Many employers are still surprised when confronted with this question. As many employers already know, employees working five days a week are entitled to 15 working days of leave per annum. But employees working six days a week are usually entitled to 18 days of leave per annum, which surprises some employers who have been sticking to the 15 days, regardless. So in that sense, yes, there is additional days’ leave, but it suddenly becomes quite apparent when you understand why this is so.
Section 20 of the Basic Condition of Employment Act, Act 75 of 1997 (BCEA) deals with annual leave. Employees should be granted 21 consecutive days’ annual leave (with total remuneration) during each leave cycle. So it would naturally follow that within that three-week cycle that the employee is on leave; his working days would be three days more than that of a person working five days a week.
This potentially becomes problematic when an employee does not take the three consecutive weeks that he is entitled to and an employer grants occasional leave at different times throughout the year. Then it is of vital importance to recognise that it should either be 18 working days or perhaps more appropriately calculated at a rate of 1 day for every 17 days worked, as per SEESA’s contract of employment which is in line with the BCEA.
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