Leave Protocols During COVID- 19 Period

26/06/2020

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted on every facet of life, not least the way we work. At Nelson Mandela University we are committed to ensuring that our students complete the 2020 Academic Year while also adhering to national safety regulations.

This has necessitated many changes, including the need to work remotely wherever this is possible, the repurposing of work, and aligning policies to the new ways of working during the lockdown period where necessary.

National directive

In terms of leave changes, a directive from the Department of Employment and Labour confirmed on 26 March 2020 that it is lawful to require employees to take annual leave during the lockdown especially, and presumably, for the category of employees who cannot even work from home. The other categories of employees were still afforded the usual rights to leave in line with their employer’s operational needs.

Mandela University’s approach

Given the many challenges, but ever mindful of staff wellbeing during these unprecedented circumstances, the University has devised a series of scenarios with appropriate leave remedies (see below).

Staff are encouraged to continue to take leave for their wellbeing, even if it does not involve travel owing to the present Lockdown conditions.

Please feel free to forward your questions to HR@mandela.ac.za

UNIVERSITY LEAVE MANAGEMENT GUIDELINES DURING COVID-19 LOCKDOWN

Various Scenarios

Leave Remedies

Comments

  1. Ability to work remotely: employees can perform their normal duties, fully or partially remotely.

 

These employees are productively engaged.

  • No application for leave is required.

 

 

 

Normal Annual leave

provisions apply.

  1. Inability to work remotely and limitations/ prohibitions for on site.

 

Role does not permit working remotely.

  • No fault circumstances.

 

  • No application for leave is required but new working arrangements are required, with special precautionary measures to manage and accommodate vulnerable employees.

 

 

  • Unsustainable to allow indefinite stay-at-home periods; manage risk (per role) to determine on-site working arrangements

 

 

Alternative ways of working are encouraged, rotational and/or shift working arrangements.

 

Flexible hours by agreement.

 

Repurposing of KPAs is a possibility and refocussed job outputs.

 

Special conditions will be evaluated on a case by case basis as this category also includes the vulnerable group eg persons aged 60 years, coexisting medical conditions and/or women more than 28 weeks pregnant as per international guidelines.

 

  1. Unable to work due to illness (not COVID-19 related).
  • Where employees are sick and unable to perform their duties then paid sick leave must be applied for.

 

  • Where sick leave is exhausted then annual leave needs to be applied for, with subsequent unpaid leave once annual leave is exhausted.

 

Normal Sick leave provisions apply.

 

If an employee who cannot work from home falls ill while at home, then the normal leave rules apply including submission of medical certificates.

 

  1. Unable to work due to COVID-19 quarantine: self-imposed quarantine (i.e. quarantine not imposed upon an employee by the University, nor a medical practitioner).

 

  • There is no legal obligation on the University to provide paid sick leave without medical proof, and the employee needs to apply for annual leave.

 

  • If annual and/or accumulated leave is exhausted, then the employee needs to apply for unpaid leave.

Special conditions will be evaluated on a case by case basis.

  1. COVID-19 quarantine: The University requires an employee to go into quarantine.

 

COVID-19 quarantine: The State requires an employee to go into quarantine at one of its facilities.

  • If an employee can continue working but remotely, no leave needs to be applied for.

 

  • In the instance where the employee is awaiting results and cannot work remotely/ and cannot work at all, the employee needs to apply for the COVID-19 special leave.

 

COVID-19 Special Paid Leave applies.

 

Quarantine period:

Special conditions will be evaluated on a case by case basis according to the University COVID-19 guidelines.

 

Process:

The employee needs to apply for sick leave; when sick leave is exhausted, then the employee can apply for the COVID19 special leave to prevent employees being placed on unpaid leave.

 

  1. Employees who are unable to perform their normal duties due to family and personal circumstances.

The following leave types in chronological order need to be applied for:

  • If Family Responsibility leave applies for a sick child, this can be used; then
  • Annual and/or accumulated leave; then
  • Annual leave in advance up to 15 days; then
  • Unpaid leave.

