Understanding Your Leave

We’re only human. We get burnt out if we work too hard, we get sick, and sometimes we just need some time away from the grinder to get our heads straight. However, leave is often misunderstood and abused, to the point of reckless abandon.

Eventually all of us will be replaced by machines.  They don’t get tired, they don’t complain and they don’t watch YouTube videos when they’re supposed to be working. Instead of bathroom breaks every hour, these guys will only need their oil changed every six months. Another huge benefit our automated mechanical friends have is they don’t have to take leave.

We’ve already discussed how excessive absenteeism will destroy your career , so let’s take a look at the types of leave available to you and which terms and conditions apply to each form of leave.

Annual Leave

Annual leave is arguably better than life itself. Essentially Annual Leave is granted to an employee every year, for whatever reason the employee wishes. If you’re keen on camping, go camp. If you’re into travelling, take a trip. If you like caravans, nobody’s judging you. You get 15 working days of leave per annum. Of course, you need to apply for annual leave four weeks in advance and you can’t apply for annual leave after taking the leave of absence from work. You have to take all 15 days in a leave cycle. Remember that a company can decline requested leave based on operational reasons.

Sick Leave

Sick Leave is the most abused leave there is. Sick leave is often mistaken for “not in the mood leave”, “hung over leave” or “I’ll do it tomorrow leave”. People get sick, and sick leave is meant for you to see a doctor and recover from your illness. It means that you are too ill to perform your job. The next time you sneeze, think about it before taking sick leave – you might value that future promotion over a day off. For the first six months of employment, you are entitled to one day’s sick leave every month. After that, you are entitled to 30 days of sick leave per “sick leave cycle”, which is 36 months’ continued employment with the company. You can’t just stay off without letting anyone know! Contact your Managers and Agency if you need to take sick leave. If you are sick on a Monday or a Friday, or more than two days in a row, you’ll need a medical certificate from a Doctor. Now, for the aspiring fraudsters out there, don’t even think about it. Every certificate is verified! It’s not that we don’t trust you, but some people really take advantage of the benefit of sick leave.

Family Responsibility Leave

Family Responsibility Leave is for when your family needs you. This could be due to a death in the family (but only immediate family such as a partner, child, parent and the like, and no, your cousin five times removed does not qualify as immediate family) or the birth or illness of your child. You qualify for four days of family responsibility leave every year, as long as you’ve been employed for at least four months. This leave cannot be accumulated, and you will need to provide documentary proof such as a valid death certificate or birth certificate we don’t like having to request these documents, especially at difficult times, but unfortunately we have to comply with the rules.

So there you go! That’s most of what you need to know about the days you will need for rest, family responsibility and illness.  For more information, refer to the leave section of your employment contract or ask APMC for additional resources.

Good luck until the robots take over all of our jobs.