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South African Human Rights Commission Act, 2013 (Act No. 40 of 2013)

Regulations

Regulations for the Staff of the Human Rights Commission, 1996

Chapter VI : Leave

14. Sick leave

 

(1)
(a) Sick leave with full pay and, subject to subregulation (2), half pay to the extent set out in Part 2 of Schedule C shall accrue to a member of staff on the first day of the three-year cycle commencing on the date of commencement of these regulations and lapsing on a date three years later and each succeeding cycle commences on the day following the date on which the previous cycle lapsed and lapses on a date three years later: Provided that if a member of staff is appointed in the course of a three-year cycle, that member of staff shall be deemed for the purposes of this regulation to have been in the service of the Commission on the first day of the cycle concerned.
(b) Unutilized sick leave accrued to a member of staff for a specific cycle shall lapse at the end of the cycle concerned and cannot be transferred to an ensuing cycle.

 

(2) If a member of staff has been granted the maximum number of days' sick leave with full pay provided for in these regulations and he or she is for health reasons still unable to resume his or her duties, the chief executive officer may, notwithstanding the provisions of subregulation (4)—
(a) on submission to him or her of a satisfactory certificate from a registered medical practitioner or dentist; and
(b) if he or she is convinced that the member of staff is at the time concerned not permanently unfit to resume his or her normal duties,

at his or her discretion grant additional sick leave with half pay to the member of staff and this concession may be made in respect of separate periods of absence and in respect of different illnesses.

 

(3) If a member of staff has been granted the maximum number of days' sick leave provided for in these regulations and he or she is for health reasons still unable to resume his or her duties, the chief executive officer may, notwithstanding the provisions of subregulation (4)—
(a) on submission to him or her of a satisfactory certificate from a registered medical practitioner or dentist; and
(b) if he or she is convinced that the member of staff is at the time concerned not permanently unfit to resume his or her normal duties,

at his or her discretion grant additional sick leave without pay to the member of staff and this concession may be made in respect of separate periods of absence and in respect of different illnesses.

 

(4)
(a) Vacation leave which is to the credit of a member of staff may on his or her written application be granted in lieu of sick leave with half pay or without pay, subject to the same conditions as applicable to the granting of sick leave with half pay or without pay, as the case may be, if such application is submitted within one month after he or she resumed his or her duties.
(b) If vacation leave referred to in paragraph (a) has been granted to a member of staff and he or she has received pay in respect thereof, it may not be reconverted into sick leave with half pay or without pay.

 

(5) If a member of staff who has been granted vacation leave becomes ill after he or she has already left service to go on vacation leave that portion of the said vacation leave during which he or she was ill may be converted into sick leave if—
(a) the member of staff submits to the chief executive officer a certificate by a registered medical practitioner or a registered dentist; and
(b) the member of staff has the necessary sick leave to his or her credit in terms of these regulations.

 

(6)
(a) Sick leave shall be granted only in respect of a member of staff's absence from duty owing to illness, indisposition or injury not due to his or her misconduct.
(b) Sick leave shall not be granted in respect of vaguely defined illnesses or indispositions, unless proof is submitted to the satisfaction of the chief executive officer that the state of health of the member of staff renders him or her unfit for his or her duties.

 

(7)
(a) If a member of staff is absent from duty through illness for a consecutive period in excess of three days, sick leave may be granted to him or her only if, subject to the provisions of paragraph (b), he or she submits to the chief Executive officer a certificate from a registered medical practitioner or a registered dentist that clearly defines the nature of his or her illness, stating that he or she is not fit to perform his or her official duties and indicating the period required for his or her recuperation.
(b) If the chief executive officer is convinced that the member of staff was really ill and that sound reasons exist why a medical certificate was not submitted, he or she may exempt the member of staff from submission of such a certificate in respect of a consecutive period of sick leave not exceeding 14 days.
(c) An exemption referred to in paragraph (b) shall be endorsed on the leave application form and the leave record concerned.
(d) The chief executive officer may at his or her discretion require that a certificate referred to in paragraph (a) also be submitted in respect of a period of three days or less.