Leave is one of the most common sources of disputes between employers and staff. Who gets how many days? Can you refuse a request? What happens to unused leave? This guide explains the leave laws in South Africa in plain language, based on the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA), so you can manage annual, sick, family responsibility and maternity leave correctly and avoid costly CCMA cases.
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Leave Desk lets staff apply from their phone, managers approve in one tap, and balances update automatically. R2,500 once-off, no monthly fee.
Set Up Leave Desk →Leave laws in South Africa at a glance
| Type of leave | Minimum entitlement (BCEA) | Paid by employer? |
|---|---|---|
| Annual leave | 21 consecutive days per 12-month cycle (15 working days for a 5-day week) | Yes |
| Sick leave | 6 weeks of normal working days over a 36-month cycle (30 days for a 5-day week) | Yes |
| Family responsibility leave | 3 days per annual cycle | Yes |
| Maternity leave | 4 consecutive months | Not required; claim from UIF |
| Parental leave | 10 consecutive days | Not required; claim from UIF |
| Adoption leave | 10 consecutive weeks (child under 2) | Not required; claim from UIF |
| Public holidays | 12 per year | Yes, if it falls on a normal working day |
These are minimums. In other words, your employment contract or company policy can give more, but never less.
Who do the leave laws in South Africa apply to?
The BCEA leave rules apply to all employees who work more than 24 hours a month for the same employer, whether they are permanent, fixed-term or part-time. However, they do not apply to genuine independent contractors. Some sectors, such as security, cleaning and building, also have bargaining council agreements that may set different or better leave terms, so check whether one applies to your business.
Annual leave in South Africa
Every employee is entitled to 21 consecutive days of paid annual leave for every 12 months worked. For a five-day week, this works out to 15 working days. Alternatively, you can agree in writing to one day of leave for every 17 days worked, or one hour for every 17 hours worked.
- The employer must grant annual leave no later than six months after the end of the leave cycle
- Staff take leave by agreement, or at a time the employer determines (for example a December shutdown)
- If a public holiday falls during annual leave, the employee gets an extra day
- You may not pay out annual leave instead of letting staff take it, except when employment ends
- On termination, you must pay out accrued but untaken leave
Sick leave rules
Sick leave runs in a 36-month cycle. During each cycle, an employee may take paid sick leave equal to the number of days they normally work in six weeks. That is 30 days for a five-day week, or 36 days for a six-day week. During the first six months of employment, however, employees earn only one day of sick leave for every 26 days worked.
You may ask for a medical certificate if an employee is absent for more than two consecutive days, or is off sick on more than two occasions in an eight-week period. If the employee cannot produce a valid certificate, you do not have to pay for those days.
Family responsibility leave
Employees who have worked for you for longer than four months, and who work at least four days a week, get three days of paid family responsibility leave per year. They can use it when their child is sick, or when a spouse, life partner, parent, grandparent, child, grandchild or sibling passes away. You may ask for reasonable proof. Unused days do not carry over to the next year.
Maternity, parental and adoption leave
A pregnant employee is entitled to at least four consecutive months of maternity leave. She may not work for six weeks after the birth unless a doctor or midwife confirms she is fit to do so. The BCEA does not require you to pay her during this time; instead, she can claim maternity benefits from the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF).
Similarly, other parents may take 10 consecutive days of parental leave, and adoptive parents of a child under two may take 10 consecutive weeks. Again, they claim from UIF. Note that a 2025 Constitutional Court ruling allowed parents to share the available parental leave between them, so check the latest position if this applies to your staff.
Keeping leave records
Employers must keep records of each employee’s leave for at least three years. These records protect you at the CCMA, and they also feed straight into payroll, because unpaid leave and leave pay-outs change what staff earn. If you process salaries yourself, see our guide on how to do payroll in South Africa.
Make leave records automatic
Leave Desk keeps live balances, a team calendar and a full exportable history, ready for payroll and audits.
See How Leave Desk Works →Common mistakes employers make with leave laws in South Africa
- Paying out annual leave every year instead of letting staff rest
- Letting annual leave pile up beyond six months after the cycle ends
- Resetting sick leave every year instead of using the 36-month cycle
- Forgetting that part-time staff working more than 24 hours a month also earn leave
- Keeping no written record of who applied, who approved and when
- Deducting leave for public holidays that fall during annual leave
Spreadsheet vs an employee leave management system
A spreadsheet works for two or three staff. However, as your team grows, it becomes hard to see who is off, balances go wrong, and requests get lost in WhatsApp. An employee leave management system like Leave Desk fixes this: staff apply online, managers approve in one tap, and balances and the team calendar update automatically.
| Spreadsheet or WhatsApp | Leave Desk | |
|---|---|---|
| Leave requests | Messages and emails | Online form on any phone or computer |
| Approvals | Chasing managers | One-tap approve or decline |
| Balances | Manual, error-prone | Updated automatically |
| Who is out today | Hard to see | Shared team calendar |
| Records for CCMA or payroll | Scattered | Full exportable history |
| Cost | Your time | R2,500 once-off, no monthly fee |
Frequently Asked Questions
The BCEA gives employees 21 consecutive days of annual leave per 12-month cycle. For someone working a five-day week, that equals 15 working days a year. Employers may offer more, but not less.
Yes, an employer can refuse or reschedule a specific request for operational reasons, because annual leave is taken by agreement or at a time the employer determines. However, the employer must still grant the full leave entitlement within six months after the end of the leave cycle.
Only when employment ends. The BCEA does not allow employers to pay employees instead of granting annual leave while they are still employed. On termination, all accrued but untaken leave must be paid out.
No. Sick leave runs over a 36-month cycle, not a calendar year. An employee on a five-day week gets 30 days of paid sick leave for the full 36 months.
The law requires at least four months of maternity leave but does not require the employer to pay it. Employees can claim maternity benefits from UIF, and some employers top up the difference as a benefit.
Yes. The BCEA allows annual leave to be taken at a time determined by the employer, so a company shutdown can be deducted from annual leave, provided it is applied fairly and in line with the contract or policy.
Bekin Consulting helps South African employers stay on the right side of the leave laws in South Africa. Set up Leave Desk and let your team apply for and approve leave online, or run salaries with our company payroll system.
