The call for more days off comes after it was realized that Christmas Day would fall on a Sunday this year – meaning South African workers would only be entitled to 11 out of 12 paid public holidays. to which they are entitled under the Holidays Act 1994

Under section 2(1) of the Act, ‘where a public holiday falls on a Sunday, the following Monday shall be a public holiday’.

However, the Monday after December 25, 2022 is already a public holiday (goodwill day), which means that workers do not benefit from 12 public holidays this year as the two will fall on the same day. a day.

According to the law firm Bowmans, the declaration of a holiday was fully within the sights of the President-elect at the time by declaring it in the Gazette under Section 2A.

This raises the question of whether December 27 should be declared a public holiday, and if so, how this will affect employee pay.

Depending on how a company structures its workday, a Fedusa appeal could result in three costly days for employers in December 2022.

Impact on employee compensation

Bowmans notes that this is as important as the Conditions of Employment Act No. 9 of 1997 (BCEA). BCEA discusses how employers should pay employees who work on Sundays and public holidays

Law firm says under BCEA employers must pay employees working on Sundays urgently double pay for every hour worked – unless the employee normally works Sunday – in which case the worker receives one and a half times the wage for each hour worked.

In addition, the BCEA stipulates that an employer can only require an employee to work on a public holiday if the employee has agreed to work. When such an arrangement is made, workers are typically affected in one of two ways:

If the holiday falls on the day on which the worker is expected to work, then the worker is entitled to be paid at least twice the standard daily wage or the standard daily rate plus holiday wages, whichever is higher; or

If the worker is not normally required to work on this holiday but is required to do so, he shall be paid the standard daily wage plus wages for the time worked on the holiday.

By contrast, the law provides that employees who do not work on a holiday that falls on a day they would normally work are entitled to standard pay for that day only, with no bonus that the day is an annual leave, Bowmans said.

However, on occasions like this year, when the holiday falls on a Sunday, it can be difficult to determine an employee’s salary as required by the BCEA, such as in Randfontein Estates Limited v National Union of Miners (2008). ) 29 ILJ 998 (ALC).

According to Bowmans, in this case, Randfontein Estates agreed with its employees that Sundays should be treated as normal working days, but holidays should not be treated as such. Here, Labor Day falls on a Sunday and is observed the following Monday.

Work stops on Sundays and Mondays and the National Miners Union requires its members to be paid for Sunday and Monday holidays.

Therefore, the Labor Appeal Court held that if a public holiday falls on a Sunday and Sunday is a normal working day, the employee who does not work on that Sunday and the following Monday shall be entitled to wages. standard for both days, Bowmans said.

However, the court added that if employees worked on Sunday, Monday or both, they would be entitled to at least double the standard rate for both days, Bowmans added.

This decision of the Labor Appeal Court has set a precedent.

If December 27, 2022 is declared a public holiday, the employer will be required to pay the worker at least two working days without work (Monday and Tuesday) and three days if Sunday is considered a working day.

Compensation costs will be doubled if an employer requires employees to work those three days by December