Advice about sick leave

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Xmnsx

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Hi all,

So I've got a question regarding labour law and sick leave. I have a friend who contracted a serious blood disease which left her in hospital for 20 working days. The disease compromised her immune system, and recently she ended up in hospital having contracted pneumonia and staying in hospital for 3 days. These incidents occurred 3 months apart. Now that she's returned to work, her HR department has informed her that she can dismissed if she gets sick again. In short, are they allowed to do this?
 
Imo all your friend should have to do is to get a medical note stating the above and based on that there cannot really be any reason why your friend should be able to be dismissed. It sounds more like they don't believe that your friend is "really" sick.
 
Generally speaking you should get 30 days of sick leave per 3 year cycle - once this is depleted then annual leave will be used and after this then unpaid leave comes into effect. I would suggest your friend ensure she has documentation to back up her leave of absence from work and submit it (as it should've been done already). I do understand the companies frustration with the situation however they cannot fire you if you've met your conditions of employment in terms of the leave policy of the company and such leave is genuine.
 
Xmnsx said:
Hi all,

So I've got a question regarding labour law and sick leave. I have a friend who contracted a serious blood disease which left her in hospital for 20 working days. The disease compromised her immune system, and recently she ended up in hospital having contracted pneumonia and staying in hospital for 3 days. These incidents occurred 3 months apart. Now that she's returned to work, her HR department has informed her that she can dismissed if she gets sick again. In short, are they allowed to do this?
Click to expand...

You cannot get fired or discriminated against for having AIDS .
 
quovadis said:
Generally speaking you should get 30 days of sick leave per 3 year cycle - once this is depleted then annual leave will be used and after this then unpaid leave comes into effect. I would suggest your friend ensure she has documentation to back up her leave of absence from work and submit it (as it should've been done already). I do understand the companies frustration with the situation however they cannot fire you if you've met your conditions of employment in terms of the leave policy of the company and such leave is genuine.
Click to expand...

As I recall it, the employer can go for a dismissal based on incapacity to perform the employees duties. I don't know much about this, but I have been offered this as an option to dismiss someone in the past.

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SukkaFoo said:
As I recall it, the employer can go for a dismissal based on incapacity to perform the employees duties. I don't know much about this, but I have been offered this as an option to dismiss someone in the past.

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This is only if she accepts their offer for dismissal (constructive dismissal I think it's called). Other than that the company has to grant her sick leave/annual leave until it's unpaid leave before they can do anything AFAIK. If the employee were unable to perform their duties due to lack of experience or knowledge (or plain downright stupid) then after verbal/written warnings can they declare incapacity to perform their duties. AFAIK, a sickness doesn't count.
 
You are entitled to 30 days sick leave in a 3 year cycle. so if your friend has sick/doctor notes for when being off and in hospital the company can not do anything. After the 30 days sick leave you can still get sick but the company does not have to pay you thereafter until the next 3 year cycle kicks in.

The company would need to be very careful trying to dismiss an employee on this basis. I find it hard to believe that a company would have approached her like this unless they thought she was lying about being in hospital or thought that the doctors/hospital notes were fake.
 
AcidRaZor said:
This is only if she accepts their offer for dismissal (constructive dismissal I think it's called). Other than that the company has to grant her sick leave/annual leave until it's unpaid leave before they can do anything AFAIK. If the employee were unable to perform their duties due to lack of experience or knowledge (or plain downright stupid) then after verbal/written warnings can they declare incapacity to perform their duties. AFAIK, a sickness doesn't count.
Click to expand...

Constructive dismissal is something else. Incapacity is an option, but I would suspect only after it can be proven that your friend really can no longer perform their function, or the employer can reasonably not be expected to operate with such a high level of sick leave

http://www.labourguide.co.za/workpl...ss-of-dismissal-for-incapacity-ill-health-341

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Thanks for all the input, and lol it is in fact not AIDS but a disease called ITP. She has submitted all the relevant documentation with regards to her hospital stays and her manager has even personally called my friends doctor. I have heard of incapacity and thanks for giving me some clarity on that. I too was under the impression that annual leave and unpaid leave would need to kick in before they could speak of any sort of dismissal. According to my friend this option was not even brought up. Could she take action if she got dismissed in this situation?
 
I didn't know you could get dismissed for being too ill to work. I thought in cases like that you get declared disabled and then entitled to disability benefits. How long has your friend worked for this employer?
 
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