Absence

Civic Duties


Policy

The Company will allow employees, who hold specific civic
appointments, reasonable time off for the purpose of performing any
duties required by the appointment.

Employees will normally be paid for approved time off work to
perform civic duties.


Civic
Appointments


Reasonable time off is permitted for following civic appointments. In
addition other public bodies may be considered by the company.


Reasonable
time Off

Managers should grant reasonable time off to an employee, taking into
account:

The amount of time off required for the performance of Civic
duties
The amount of time off the employee has previously been
permitted to fulfill the duties of this appointment
The effect of the employees absence on their Departments
performance

If Managers are in doubt, they should discuss each case with the
respective Director and/or Human Resources Department before any
authorization is given.


Absence
Reporting

Employees should report this type of absence as Excused Absence,
stating whether paid or unpaid.
Human Resources 6.1 2004
Absence

Compassionate Leave


Policy

The Company may allow up to two days leave, at the Managements
discretion, to an employee for compassionate purposes.


Purpose


Compassionate leave is for employees who experience, for example,
serious illness or death in their immediate family.


Definition of
immediate
family

An employees immediate family is normally defined as:

spouse
children
parents/guardians


Additional
unpaid leave


Management may grant additional unpaid leave, if necessary, to
employees (see Unpaid Leave of Absence Policy).


Absence
Reporting

Employees should record this type of absence Excused Absence on the
leave application forms.


Human Resources 6.2 2004
Absence

Maternity


Policy

The company will offer support and assistance to all female
employees where possible during the pregnancy and after the birth.


Notification

Once any female employee has notified the Human Resources
Department that she is pregnant, they will inform her of her
entitlements to Statutory Maternity and contractual maternity rights.


Ante-natal care

All female employees will be entitled to paid time off during working
hours for the purpose of ante-natal care.

They must show their Manager an appointment card or some other
document confirming all appointments.


Health and
Safety

All employees must give careful consideration to health and safety of
pregnant and breast feeding women whilst at work.

If there are any concerns employees must refer the matter to the
Human Resources Department.


Maternity
Leave

Maternity leave is the period of time away from work due to
maternity. This is normally 60 calendar days with full pay. In
accordance with the Employment Act the employee will forgo the
annual leave entitlemet in the year of maternity leave.

An employee must give 21 days written notice of her intention to take
Maternity Leave.

If Maternity Leave commences unexpectedly because of the birth of
the child, then the employee must notify the Human Resources
Department of the birth as soon as is reasonably practical.


Condition of
Return to
Work

Employees are entitled to return to the same job on Terms and
Conditions of Employment no less favourable than those at the
commencement of their Maternity Leave and to any improvements of
their contractual Terms and Conditions implemented in their absence.


Delay in return

Employees can delay their return to work, for medical reasons, for a
Human Resources 6.3 2004
Absence

by employees maximum of four weeks. During this time employees will not be
entitled to receive salary.

Employees must support this absence by sending a medical certificate
to the Human Resources Department which confirms that they are
incapable of returning to work on the notified date.



Failure to
Return

If employees fail to return to work after the maximum period of
absence from the birth, they may lose their statutory right to return. It
is imperative, however, that the Company contacts the employees to
ascertain their intentions. The Company is not entitled to just assume
that employees have breached their Contract and no longer have a
right to work.

If employees simply refuse to co-operate, the Company must follow
all the normal channels prior to terminating their employment.

Human Resources 6.4 2004
Absence

Maternity Employee Benefits


Entitlements to
employee
benefits

The Human Resources Department will notify employees of the
employee benefits they are specifically entitled to during their
Maternity Leave.

Employees will continue to be covered by all benefits such as Life
Assurance, Personal Accident etc. throughout the duration of their
Maternity Leave.


Continuous
Service


On return to work employees will have continuity of service for
purposes of redundancy calculation and all other services related
benefits. This is subject to employees rejoining the Company on the
notified date of return or any subsequently agreed return date.


Annual Salary
Review

If the annual salary review falls during the period of absence,
employees will be notified of their reviewed salary at the same time as
all other employees and will receive their reviewed salary upon their
return to work.


Pension
Scheme

Employee/employer pension contributions will continue during the
maternity leave. If annual review falls during maternity leave, the
Company will make contributions based on the revised salary.

Human Resources 6.5 2004
Absence

Medical and Dental Appointments


Policy

The company may approve authorized paid absence for medical or
dental appointments and treatment where necessary.


Managers
Approval

Employees must agree any appointment times in advance with the
Manager.


Appointment
Times

Managers should encourage employees to make every effort to arrange
appointments outside normal working hours. Only if it is impractical
will Managers allow employees time off to attend appointments.

Employees must try to arrange the appointments for treatment so as to
minimize the amount of time absent from work.


Absence
Reporting

Employees should report this type of absence as Excused Absence on
their time sheets.

