Sick leave in South Africa: the three-year cycle explained
Sick leave is the leave employers most often get wrong, because it does not work in years. Here is how the cycle runs, what a new starter is owed, and when you may ask for a medical certificate.
In short
- Sick leave runs in cycles of 36 months, not 12.
- Each cycle gives the days the person normally works in six weeks: 30 days on a five-day week.
- In the first six months it is one day for every 26 days worked.
- You may ask for a medical certificate after more than two days in a row, or more than twice in eight weeks.
The 36-month cycle
Under the BCEA, sick leave is counted over a sick leave cycle of 36 months, starting on the employee's first day of work (BCEA s22). In each cycle, the employee is entitled to paid sick leave equal to the number of days they would normally work in six weeks.
| How the person works | Paid sick leave per 36-month cycle |
|---|---|
| Five days a week | 30 days |
| Six days a week | 36 days |
| Three days a week | 18 days |
This is the part that surprises people. There is no "10 days a year". Somebody may take 20 days in their first year of a cycle and still have 10 left for the next two years. The balance only resets when a new 36-month cycle starts.
New employees: the first six months
During the first six months of employment, an employee is entitled to one day of paid sick leave for every 26 days worked (BCEA s22). After about a month at work, a new starter has roughly one day.
Once six months have passed, the full cycle entitlement applies. The employer may reduce it by the sick days already paid in the first six months, so the first cycle still totals the six-week figure.
Medical certificates
You may require a medical certificate before paying sick leave when the employee (BCEA s23):
- is absent for more than two consecutive days, or
- is absent on more than two occasions in an eight-week period.
The certificate must be issued by a medical practitioner or another person who is certified to diagnose and treat patients and registered with a professional council established by an Act of Parliament. It must say the employee was unable to work because of illness or injury; it does not have to say what the illness is.
Set your rule out in a written leave policy and apply it to everyone the same way. Asking one person for a note after a single day, and nobody else, invites a complaint of unfair treatment.
Keeping the reason private
Information about somebody's health is special personal information under POPIA (s26), and you may hold it because employment law requires you to keep leave records (POPIA s32). Keep the reason, and any certificate, with HR. Colleagues may need to know that somebody is away; they do not need to know why.
Family responsibility leave is separate
Time off because a child is sick, or because a close family member has died, is family responsibility leave, not sick leave: three days in each annual leave cycle, for employees who have worked for you for longer than four months and work at least four days a week (BCEA s27). The birth of a child is not covered by it: that is parental leave.
When somebody leaves
Sick leave is not paid out. The payment on termination in BCEA s40 covers annual leave. Unused sick leave also does not carry over from one 36-month cycle to the next.
How LetterUp handles sick leave
LetterUp runs each person's sick leave on their own 36-month cycle and applies the first-six-months rule automatically, so a new starter's balance is right from day one. The company calendar shows that somebody is away, never that they are sick. See staff records and leave.
Questions employers ask
How many sick days do employees get in South Africa?
In each 36-month sick leave cycle, the number of days the person would normally work in six weeks (BCEA s22). On a five-day week that is 30 days over three years; on a six-day week, 36. It is not a yearly allowance.
When can an employer ask for a sick note?
When the employee is absent for more than two consecutive days, or on more than two occasions in an eight-week period (BCEA s23). Without a valid certificate in those cases, the employer does not have to pay for the absence.
How much sick leave does a new employee get?
During the first six months of employment, one day of paid sick leave for every 26 days worked (BCEA s22). After six months the full cycle entitlement applies, less any sick days already taken.
Is unused sick leave paid out when someone leaves?
No. The payout on termination in BCEA s40 covers annual leave. Sick leave that was not used is not paid out, and it does not carry into the next cycle.
This guide is general information about South African law as it stood on 22 October 2026. It is not legal advice. A bargaining council agreement or sectoral determination may apply different rules to your industry. LetterUp is not a law firm.