The Wages Regulations: Vacation and Sick Leave

Welcome back to our series on the Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Protection of Employment Act,
2003, and the Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Statutory Rules and Orders 2024, otherwise referred to
as the Wages Regulation, 2024. Last week we looked at the three areas that are common in all of the
Orders, i.e. Maternity leave, Paternity leave and Compassionate leave. We also touched on overtime pay for businesses that fall under the Shop Assistants Order. We gave examples of businesses that are governed by the Shop Assistants Order and explained how to determine the overtime hourly rate of a monthly paid shop assistant. We established that employees employed in these types of businesses are referred to as shop assistant.

It is important to mention that an area of contention is usually when an Order states for example $1200 per month or $7.00 per hour. This simply means that if the employee is on a monthly payroll the minimum wage should be $1200 per month. If the employee is on a fortnightly or weekly payroll, the minimum wage should be $7.00 per hour.

Vacation. The Order of Shop Assistants stipulates that a shop assistant shall be eligible for paid fourteen vacation days per year after completing one year of service and fourteen paid vacation days during the second year of service. From year three to year five, a shop assistant shall be eligible for eighteen paid vacation days each year and from the sixth year onward, twenty-one paid vacation days. The Order also stipulates that if the services of a shop assistant is terminated during the second year or during any year after the second year, the employer must pay the shop assistant for any accrued vacation owed to the employee at the period of termination. It must be noted that there are organizations that grant vacation leave to employees in excess of the stipulated vacation entitlement under the Order. The Order provides the minimum limit.

Sick Leave. The Order of Shop Assistants outlines that after completing six months of service with an employer, a shop assistant shall be entitled to seven calendar days (that is inclusive of Sunday and public holiday) paid sick leave. One year to five years, a shop assistant shall be entitled to fourteen calendar days’ sick leave with pay and six years and beyond, twenty-one calendar days’ sick leave with pay. A shop assistant’s annual sick leave entitlement is inclusive of certified and uncertified sick days. Certified sick leave is leave given to the employee by a doctor that is documented on a sick certificate. Uncertified sick days are days reported by the employee without presenting a doctor’s certificate. In tracking an employee’s sick leave entitlement, the employer must record both certified and uncertified days to determine when the employee has utilized the annual paid entitlement.

The Order also stipulates that where a shop assistant under the care of a qualified medical practitioner is required to undergo surgical care or therapeutic care or is otherwise confined for medical purpose, the shop assistant shall be entitled to up to thirty days sick leave with pay. Where a shop assistant is absent from work due to illness, the shop assistant must present to the employer a sick certificate by the third day of absence. Failure to do this will be considered abandonment of the job.

Simply put, once the employee is qualified for sick leave under this Order, the employee is entitled to certified or uncertified sick leave with pay in accordance with the length of employment.

If you believe that your rights as an employee are being infringed, raise it with your employer. If your concerns are being ignored, find a responsible citizen to sound an alarm on your behalf.

Join us again next week as we explore the Wages Regulation (Security Officers/Guards) Order 2024.