Sick Leave Policy Page 1 of 4

SICK LEAVE POLICY

1. Definition

For the purposes of this policy, incapacity is defined as:

The inability to work owing to any sickness or injury other than sickness or injury caused by an employee’s own misconduct: Provided that this policy does not apply to an inability to work caused by an accident or occupational disease as defined in the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act, 1993 (Act No. 130 of 1993), or the Occupational Diseases in Mines and Works Act, 1973 (Act No. 78 of 1973), except in respect of any period during which no compensation is payable in terms of those Acts.

2. Sick Leave Entitlements:

2.1 The Company will provide for 36 1 paid working days in a 36-month sick leave cycle, that is, an amount of paid sick leave equal to the number of days the employee would normally work during a period of six weeks.

2.2 During the first six months of employment, an employee is entitled to one day's paid sick leave for every 26 days worked.

2.3 In the event of serious illness or accident, where additional sick leave may be required, refer to the Policy - Serious Medical Incapacity - Temporary or Permanent Disability.

2.4 To be eligible to receive paid sick leave, an employee will be required to produce a Medical Certificate signed by a registered medical practitioner stating the nature of the incapacity and its duration in respect of

2.4.1 any bona fide illness which results in their absence from work for a period of more than two working day, and /or 2.4.2 one day’s absence which is taken the day before or after the employee’s day off or a paid public holiday, or 2.4.3 any eight-week period where an employee has been on paid sick leave on two or more occasions without producing a Medical Certificate. The employee will be required to produce a Medical Certificate for each further instance of sick leave within the next eight-week period.

1 36 days in a 36-month cycle for employees who work a six (6) day work week, and 30 days for employees who work a five (5) day workweek. Please note the transitional arrangements in Schedule 3 of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act.

Micma & Associates Sick Leave Policy Page 2 of 4

2.5 This shall in no way limit management’s rights to take disciplinary action where the attendance record of any employee indicates a possible abuse of sick leave.

2.6 A Medical Certificate is only prima facie proof that an employee has been on bona fide sick leave. The Company retains the right to query any Medical Certificate, and where it believes that such Medical Certificate does not justify being paid sick leave; the Company may legitimately refuse to pay the employee sick leave. The requirements of a Medical Certificate are the following:-

2.6.1 The Medical Certificate must conform to the rules of the Ethical and Professional Rules of the Medical and Dental Professions Board of the Health Professions Council of South Africa as set out in the annexure to this policy, state the nature of the medical incapacity; the duration of the incapacity; the date on which the employee consulted a Medical Practitioner; and must be signed by a Medical Practitioner registered with the South African Medical and Dental Council.

2.7 Where an employee has been on sick leave for excessive periods, the Company reserves the right to conduct an enquiry into the employees capacity (or incapacity) to perform his job, and to take whatever lawful steps it deems appropriate, including but not limited to the termination of the employee’s contract of employment with the Company.

2.8 Managers, supervisors and employees are referred to the provisions of section 22 and 23 of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, regarding Sick Leave.

2.9 Employees who have been on sick leave are required to complete the Sick Leave form, and attach any medical certificate to such leave form. Leave forms must be submitted to the Human Resources/Salary Administrator department.

Annexure to sick leave policy

MEDICAL CERTIFICATES

Medical certificates (or ‘sick notes’ to use the common term) are a source of aggravation to employers’.

What constitutes a ‘valid’ medical certificate? That is the question.

The following excerpt from the Ethical and Professional Rules of the Medical and Dental Professions Board of the Health Professions Council of South Africa provides a starting point his means that the medical profession has introduced the following rules with respect to medical certificates.

Rule 15(1)

A practitioner shall only grant a certificate of illness if such certificate contains the following information, namely;

(a) the name, address and qualification of the practitioner;

(b) the name of the patient;

(c) the employment number of the patient (if applicable);

(d) the date and time of the examination;

(e) whether the certificate is being issued as a result of personal observations by the practitioner during an examination, or as the result of information received from the patient and which is based on acceptable medical grounds;

(f) a description of the illness, disorder or malady in layman’s terminology with the informed consent of the patient: Provided that if the patient is not prepared to give such consent, the medical practitioner or dentist shall merely specify that, in his or her opinion based on an examination of the patient, the patient is unfit to work;

(g) whether the patient is totally indisposed for duty or whether the patient is able is able to perform less strenuous duties in the work situation;

(h) the exact period of recommended sick leave;

(i) the date of issuing of the certificate of illness; and

(j) a clear indication of the identity of the practitioner who issued the certificate which shall be personally and originally signed by him or her next to his or her initials’ and surname in printed or block letters.

(2) If pre-printed stationery is used, a practitioner shall delete the words which are relevant. (3) A practitioner shall issue a brief factual report to a patient where such a patient requires information concerning him or herself.

The above is largely self explanatory.

Subparagraph (e) of Rule 15(1) refers to those occasions where, for example the employee has been absent on a Monday and Tuesday, and on the Wednesday he goes to the Doctor and informs the Doctor that he had flu since Monday and requires a sick note. The Doctor then normally writes in the sick note that ‘I was informed that the patient etc.’

In the above example, the employer need not accept this as a genuine illness. The Doctor is only certifying and telling the employer, that the patient says he was ill. The Doctor is not certifying that he carried out an examination and is able to confirm the illness. The employer would therefore be perfectly justified in informing the employee that the time taken off will be regarded as unpaid leave and that in future he should visit the Doctor when he falls ill and not after he has recovered from the alleged illness.

Subparagraph (f) of Rule 15(1) states that the Doctor should give a description of the illness. This may not always be stated, particularly where the nature of the illness, if disclosed, may embarrass the patient.

Micma & Associates