It’s “SimpLy LegaL”: where an employee is absent from work for more than 2 days in a row or more than twice in eight weeks without a medical certificate, an employer does not have to pay such an employee. An employee is required to produce a medical certificate on the third day in order for him/her to receive his/her pay for the 3 days. The Basic Conditions of Employment Act (“BCEA”) states that 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 this latter person must be registered with a professional council established by an Act of Parliament. This then means that medical ccertificates which have been issued by traditional healers are currently not valid. Accordingly, employers are under no legal obligation to accept a traditional healer’s medical certificate. Instead, an employer can choose to accept the medical certificate as part of his/her sick leave policy or where he/she is bound to do so due to a collective agreement. However, employers may soon be placed under a legal obligation to accept medical certificates from traditional healers when their employees are off duty due to illness. The Traditional Health Practitioners Act (“THPA”) has created a framework whereby medical certificates can be issued by traditional healers. As soon as the formation of the Interim Traditional Health Practitioner Council has been finalised, traditional healers who intend issuing medical certificates will have to first register with the council. Only when they are so registered will the medical certificates which they have issued be regarded as lawful and employers will be obliged to accept them as valid.
Posted on: Thu, 23 Jan 2014 21:20:01 +0000
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