FAMILY LEAVE RESPONSIBILITY
Employees who have been with the same employer for more than four (4) months and work for the same employer at least four (4) days per week are entitled to three (3) days of paid Family Responsibility Leave per year, with the exception of domestic employees, who are entitled to five (5) days.
Family Responsibility Leave, in addition to any other leave entitlement, ends at the end of each year and is not cumulative. When the employee’s child is born, when the employee’s child is unwell, or when the employee’s spouse or life partner, or the employee’s parent, adoptive parent, grandmother, child, adopted child, grandchild, or sibling, dies, Family Responsibility Leave applies.
The employee may take Family Responsibility Leave for a portion of the day or for the entire day. The employer has the right to require proof of the incident for which the Family Responsibility Leave is requested, such as a death certificate or a hospital medical certificate.
Employers should keep in mind that, in most situations, such proof may not be available until the employee returns to work, and they should be reasonable in this regard.
There are two situations in which you must provide Family Responsibility Leave:
When an employee’s child becomes ill; or
If the employee’s spouse or life partner dies, or if the employee’s parent, adoptive parent, grandparent, child, adopted child, grandchild, or sibling dies.
PS: A child is defined as someone under the age of 18 in the United States.
There are three exceptions to granting Family Responsibility Leave:
Under Family Responsibility Leave, the Basic Conditions of Employment Act makes no mention of in-laws. So you can determine whether or not you are willing to let an employee go if one of his in-laws dies; just be consistent; what is good for one employee must be good for all other employees.
If your employee’s child-minder is ill, you are not required to provide Family Responsibility Leave.
Employees who work for you for less than four days per week are not required to take Family Responsibility Leave.
An employer may seek reasonable proof before compensating an employee for leave under this clause.
Each annual cycle, an employee’s unused Family Responsibility Leave entitlement expires.
What documentation is needed for family responsibility leave?
If you request family responsibility leave, your employer has the right to require proof such as a death certificate, hospital medical report, or birth certificate.
In South Africa, how many days does family duty leave?
Family Responsibility leave is three days of paid leave per year that full-time employees are entitled to after four months of employment if they work more than four days per week, in addition to yearly and sick leave.
Can an employer refuse to grant family responsibility leave?
This means that if you are new to a job or do not work the required hours and days, your employer has the power to deny you family responsibility leave.
