No. Leave regulations, and in particular sick leave, are a transversal conditions of service which are largely determined at central level for the whole public service. This applies to both normal sick leave which provides for 36 days in a three year cycle; and incapacity leave which provides for short-term and long-term incapacity in addition to the normal sick leave.
In the case of absence due to incapacity leave, a substitute teacher is temporarily appointed. As indicated in the National Education Evaluation and Development Unit’s report referred to, days taken as sick leave by teachers are within the regulations. The only possible form of abuse, which is not only limited to teachers, is when employees deliberately plan to exhaust all the allocated normal sick leave days. All Provincial Education Departments are aware of the practice and are continuously seeking to improve the management of leave at school level to ensure that teachers comply with the regulations including submission of all necessary documentation. Other factors such as job satisfaction and improved working conditions are critical in ensuring that employees do not abuse sick leave.