The things you need to know before accepting unpaid leave

One common practice that many employers have adopted to mitigate loss of income arising from Covid-19 has been to send their staff on unpaid leave.

Businesses in hospitality, tours and travel, imports and exports have been hit hardest as the pandemic continues to take its toll on our economy and livelihoods.

Many of us watched in dismay as memos of staff being sent on immediate unpaid leave did the rounds on social media, causing panic. Though there is no law prohibiting an employer from changing the terms of engagement of an employee, there is a process that ought to be followed to ensure fairness and transparency.

PAID LEAVE

You are entitled to first proceed on paid leave that has accrued over time. If the business is slow and consequently daily tasks are reduced, the obvious action expected of an employer is to allow as many staff as possible to take their earned leave. This is good for both parties for various reasons — first, this leave is earned and already accrued in the budgets, it is not an additional cost.

Secondly in anticipation that when the situation changes and business picks up all employees will be back, refreshed to recoup lost income.

Finally, it reaffirms that the employer values the employee and validates the statement often made that ‘employees are our biggest asset’, otherwise your best employees may feel ill-treated and never return.

My advice to employers is to allow staff to take leave not yet earned to minimise disruptions once full services resume. If an employee resumes but resigns before all days are recouped, they should repay before they leave.

If by the time this process ends the situation has not improved and there is no option to consider pay cuts, unpaid leave may be applied.

DRASTIC ACTION

As an employee, ensure that this is communicated in writing, stating the reasons for such a drastic action.

Ensure there is clarity on how long the period should last. Any employer sending you on leave without a salary for any period exceeding a month is unfair.

They ought instead to look at instituting other measures like rotating employees on unpaid leave on one or two weeks’ basis to keep their contracts valid or declare the positions abolished and pay severance pay and allow staff to leave altogether.

Should you resign while on unpaid leave, note that you stand to lose out on service-related benefits if your position is finally declared redundant.

Seek clarification on the status of other benefits such as medical insurance, the expectation being that it should not be revoked. If you have no salary, this means your NHIF check-off will not be processed. You need to clarify your options to ensure you are not inconvenienced.