Does annual leave accrue during maternity leave in South Africa? It is one of those HR questions that sounds as though it should have a simple answer. Then someone asks what happens if maternity leave is unpaid, a public holiday falls during the leave, or the employee becomes ill, and suddenly it is not quite as simple.
For South African employers, the best place to start is by understanding that maternity leave, annual leave and sick leave are different types of leave under the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA). They do not automatically replace one another simply because they happen at the same time.
Here is how it works in practice.
Does annual leave accrue during maternity leave in South Africa?
An employee is entitled to at least four consecutive months of maternity leave under the BCEA. The Act does not require an employer to pay an employee during maternity leave, although many employers offer fully or partially paid maternity leave as an additional benefit. Eligible employees may also claim maternity benefits through the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF).
Annual leave is a separate entitlement.
Under the BCEA, an employee is entitled to at least 21 consecutive days of annual leave on full remuneration during each 12-month annual leave cycle. For an employee working a five-day week, this generally works out to 15 working days.
Going on maternity leave does not end the employment relationship or automatically start a new annual leave cycle.
So, does annual leave continue accumulating during those four months?
This is where employers need to check how annual leave is calculated in the employment contract and company leave policy.
The BCEA allows for more than one way of calculating annual leave. The standard entitlement is 21 consecutive days for every annual leave cycle. However, by agreement, leave can also be calculated as one day for every 17 days worked or was entitled to be paid, or one hour for every 17 hours worked or entitled to be paid.
That distinction becomes particularly relevant when maternity leave is unpaid.
Rather than applying a blanket rule, employers can check the leave calculation method used in their contracts and policies to ensure it complies with the BCEA.
Most importantly, employees should know how their annual leave will be treated before they start maternity leave. It is much easier to have that conversation beforehand than to resolve an unexpected leave balance several months later.
Can an employer make an employee use annual leave during maternity leave?
No. An employer cannot decide to deduct four months of maternity leave from an employee's annual leave balance.
Maternity leave and annual leave are separate leave entitlements.
There is, however, an important distinction around who decides when annual leave is taken.
Under the BCEA, the timing of annual leave is normally agreed between the employer and employee. If they cannot agree, the employer may determine when the employee takes annual leave. This means a company policy or employment contract can give the employer a degree of control over when annual leave is taken.
Unpaid leave is different.
If an employee is taking unpaid leave, she can make a written request to use accrued annual leave during that period. The BCEA says the employer must permit it.
This can be useful during unpaid maternity leave.
For example, an employee may have accumulated two weeks of annual leave before starting maternity leave. She may decide that she would like to use those two weeks during the otherwise unpaid period so that she receives normal remuneration for that time.
The employer cannot automatically make that decision for her. Equally, the employer's normal discretion over the timing of annual leave does not remove the employee's right to make the written request provided for in the BCEA.
It is a useful distinction to include in an employment contract or maternity leave policy because it avoids uncertainty for both parties.
What happens if you get sick while on maternity leave?
Another question employers frequently encounter is whether an employee can switch from maternity leave to sick leave if she becomes ill.
Imagine an employee is halfway through her four-month maternity leave and becomes ill for a week. Can she pause maternity leave, take a week of paid sick leave and then continue with maternity leave afterwards?
Generally, no.
The BCEA provides for four consecutive months of maternity leave. If an employee becomes ill while she is already on maternity leave, those days would not ordinarily be converted into paid sick leave.
The reasoning is fairly straightforward. Sick leave applies when an employee cannot work because she is ill or injured. During maternity leave, she is already legitimately away from work.
The situation can change if she is still medically unable to work when her maternity leave comes to an end.
At that point, normal sick leave provisions may apply, depending on her available sick leave entitlement and the usual requirements around medical certificates.
Pregnancy, childbirth and postnatal complications can, of course, create circumstances that do not fit neatly into a standard leave scenario. Employers dealing with a more complex medical situation would be wise to consider the individual circumstances and obtain labour law advice where necessary.
Do you get paid for public holidays during unpaid maternity leave in South Africa?
This is the less obvious part of maternity leave administration.
Suppose an employee takes four months of unpaid maternity leave and a public holiday falls during that period.
Is the public holiday unpaid too?
Not necessarily.
Under section 18 of the BCEA, if a public holiday falls on a day on which an employee would ordinarily work, the employee is generally entitled to the wage she would ordinarily have received for that day.
