Section 20 of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act sets the minimum paid annual leave, how it accrues, when it must be granted and what you may not do with it, each rule cited, plus a worked example.
Under the Basic Conditions of Employment Act 75 of 1997 (BCEA) s.20(2), every employee working 24 hours or more a month gets at least 21 consecutive days' paid annual leave per 12-month leave cycle, or by agreement one day per 17 days worked (s.20(2)(b)) or one hour per 17 hours worked (s.20(2)(c)): about 15 working days a year on a five-day week. It must be granted within six months after the cycle ends (s.20(4)), is paid at normal remuneration (s.21), and cannot be cashed out except on termination (s.20(11) read with s.40).
Chapter Three of the BCEA applies to every employee except one who works less than 24 hours a month for you (s.19(1)). Leave above the statutory minimum follows your contract or policy, not the Chapter (s.19(2)). A bargaining council agreement may vary annual leave but not below two weeks (s.49(1)(c)); our bargaining council returns guide explains which councils cover whom.
An annual leave cycle is 12 months of employment with the same employer, from the start date or the end of the previous cycle (s.20(1)). It follows the start date, not the calendar year; aligning staff to January is fine by agreement if nobody loses days.
| Method | Five-day week | Six-day week |
|---|---|---|
| s.20(2)(a), the default: 21 consecutive days per cycle | 15 working days | 18 working days |
| s.20(2)(b), by agreement: 1 day per 17 days worked or entitled to be paid | about 15.4 days (261 ÷ 17) | about 18.4 days (313 ÷ 17) |
| s.20(2)(c), by agreement: 1 hour per 17 hours worked or entitled to be paid | 137.6 hours on a 45-hour week (2,340 ÷ 17) | the same 137.6 hours |
Consecutive days are calendar days, so weekends inside the block count. Accruing 1.25 days a month gives five-day staff 15 days and matches the default, but short-changes six-day staff by three days a year. Under the agreed 1-in-17 method, days "entitled to be paid" include public holidays and paid leave, so a full year yields slightly more than 15.
Strictly, under the default method the full 21 days falls due when the cycle ends, and you then have six months to grant it (s.20(4)). Letting staff take leave as it accrues is fine provided each employee ends the cycle with at least the minimum.
The Act does not say the leave lapses, but the Labour Court has treated statutory leave not taken within the six-month window as forfeited (Ludick v Rural Maintenance (Pty) Ltd, 2014). Do not rely on that: flag untaken statutory leave at month nine and put a quarterly review on your compliance calendar.
You must let an employee on unpaid leave take annual leave instead if they ask in writing (s.20(6)), and you may deduct occasional paid leave granted at the employee's request (s.20(7)). Record both in the leave register you keep with your s.31 records; our labour law compliance checklist lists the rest.
If a public holiday falls on a day the employee would ordinarily have worked during annual leave, you must grant an additional day of paid leave (s.20(8)), so do not deduct it from the balance. A Sunday holiday moves to the Monday under the Public Holidays Act 36 of 1994; the day itself is paid under s.18.
Leave pay is at least what the employee would have earned by working the leave period, at the rate in force immediately before the leave (s.21(1)), paid before the leave starts or, by agreement, on the usual pay day (s.21(2)). Section 35 gives the conversions: a wage is calculated by reference to the hours the employee ordinarily works (s.35(1)), with 45 hours a week and nine hours a day deemed unless fewer are ordinarily worked (s.35(2)); monthly is four and one-third times weekly (s.35(3)). Daily and hourly rates follow by dividing by the days and hours ordinarily worked. Where pay includes commission or fluctuates significantly, average the preceding 13 weeks (s.35(4)). The Ministerial Determination under s.35(5) lists which allowances count (current notice on labour.gov.za).
Thandi earns R20,000 a month, Monday to Friday. She started on 1 March 2025, so her first cycle runs to 28 February 2026 (s.20(1)). Her contract uses the default: 21 consecutive days, for her 15 working days.
Section 40 applies on any termination, including dismissal for misconduct, at the final rate; employees under the BCEA earnings threshold can claim unpaid leave at the CCMA (s.73A, current threshold on labour.gov.za).
Neither comes out of the annual leave balance, and s.20(5)(a) stops you forcing annual leave to be used instead.
Sick leave runs on its own 36-month cycle (s.22(1)): six weeks' normal working days per cycle, so 30 on a five-day week (s.22(2)). If an employee falls ill during annual leave, s.20(5)(a) is generally read to mean the sick days should be treated as sick leave (subject to s.23 proof) and the annual leave credited back; set this out in your leave policy rather than relying on the Act alone. Once sick leave runs out, further absence is unpaid unless the employee asks in writing to use annual leave (s.20(6)).
Three paid days per annual leave cycle for an employee with over four months' service working at least four days a week (s.27(1) and (2)): for a sick child, or the death of a spouse, life partner, parent, grandparent, child, grandchild or sibling (adoptive included). Reasonable proof may be required (s.27(5)); unused days lapse at the end of the cycle (s.27(6)). Birth moved to parental leave (s.25A) under the Labour Laws Amendment Act 10 of 2018.
At least 21 consecutive days on full pay per 12-month leave cycle (s.20(2)(a)): 15 working days on a five-day week, 18 on a six-day week. By agreement, one day per 17 days worked or one hour per 17 hours worked instead (s.20(2)(b) and (c)).
Not strictly. The full entitlement falls due at the end of the cycle and must be granted within six months after it (s.20(4)). Accruing 1.25 days a month and letting it be taken as it accrues is permitted, provided the employee gets at least the minimum.
No. Section 20(11) prohibits paying instead of granting statutory leave, except on termination, when s.40(b) and (c) require untaken and pro rata leave to be paid out. Leave above the minimum follows your contract (s.19(2)).
The employer must grant it within six months after the cycle ends (s.20(4)). The Labour Court has held that statutory leave not taken in that window may be forfeited, with a s.40 pay-out covering the current and preceding cycle only. Do not rely on that; schedule the leave.
Compliance Radar's labour law assistant answers leave questions like these with the section cited, drawing on the BCEA and your own contracts, and its policy builder turns your accrual method, cycle and shutdown rules into a signed leave policy. See how it works on the home page or contact us. More answers at /guides.
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