8 min read
BCEA Leave Calculations Explained: A Complete Guide for HR
Understand annual, sick, family responsibility and parental leave calculations under BCEA, and how SRWS keeps every entitlement accurate.
What the BCEA expects from employers
Section 20 of the BCEA governs leave entitlements for South African employees, specifying accruals, carry-over limits and payout rules. Failure to comply can lead to Department of Labour penalties and employee grievances.
HR teams need a system that calculates leave automatically, tracks approval decisions and stores evidence for audits. That is exactly why TriSentry’s leave module exists.
Automating annual leave accruals
Set up annual leave cycles based on start dates or calendar year, and TriSentry will automatically credit 1.25 days per month worked (15 days per year) or a bespoke company policy. Pro-rata rules ensure new starters accrue correctly from day one.
Carry-over limits, expiry warnings and payout calculations on termination are managed centrally, with full audit trails for every adjustment.
Handling sick and family responsibility leave
The BCEA allows 30 days sick leave per three-year cycle for full-time employees. TriSentry tracks cycles, captures medical certificates, and routes approvals to the right manager automatically.
Family responsibility leave (three days per year) is recorded separately, giving HR visibility into usage patterns and ensuring entitlement resets annually.
- Attach supporting documents (medical certificates, affidavits)
- Real-time balance visibility for employees and managers
- Automatic notifications when entitlement is exhausted
- Audit-ready history for Department of Labour inspections
Parental and special leave scenarios
TriSentry supports parental, maternity, adoption and commissioning parental leave, each with BCEA-aligned day counts. HR can configure company-specific policies, such as additional study leave or wellness days, in the same workflow.
Approval hierarchies, substitute allocation and team calendar views ensure operational continuity while employees are away.
Integrating leave with payroll and attendance
Approved leave flows directly into attendance and payroll data, preventing overpayments and eliminating manual reconciliations. HR can export consolidated leave reports by department for leadership reviews or CCMA cases.
By centralising leave and attendance in one platform, startups gain enterprise-grade governance without building a large HR operations team.
Key takeaway
Leave accuracy is non-negotiable. Speak to the SRWS founding team to see how TriSentry’s BCEA-aligned workflows keep employees informed and HR protected.
