Leave
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What is the breakdown of leave days permitted per staff member per year?
For a full year of employment, the following amounts and types of leave days will be permitted to an employee:
- Annual leave: 20 days
Annual leave may be used at the employee’s discretion. For annual leave that is not used within the year, a maximum of 10 days annual leave may be carried over to the following year only. For amounts from 1 -9 days that are leftover, that amount will be carried over to the following year only.
- Missions leave: 5 days
Missions leave is only to be used if an employee is absent from work due to them being on a mission. If the mission is longer than 5 days, the rest of the days will be deducted from the employee’s annual leave.
- Family responsibility leave: 3 days
Family responsibility leave is for the purpose of responding to an obligation regarding one’s family. An example of this could be a funeral of a loved one.
- Sick leave: 30 days
Sick leave runs in cycles of 36 months per cycle. In each sick leave cycle, you are entitled to an amount of paid sick leave equivalent to the number of days that you would ordinarily work during a period of six weeks. Once your paid sick leave is exhausted for the cycle, unpaid leave applies.
- Maternity (only applies to females): 4 Months
Employees that are pregnant/getting a child may be absent from work for up until 4 months for this purpose. This applies only to the employee that is pregnant/mothering the child.
- Paternity (only applies to males): 10 days
Employees that are fathering a child may take up until 10 days of leave for the purpose of receiving their child.
How does annual leave get calculated?
For every month an employee is employed at Shofar Christian Church they are entitled to 1.67 days annual leave. In order to calculate how many days of annual leave you are permitted at any point in the year, you should multiply your monthly entitlement by how many months you have been employed in that year.
i.e. if you have worked from 1 February until 30 June you will have worked 5 months, therefore you will have 1.67 days x 5 months = 8.35 days annual leave entitlement.
Am I required to use any leave during the year?
Yes, employees are highly recommended to take leave during the Christmas holidays, provided that the congregation is not a coastal congregation. Staff of coastal congregations would arrange with the pastor about their recommended leave days.
Should I take for granted that the leave entitlement indicated on a pay slip is accurate?
No, it is not necessarily correct. Often times leave could have been submitted late and not yet captured by the payroll officer. All Shofar employees are encouraged to rather enquire with the HR administrator for an accurate summary of leave entitlements. send an email to hr@shofaronline.org
Is there a general rule regarding closing and opening dates of office during the June/July and December /January period?
Yes, there is a general rule. Shofar Head office will always close on the last Friday before 25 December and will reopen on the first Monday after the first of January. This period is taken as “compulsory leave” and it is taken for granted that all Shofar offices will close during this same period. The exception to this rule is for coastal churches, whose congregation expands rather than diminishes during the Summer season. Coastal churches are requested to please inform the HR administrator as to the dates of when your congregation’s office will be closed so that necessary adjustments to staff compulsory leave can be made.
How do I submit leave?
Shofar makes use of PaySpace as a leave management system.
If you have not yet initiated an account for yourself, please email Human Resources to help get you started!
