Understand how paid sick leave accrues for South African workers, including cycle lengths, annual entitlements, and calculations for different work schedules.

How many days paid sick leave does an employee get per year?

Annual leave – as the name suggests – accrues on a yearly basis. But what about sick leave?

Sick leave works differently. It accrues in three-year cycles.

During every three-year cycle and employee is entitled to an amount of paid sick leave that is equal to the number of days that the employee would normally work during a period of six weeks.

Therefore, an employee who works five days per week is entitled to 30 days paid sick leave per three-year cycle.

Using the same calculation, an employee who works six days per week is entitled to 36 days paid sick leave per three-year cycle.

But when can this leave be taken? Is the employee entitled to all their sick leave from the very first day of employment?

During the first six months of employment, the employee is only entitled to one day’s paid sick leave per 26 days worked.

After the first six months, the employee is entitled to all the sick leave for the sick leave cycle, less the sick leave already taken during the first six months.

Once sick leave for a three-year cycle has been exhausted, the employee only becomes entitled to sick leave at the start of the next three-year cycle.

The relevant sections of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, can be found at https://labourwise.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Extract-from-the-Basic-Conditions-of-Employment-Act-of-1997.pdf.

For further assistance, contact us at https://labourwise.co.za/contact-us