Family Responsibility Leave Explained

👪 What is family responsibility leave?

Family responsibility leave is paid time off granted when an employee experiences a family-related emergency or major life event. It’s a legal requirement under South African labour law (BCEA).

AskMandla helps you apply this correctly and fairly without affecting other leave balances.

🧍‍♀️ Who qualifies?

Your domestic worker is entitled to family responsibility leave if they:

Have worked for you for more than 4 months, and
Work at least 4 days a week

📌 If your employee works fewer than 4 days/week, this leave type does not apply.

📅 How much leave is allowed?

5 days per 12-month cycle
These 5 days are paid and do not carry over to the next year.

Domestic Workers are entitled to 5 Days Family responsibility leave. However if you are not a domestic worker you are entitled to 3 Days as per the Basic Conditions of Employment Act.

🍼 When can it be used?

Family responsibility leave applies in the following cases:

Situation	Paid?	Proof Needed?
Birth of employee’s child	✅	Yes (birth certificate or notification)
Illness of employee’s child	✅	Yes (doctor’s note or explanation)
Death of spouse, partner, parent, grandparent	✅	Yes (death certificate or funeral letter)
Death of child, adopted child, sibling, grandchild	✅	Yes (same as above)

💡 If unsure whether it qualifies, AskMandla will guide you based on the reason given.

📲 How it’s tracked in AskMandla

When your employee takes family responsibility leave, you’ll log it via this form:

Select “Family Responsibility Leave”
Enter the dates and reason
Upload a supporting document (optional but advised)

We’ll:

Deduct the days from the available balance
Update the payslip
Store the record for future reference

📄 Everything stays transparent and compliant.

🧾 What if the days are used up?

If the full 5 days have been used:

Additional time off will be marked as unpaid leave, unless you agree to grant paid time off voluntarily

❗Important Notes

You are not allowed to deduct family responsibility leave from sick or annual leave.
The employee does not need to work a full year to qualify, just 4 months and 4 days/week.
You may request proof, but should not unreasonably refuse paid leave.

✅ Summary: What employers need to know

Rule	Applies?
5 paid days per year (non-carry over)	✔️
For serious family matters only	✔️
Only if employee works 4+ days/week	✔️
Proof may be requested	✔️
Log it via AskMandla	✔️