The legislation does not specifically exclude an employee because she happens to be on maternity leave.
This means an employee on unpaid maternity leave may still be entitled to payment for a public holiday that falls on a day she would ordinarily have worked.
Take an employee who normally works Monday to Friday. She is on unpaid maternity leave and a public holiday falls on a Wednesday. The employer should not automatically assume that the Wednesday is unpaid simply because the employee's maternity leave is unpaid.
It is a small payroll detail that can easily be overlooked when an entire maternity leave period has been loaded as unpaid leave.
What if a public holiday falls during annual leave?
There is a similar rule when someone is taking annual leave.
If a public holiday falls during annual leave on a day the employee would ordinarily have worked, it should not simply be counted as one of her annual leave days.
The public holiday and annual leave are treated separately.
This is particularly useful to know if an employee chooses to use some of her accumulated annual leave during an otherwise unpaid maternity leave period.
Let's look at an example in practice
Sarah works Monday to Friday and is preparing to take four months of maternity leave.
Her employer does not offer paid maternity leave, so the four months will generally be unpaid by the employer. Sarah may qualify for maternity benefits through UIF.
Before she leaves, Sarah has ten days of accrued annual leave.
She could choose to keep those days for later. Alternatively, she could submit a written request to use some or all of them during her unpaid maternity leave, giving her a period of normal remuneration.
If Sarah becomes ill during maternity leave, she would not ordinarily pause her maternity leave and replace those days with paid sick leave.
If a public holiday falls on a normal working day during her unpaid maternity leave, her employer needs to consider the BCEA's public holiday provisions rather than automatically treating the day as unpaid.
And when Sarah returns to work, her annual leave balance will depend on the leave calculation applicable to her employment and whether she chose to use any annual leave while she was away.
Breaking it down this way makes the different leave entitlements much easier to understand.
Is paid maternity leave compulsory in South Africa?
Employers often ask this too.
The BCEA provides the right to maternity leave, but it does not require an employer to pay the employee her normal salary during that period.
An employment contract, company policy or collective agreement may, however, provide more favourable maternity benefits.
Some employers offer fully paid maternity leave. Others offer a period of full pay followed by partial pay, or another form of maternity benefit that works alongside UIF.
There is good reason for employers to consider what they can sustainably offer.
RecruitMyMom's Working Women in South Africa Report 2025 found that paid maternity leave becomes more appealing as an employee benefit during the typical child-rearing years. The research also found that 85% of women surveyed have dependants, while 41% are sole household income earners.
For many employees, therefore, the financial implications of maternity leave are significant.
An employer does not need to fund four months of fully paid maternity leave to offer a valuable benefit. Even a contribution towards paid maternity leave can form part of an attractive employee benefits package.
A clear maternity leave policy makes life easier for everyone
Maternity leave is much easier to manage when both the employer and employee know what to expect before the leave begins.
A good maternity leave policy can answer the practical questions employees are likely to have:
How long is maternity leave? Is any portion paid by the employer? What happens to annual leave? How are public holidays handled? What happens to medical aid and retirement fund contributions? Can annual leave be used during the unpaid period? What happens if the employee cannot return to work for medical reasons on the expected date?
These conversations also give the employer time to plan for the employee's absence.
Planning maternity cover before the employee leaves
Four months can be a long time for colleagues to absorb someone else's workload, particularly in a small business or a specialist role.
Depending on the position, employers may choose to redistribute some responsibilities internally or bring in a skilled professional on a fixed-term basis to provide maternity cover.
RecruitMyMom works with employers to provide flexible talent solutions, including skilled professionals for fixed-term and maternity cover roles, alongside permanent, independent contract, fractional and other flexible hiring options.
Ideally, maternity cover is arranged early enough for a proper handover before the employee leaves and, where possible, another handover when she returns.
The result is better continuity for the business and a maternity leave period in which the employee can genuinely step away from her role.
For employers, that is really the goal: clear policies, accurate leave administration, good workforce planning and an employee who knows exactly where she stands before her maternity leave begins.
Disclaimer: This article provides general information about South African employment law and does not constitute legal advice. Employment contracts, collective agreements, bargaining council agreements and company policies may provide more favourable or sector specific terms. Employers dealing with unusual circumstances or employment disputes should obtain appropriate labour law advice.
