All about Sick leave and Domestic Workers, Wages and Domestic Workers, Labour Laws and Domestic Workers in Zambia on Mywage Zambia
The Domestic Workers Order signed on December 30, 2010 and announced in January 2011 is meant to guarantee the protection of workers’ rights.
One of the significant features in the Act includes the right to sick leave, a right which is often denied to workers by employers.
Below are answers to frequently asked questions on Sick Leave and domestic workers.
When is a domestic worker entitled to sick leave?
A domestic employee who is unable to execute his/her duties due to illness or an accident not occasioned by the default of the domestic worker, on production of a medical certificate from a registered medical doctor or health facility designated by the employer, will be granted paid sick leave at full pay for a period not exceeding one month.
What happens if the illness continues?
Where a worker does not recover from illness or an accident after one month from the date of the illness or accident, the employer may discharge the domestic worker, whereupon the domestic worker’s entitlement to sick leave shall cease.
Is sick leave extended to when an employee’s child* falls ill?
A female domestic worker shall be granted leave of absence without loss of pay to enable the domestic worker to nurse their sick child. This is most often applied when the child has been hospitalised and, due to nature of their illness requires special attention.
But the employer may, before granting such leave, require the domestic worker to produce a certificate from a health facility as evidence that the child is sick and requires special attention.
Note: Days taken as leave to enable the domestic worker to care for her child, shall not be deducted from the accrued leave days.
“Child” means a person under fifteen years.
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