 

 

Short-Term Contracts (STCs) might be excluded from being credited with Annual leave in advance.

The application for leave in advance will result in the employee’s annual leave going into a negative balance. This negative balance will be recouped from future annual leave allocations.

  • negative balances (15 days) borrowed from 2021 and
  • recouped in 2021 credits/termination in 2021.

 

Should the employee leave the service of the University before the leave can be recouped, the financial value of such outstanding leave will be retained by the University when any final payment is made to the employee.

 

Where an employee applies for unpaid leave and needs to claim for UIF, then HR needs to be informed of such an intention and the necessary forms are completed for the employee.

 

STCs might have to claim for UIF in this instance.

 

STC definition:

 

STCs refer to employees appointed for one (1) year or less, with the year referenced being the current calendar year.

  1. Refusal to work

 

  • Where an employee refuses to work, annual and/or accumulated leave must be taken.

 

  • Where such leave has been exhausted, unpaid leave needs to be applied for.

 

Disciplinary action may be taken in cases where employees refuse to take lawful and reasonable instruction to work and refuse to take leave.

 

No refusal if work environment safe.

 

An employee cannot refuse if there is no occupational exposure (requires reasonable evidence of risk).

 

  1. Research/ Sabbatical leave
  • Consideration should be made for the deferral of sabbatical leave, where objectives could not be met on account of the COVID-19 outbreak and implications thereof on planned travels.

 

  • Where outputs are possible, an employee may continue.

 

An employee is expected to duly motivate for deferral through relevant Research Committees who will inform HR to record appropriately.

 

  1. Transferring unused 2019 statutory annual leave – s20(4)

 

 

  • Unused 2019 statutory annual leave credits existed for 11 employees;
  • these unused days were transferred to June 2020;
  • deferral can be considered to December 2020 where objectives must be met due to the COVID-19 outbreak as the 2020 academic year is delayed.

 

  • Where these employees must work and cannot take this leave by June 2020, consideration could be made for the further deferral to December 2020, where objectives must be met due to the COVID-19 outbreak as the 2020 academic year is delayed. 

 

  • The employee needs to apply to defer this to December 2020 but cannot transfer beyond 2020.

 

  1. Transferring unused 2020 statutory annual leave – s20(4)

 

  • Unused 2020 statutory annual leave credits could exist due to the COVID-19 outbreak if the academic year is delayed.
  • These unused days would ordinarily be transferred to June 2021.

 

  • Consideration could be made for the deferral of this leave to December 2021, where objectives must be met due to the COVID-19 outbreak if the academic year is delayed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Employees are encouraged to utilise leave where it is operationally possible, to prevent burnout, for their wellbeing.

 

  • Where employees must work and cannot take this leave by June 2021, consideration could be made for the further deferral to December 2021, where objectives must be met due to the COVID-19 outbreak as the 2020 academic year is delayed. 

 

  • The employee needs to apply to defer this to December 2021 but cannot transfer beyond 2021.

 

Special conditions will be evaluated on a case by case basis.

 

  • STCs should be excluded in this instance, to transfer leave beyond the annual cycle, due to limited renewals.

 

  • Pay-out at 100% is made at the end of the short-term contract/ year-end.

 

  1. Planned retirement
  • Where employees are under 65 years, agreement could be reached to postpone the retirement date where objectives must be met due to the COVID-19 outbreak if the academic year is delayed.

 

  • Where employees are 65 years old, formal retirement will proceed with subsequent flexible STC appointments to complete the 2020 academic year.

 

 

 

The status quo to pay unused statutory leave to a maximum of 45 days, if available, will apply.

  • 15 statutory days if available and
  • 30 accumulative days if available

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Coronavirus Task Team

 

 

Human Resources Workstream