Sick days down but union cries foul
161107 One of the classroom where the is no electricity at Willow Crescent high school in Eldorado Park where Du Preez is embrezzling huge amount of money.01 Picture by Matthews Baloyi 161107 One of the classroom where the is no electricity at Willow Crescent high school in Eldorado Park where Du Preez is embrezzling huge amount of money.01 Picture by Matthews Baloyi
The number of incapacity leave days – those above and beyond normal sick leave – taken by teachers and education officials has been slashed from almost 50 000 in the 2009/10 financial year to 28 195 in the 2010/11 period, figures from the Western Cape Education Department show.
But the SA Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu) in the Western Cape says there are several problems with the system, and teachers with major depression and post traumatic stress disorder are viewed as “trying to abuse the system”.
Public servants are allowed 36 days of sick leave in a three-year cycle. If more sick leave is taken during the cycle, this is regarded as incapacity leave.
Bronagh Casey, spokeswoman for Education MEC Donald Grant, said that in a large organisation like the province’s Education Department it was possible that there had been cases of abuse in the past.
“Stricter measures are now in place to isolate these cases and ensure that days are not unnecessarily lost,” she said.
A number of steps had been taken to reduce the number of days, she added. These included helping applicants to complete forms correctly, and fast-tracking applications for incapacity leave.
Applications for incapacity leave were now being finalised in a shorter period.
In cases where applications had been turned down, applicants were advised to return to school or face penalties, or they could use accumulated annual leave or leave without pay to cover their absence.
Regular meetings were held with unions to deal with any grievances, Casey said.
Sadtu provincial secretary Jonavon Rustin said the system was far from efficient and that “draconian” measures were being applied. “The policy needs to be reviewed as a matter of urgency.”
Rustin said major depression was not recognised as a debilitating condition.
“Notwithstanding an agreement between the unions and the department, money was deducted from teachers’ salaries for days that they were at home, without giving teachers the option of converting it to accumulated annual leave. They are out of touch with what’s happening.”
Casey said each case was assessed on its merits. If administration errors were made they were corrected as quickly as possible.
“The policy and procedure on incapacity leave and ill health retirement was negotiated at the public service bargaining council,” she said. “If they (Sadtu) want it reviewed, they would need to negotiate it at that level.”
ilse.fredericks@inl.co.za