Capped leave liability in the public sector stood at R16.24bn - report

Image source: Kaspars Grinvalds – 123RF.com

Standing at R16.24bn and covering 189,039 employees, the total capped leave liability represents approximately 14% of the total public service workforce.

“It is important to note that this cost continues to increase in line with cost-of-living adjustments and/or appointments into higher positions,” PSC Commissioner Anele Gxoyiya said at a media briefing in Pretoria.

Addressing media on the commission’s Quarterly Bulletin titled: The Pulse of the Public Service, Gxoyiya said the majority of employees holding capped leave are concentrated in the education and health sectors. Most of them were also closer to retirement and according to the Commissioner, that raises concern about potential future skills shortages in these critical areas if not proactively addressed.

“In relation to study leave, which is a type of special leave, data from national departments indicates that 17,733 – 20,651 employees took study leave from 2020 to 2023,” he said.

At provincial level, 21,004 – 23,265 employees took study leave from 2020 to 2023.

“In some provinces, over 70% of these employees were from the Health and Education Departments. On average, study leave days ranged from five to eight days, with national departments having the highest average at 8.5 days. KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape provinces followed with 7.4 and 6.5 days respectively,” he said.

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The Commissioner further explained that special leave is a negotiated benefit in terms of the public service employment conditions.

“Prior to the adoption of the General Public Service Sector Bargaining Council Resolution 2 of 2024, departments operated under varied special leave policies, leading to a lack of uniformity across the public service.”

Meanwhile, there was also a notable increase in sick leave usage observed in 2022, following the easing of Covid-19 restrictions and the return to full-time workplace operations.

Grievances

With regard to the number of grievances handled by the PSC, Gxoyiya said that as at 31 March 2025, the PSC registered 439 grievances, including 85 cases carried-over from the previous financial year.

“Of the 439 grievances, 338 (77%) have been concluded and 101 (23%) remained pending as at end of 31 March 2025.

“Of the 338 concluded cases, 18 (5%) was substantiated, 84 (25%) were unsubstantiated, nine (3%) were partially substantiated, 43 (13%) were internally resolved within departments following the PSC’s intervention and the remaining 184 (54%) were closed for various reasons, including those that were also pending before different sectoral bargaining councils, the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration or courts.”

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Of the 439 grievances (including 85 cases carried over from the previous financial year), 403 were for employees on salary levels 2-12 and 36 for members of the Senior Management Service (SMS).

Of the 403 grievances of employees on salaries level 2 to 12, 309 were concluded, of which 282 (91%) were concluded within 150 working days of receipt by the PSC investigator.

Of the 36 grievances of SMS members, 29 were concluded, of which 24 (83%) were concluded within 150 working days of receipt by the PSC investigator.

The Commission also expressed concern with the continued failure by some departments to conclude grievances within the timeframes prescribed in the bargained Resolution 14 of 2002 for grievances of employees on salaries level 2 to 12, and Chapter 10 of the SMS Handbook.

“The PSC will in future investigate the cause of delays in grievance conclusion by departments This will assist in determining whether or not the delays are as a result of the agreed timeframes being unrealistic, or whether it is the human resource capacity issue or whether it is because of any other reason other than these,” he said.