Human Resources 6.6 2004
Absence

Study Leave


Policy

Employees are entitled to a maximum of 10 days study leave for any
examinations that they may be sitting. The duration of the study leave
will be agreed with the director and HR Department.

This will not count against the employees annual leave entitlement.

In cases of long durations of study, the employee will be required to
take leave of absence.


Notice

Employees must give two weeks notice of their intention to take study
leave to their Managers.

Human Resources 6.7 2004
Absence

Sickness


Policy

Employees will receive full pay for any reasonable period of absence
up to a maximum of 4 weeks and 50% salary for the next 4 weeks.


Notification of
Absence

All employees unable to attend work for reasons of illness or injury,
must ensure that their Manager or the Human Resources Department
is informed as soon as is reasonably practical.


Absence of
Less than
Seven Days

The following procedure must be followed:
Employee submits a sick chit from the Doctor to the Human
Resources Department.
The Human Resources forward the sick chit to the Directors.
The Director accepts or does not accept the reasons for absence.
The Director recommends or does not recommend payment during
sick leave.
The Director returns sick chit to the Human Resources
Department.


Absence of
More than one
day

In addition to the above procedure, if the absence exceeds one
calendar day, employees must provide a medical report/sick chit
signed by their doctor.

Employees must send regular doctors reports/sick chits should the
sickness continue.


Payment
during absence

The company reserves the right to reduce or suspend payment in cases
where the employees attendance record is unsatisfactory.

An employee receives either full or reduced payments for the period of
absence dependent on the employees:-
Overall attendance record
Length of service
The nature of the incapacity causing absence

The Human Resources Department will review each case on an
individual basis.


Failure to
comply with

An employee who fails to comply with any, or all, of the Sickness
Absence Procedures, or gives false information, may not receive
Human Resources 6.8 2004
Absence

procedures

payment for the period of absence.

The Director may also invoke disciplinary action against the
employees according to the Companys Disciplinary Procedure (see
Discipline Policy under Discipline and Grievance).


Medical
Reports

The Company reserves the right to consult the employees doctor
and/or to refer the employee for examination by the Companys
Medical Advisor in order to obtain a medical report where:

The validity of information concerning an employees absence is in
doubt.
An absence appears to cause, or is likely to cause a deterioration in
an employees attendance record or performance.

The company will pay for all the costs incurred for the medical
examination.


Sickness whilst
on leave


Any days of illness suffered by employees during a period of annual
leave will still be regarded as days of holiday and deducted from
employees annual leave entitlement.

Employees who fall ill prior to their leave may be able to reclaim these
days at the discretion of the Manager. The employee should notify
their manager as soon as possible and support their request with a
doctors certificate.

Deferment of Public holidays will not be considered.


Absence
Reporting

Employees should report absence due to sickness as Sick Leave on
their time sheets.

Human Resources 6.9 2004
Absence

Unpaid Leave of Absence


Policy

In exceptional circumstances employees may be granted long term
unpaid leave of absence up to a maximum of 12 months.

Important Note
In exceptional circumstances, for example natural disasters employees
may be granted short term leave of absence of one or two days, subject
to their Directors approval.


Purpose

Unpaid leave of absence is intended for purposes such as:

Compassionate leave:
Extended family illness where the paid compassionate policy has
been exhausted.
Other leave:
Participation in sporting events for employees representing their
country.
Charitable representation for the country.


Management
Considerations

Before authorizing unpaid leave of absence, the employees Director
should give careful consideration to the:
Reason for the request
Re-distribution of workload that will be necessary within the
Department
Employees performance and attendance record.


Final Approval

The Director should then send the request for unpaid leave of absence
to the Managing Director for final approval.


Amendments
to Contract

The Human Resources Department will issue an Amendment to
Contract to the employee detailing the Terms and Conditions that will
apply during the period of absence. It will clearly state the date the
employee is to return to work.


Terms and
Conditions


Employees Terms and Conditions, whilst on unpaid leave of absence,
are as follows:

Salary not paid
Annual leave entitlement Not accrued
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Absence

Company Benefits pension- Not paid
Continuous service The period of absence counts towards
continuous Company service for purpose of redundancy
calculation and all other related benefits

* Any accrued leave entitlement remaining must be used by the
employee prior to taking unpaid leave of absence.

Pension
Contributions

Pension contributions of employee/employer are suspended during the
period of leave of absence.


Employee
benefits

Employee benefits during the period of absence are dependent on the
type of leave taken by the employee as follows:

Life assurance ceases
Personal Accident ceases
Medical Insurance Ceases

*If employees have elected to cover their family at own cost prior to
taking leave of absence, they may elect to continue such cover whilst
on leave of absence. The employee must have made the appropriate
contributions before commencing leave of absence.

If employees wish to change their cover to include spouse and/or
family, they may only do so effective from the date of their return to
work.

Human Resources 6.11 2004