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 Labour Matters Davies Ndumiso Sibanda
MANY employees wrongly think doctors grant sick leave yet the law places the responsibility and right to grant sick leave on the employer.

Recently, I met a worker who was upset with his employer who had disciplined him for failure to apply for sick leave. The employee was arguing that there is no need to apply for sick leave once a doctor grants it. This interpretation of the law by the employee was wrong as the provisions of the Labour Act on sick leave are very clear. In section 14 (2) the Labour Act reads: “During any one year period service of an employee an employer shall, at the request of the employee supported by a certificate signed by a registered medical practitioner grants up to 90 days sick leave on full pay”.

The given provision clearly places the duty to request for sick leave from the employer on the employee and the employer is not obligated to entertain the request unless it is supported by a certificate confirming illness and is signed by a registered medical practitioner. I also believe a state registered nurse is also competent to grant sick leave even if the nurse is not mentioned in Section14 but is mentioned in Section 18 for the granting of maternity leave.

What it means is that the worker should request or apply for sick leave at all times and ensure that the necessary documentation supports the leave application. However, there are some National Employment Councils and employers who have agreed with employees that under certain circumstances for example, where the employee is absent for up to 3 days, there is no requirement to bring a certificate from a medical practitioner or a state registered nurse. Workers, however, have to be careful not to assume but always do what is provided for in the Labour Act as read with NEC and other internal policies and procedures on sick leave.

The employers are therefore within their legal rights to demand that after being seen by a doctor an employee has to apply for sick leave before going away. Alternatively some employers demand that the sick leave certificate be sent even if the employee is unable to come to work due to sickness. Employers however have to be reasonable and accept that at certain times employees are so sick that they have no capacity to get to work and apply for sick leave and will only be able to do so when they are better or return to work. In this age of technology, employees are encouraged to communicate even if they are unable to get to work due to illness. The communication has to go to the correct individual.

My reading of the law leaves the employer with no choice but to grant sick leave once the employee satisfies the administrative requirements of requesting for sick leave backed by supporting documents from the doctor as the Labour Act says, “. . . the employer shall . . .” The only right the employer has is to check whether the sick leave is authentic. Letters and certificates from traditional healers and other related medical people are not acceptable unless parties mutually agree to accept them at works council or NEC level.

In conclusion, workers need to apply for sick leave and provide documents that support their application as required by law as where one fails to do so without a reasonable cause it could result in dismissal.

Davies Ndumiso Sibanda can be contacted on: email: [email protected] or cell 0772 375 235.