Paid Vacation / Annual Leave
Annual leave is regulated by the Labour Code. Employees are entitled to a minimum of 12 working days of annual leave in a year (one day in respect of each month of continuous employment with the same employer).
If the collective agreement or employment contract provides for a longer annual leave, the worker may carry over such additional holiday from one calendar year to the next if it does not exceed 18 days.
The general rules on annual leave do not apply to employees who opt to receive a cash payment in lieu of taking only 6 days of the statutory annual leave.
An employee is entitled to full pay, i.e. the normal remuneration paid to the employee while availing the annual leave.
The leave is to be taken at such times as may be agreed between the employer and the employee. The employee can take at least six working days’ holidays in a continuous period during the calendar year the holiday is due.
If an employment contract or collective agreement grants more than the statutory minimum of 12 days of leave, the employee may carry over the additional leave to the following year, but the total carried-over leave must not exceed 18 days in total.
Public holidays, weekly rest days and days of absence from work due to an illness or accident certified by a medical officer are not counted as part of annual leave.
If employment is terminated after completion of at least three months of service, the worker is entitled to one full day of paid annual leave.
Source: §188 of the Labour Act, 2024 (Act No. 3 of 2024)
Pay on Public Holidays
The legal provisions on public holidays are contained in the Public Holidays Act. The Act enumerates 10 public holidays, which are as follows:
New Year's Day (January 1); Moshoeshoe’s Day (March 11); Heroes Day (April 4); Good Friday; Easter Monday; Ascension Day; Workers’ Day (May 1); King’s Birthday (May 2); National Independence Day (October 4); and Christmas Day (December 25).
The public holidays are paid. If a public holiday falls on a working day, the employee is entitled to a paid day off on such day.
Sources: §02 of Public Holidays Act 1995; §185(1) of the Labour Act, 2024 (Act No. 3 of 2024)
Weekly Rest Days
The provision in law on weekly rest days comes from the Labour Act, which states that an employee must have a continuous off-duty period of 24 hours per seven days.
Additionally, if the circumstances of particular employment require, an employer may, after consultation with a worker or his representative, at not less than three days’ notice, grant a different period of at least twenty-four continuous hours in that week as the period of weekly rest for the worker concerned.
There is no clear provision on daily rest periods (at the end of a working day). As for rest breaks (during working hours), no employee may be required to work continuously for more than 5 hours without being given a rest of at least one hour.
Source: §185 & 186 of the Labour Act, 2024 (Act No. 3 of 2024)
