Sick leave and the 36-month cycle

A cycle, not a year

Sick leave under section 22 of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act is counted over a sick leave cycle of 36 months, starting on the day the employee started work. It does not reset in January, and it does not run on the same dates as annual leave.

In each cycle, an employee is entitled to paid sick leave equal to the number of days they would normally work in six weeks.

Works	Days in six weeks	Sick leave per cycle
Five days a week	6 × 5	30 days
Six days a week	6 × 6	36 days

An employee can use the days however they fall within the cycle: a few at a time, or many at once. When the cycle ends, a new one starts with a full allowance; unused days do not carry over.

The first six months

During the first six months of employment, the employee is entitled to one day of paid sick leave for every 26 days worked. After six months, the full cycle allowance applies, less any sick leave already taken in those first months.

Medical certificates

Under section 23, an employer does not have to pay for sick leave when the employee has been absent for more than two consecutive days, or on more than two occasions in an eight-week period, without producing a medical certificate. Many businesses ask for a certificate in those cases, and say so in their leave policy.

Keeping track

Because each employee's cycle starts on a different date, sick leave is hard to track on a calendar-year spreadsheet. The questions that come up most are simple ones: how many days does this person have left in their cycle, when does the cycle restart, and has a certificate been provided?

A pattern of single days next to weekends is worth a conversation, but it is not proof of anything on its own. Sick leave records are health information under POPIA, so keep them to the people who need them.

How AwayDesk handles it

Sick leave starts as 30 days over 36 months from each employee's start date, and you can change the days and the period. You choose whether a doctor's note is needed before approval; the note is attached to the request and stored privately. A report shows days taken, how often, and how many absences started on a Monday or ended on a Friday, by employee and by department.

General information, not legal advice. Source: Basic Conditions of Employment Act 75 of 1997, sections 22 and 23. Check the Act and your contracts, or ask a labour adviser.