accumulate from January 2012 on a
January to December cycle
 All remaining long leave (which has no value) will
be put into an accumulate long leave line which
must be used by December 2016 (the only
exception is those retiring in 2012, 2013 and 2014)
 It is advisable for staff retiring to trade in their
long leave 12 months before their retirement date
Sick Leave
 Everyone’s sick leave cycle will move from 36 days to 30
days
 6 days will be moved to additional leave – where staff have
less than 6 days of sick leave these will be moved to
additional leave, leaving no sick leave days
 Staff who run short of sick leave as a result of the above
conversion will automatically be granted special sick leave
up to a maximum of 6 days in the current cycle only.
Thereafter the principles that drive the allocation of special
sick leave shall apply.