Stellenbosch University (SU) staff members are kindly requested to take note of the following decision taken by the Institutional Committee for Business Continuity (ICBC).

SU's current policy for leave stipulates that the leave of the current year (e.g. 2020) must be taken within twelve months after the end of the leave cycle (e.g. 31 December 2021). There are, however, currently employees that have not utilised all their leave for 2019.

The reason for this is, among others, that many academics are unable to take leave due to the revised academic year (due to the COVID-19 outbreak) that does not allow for long breaks. A large number of projects are also currently being delayed due to the COVID-19 restrictions. These include employees working on the SUNFin and SUNStudent projects who will not be able to take huge amounts of leave before 31 December 2020.

The ICBC acknowledges the fact that employees must, for the sake of their own wellbeing, take leave during the 2020 year. Line managers are also requested to manage and encourage staff members to take leave in order to get essential rest and recuperation.

A decision was made that grants a blanket approval for all 2019 leave not taken by the end of 2020 to be carried over till July 2021. However, any 2019 leave not taken by this cut-off date will be forfeited.

Any 2019 leave not taken before the end of 2020 that is carried over to 2021, will, however, not be paid out, should the staff member resign from SU employment.