Learnership Regulations For Sick Leave and Work Injury

Learnership Regulations For Sick Leave And Work Injury. Learnership Sick Leave and Workplace Injury Regulations. Learners are entitled to take days off for illness or injury. This post contains specific extracts from Sectoral Determination 5: Learnerships to show how this is done.

Learnership Regulations For Sick Leave And Work Injury

Learner Sick Leave and Workplace Injury Regulations

Learnership Time off Work is Protected

Learners are registered employees for the duration of the learnership qualification programme. Learners are entitled to the same protections as other employees and can take disputes to the CCMA.

Clauses 21-23 of Sectoral Determination 5: Learnerships

Learnership sick leave and workplace injury regulations

Clauses 21, 22 and 23 of Sectoral Determination 5: Learnerships deal with sick leave and workplace injury regulations.

As employees, learners are entitled to paid sick leave and compensation if injured on duty. Read about the annual paid leave learners are entitled to.

Learnership Regulations For Sick Leave

A learner is entitled to one day’s paid sick leave for every 26 days, in which the learner works or receives training during a learnership.

An employer must pay a learner for a day’s sick leave-
- the allowance the learner would ordinarily have received for work on that day; and
- on the learner’s usual pay day.
An agreement may reduce the pay to which a learner is entitled in respect of any day’s absence in terms of this clause if-
- the number of days of paid sick leave is increased at least commensurately with any reduction in the daily amount of sick pay; and
- the learner’s entitlement to pay-
  - for any day’s sick leave is at least 75 per cent of the allowance payable to the learner for the ordinary hours the learner would have worked on that day; and
  - for sick leave over the sick leave cycle is at least equivalent to the learner’s entitlement in terms of subclause 2

What do the sick leave regulations mean for learners? Learnership Regulations For Sick Leave

Learner Entitlement to Sick Leave:

As a learner, you have the right to take time off due to illness and still be paid for that day. You earn one day of paid sick leave for every 26 days that you work or receive training.

Example: Let’s say you have been working or receiving training in a learnership for 52 days. According to the regulations, you are entitled to two days of paid sick leave.

Payment for Sick Leave: Learnership Regulations For Sick Leave

When you take a sick day, your employer must pay you for that day. The pay received should be the same as what you would have earned if you had worked. The payment should be made on your usual payday.

Example: Imagine you usually earn R100 per day for your work or training. When you take a sick day, your employer should pay you R100 for that day.

Reducing Pay for Sick Leave: Learnership Regulations For Sick Leave

Sometimes an agreement between the employer and the learner may reduce the amount of pay for a sick day. However, there are conditions that need to be met for this reduction to be allowed.

The number of paid sick leave days should be increased proportionately if the daily amount of sick pay is reduced.
You should still be entitled to at least 75% of the allowance you would have received for the regular hours you would have worked on that day.
Your overall entitlement to sick leave over a specific cycle should be at least equal to what is stated in subclause 2 (which refers to the entitlement explained earlier).

Example: Let’s say there is an agreement that reduces the daily sick pay to 50% of your regular allowance. The number of paid sick leave days should be doubled to compensate for the reduced daily pay. So, if you were originally entitled to two paid sick leave days, with the reduction in pay, you would now be entitled to four paid sick leave days. Additionally, your daily pay for each sick day should still be at least 75% of what you would have earned for the regular hours you would have worked.

Learners must use these regulations to ensure they are protected while in a learnership program. Learners are allowed to take paid time off when they are ill without facing financial hardship.

Download the Determination

Workplace Injury on a Learnership

PROOF OF INCAPACITY (inability to work)

An employer is not required to pay a learner in terms of clause 21 if the learner has been absent from work for more than two consecutive days or on more than two occasions during an eight-week period and, on request by the employer, does not produce a medical certificate stating that the learner was unable to work for the duration of the learner’s absence on account of sickness or injury.

The medical certificate must be issued and signed by a medical practitioner or any other person who is certified to diagnose and treat patients and who is registered with a professional council established by an Act of Parliament.
If it is not reasonably practicable for a learner who lives on the employer’s premises to obtain a medical certificate, the employer may not withhold payment in terms of subclause (1) unless the employer provides reasonable assistance to the learner to obtain the certificate.

APPLICATION TO OCCUPATIONAL ACCIDENTS OR DISEASES

Clauses 21 and 22 do 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 130 of 1993), or the Occupational Diseases in Mines and Works Act, 1973 (Act 78 of 1973), except in respect of any period during which no compensation is payable in terms of those Acts.