Will I lose my job if I go to rehab in South Africa?

Often the way in is your employer’s employee assistance programme (EAP), a confidential counselling line, though you can also go to a treatment centre directly.

What is an employee assistance programme (EAP)?

EAP stands for employee assistance programme, also called employee assistance services: a voluntary support service that an employer pays for as a staff benefit, so you can talk to a counsellor for free and in confidence. Check what your own EAP covers: some include burnout, family problems, debt and grief as well as drink and drugs.

You decide whether to use it, so ask the EAP what, if anything, it reports back to your employer.

POPIA, South Africa’s data protection law, treats health information as special personal information: section 26 prohibits processing it, with exceptions set out in section 27(1) (Information Regulator, 2021).

How do EAPs handle addiction in the workplace?

How an EAP handles addiction depends on the contract your employer has with the provider, so use the first call to find out:

1. Phone or message the EAP line yourself; HR or your manager may also suggest it after a concern about your work.
2. Ask for a confidential assessment of what you use, how much, how often, and how it shows at work.
3. Find out whether they recommend a few sessions or a referral to residential treatment, and what the contract pays for.
4. Ask how they check in once you are back at work.

Your employer’s contract with the provider sets how many free sessions you get.

Can you be dismissed for going to rehab in South Africa?

Item 21(4) of the Code of Good Practice: Dismissal, published under the Labour Relations Act on 4 September 2025, names alcoholism and drug abuse as cases where “counselling and rehabilitation may be appropriate steps for an employer to consider”. If a test at work started this, see drug testing at work in South Africa.

If a disciplinary process has already started, get advice from your union or an employment lawyer. If you decide to start treatment, message us: admission can be immediate and typically happens within three days of first contact.

When work is where it shows

Work is often where it shows first: a drink or a pill to get through the morning or before a meeting, sick days after a night of drinking or using, cutting down before a deadline or a review and being back to the usual within days. If that is what is happening, tell us about it, and about what worries you at work; the first conversation is for exactly that.

If you drink every day, or take pills to sleep or calm down, do not stop suddenly on your own. Write to us with what you take and how often, before you cut down; whether you need a medical detox is decided by our medical team after an assessment.

Who pays when the EAP recommends rehab?

Ask your EAP what its contract pays for. You pay us directly for treatment, with no claims and no pre-authorisation. The fee depends on the programme and the length of stay; we give it on a free first call and send it in writing the same day. What goes into rehab prices is set out in rehab costs in Cape Town.

What is the EAP’s role in aftercare and return to work?

After rehab the EAP is “the first line of support” for an employee coming back, according to a 2024 South African study by Braaf and Roman in the International Journal of Workplace Health Management, which sets out a 10-week aftercare programme for EAPs and wellness practitioners. When you plan your return, ask HR and the EAP for regular check-ins, a written return-to-work agreement on hours and duties, and a phased return if you need one.

What you tell your employer can stay short: a written request for medical leave to HR, the certificate and, if you have one, the EAP’s referral letter. Ask the doctor what the certificate will say about the reason before you hand it in.

Does every organisation have an EAP?

Not every organisation has an EAP, and the Code of Good Practice: Dismissal does not make your position depend on one: when alcohol or drugs are the problem, it names counselling and rehabilitation as steps an employer may consider. Without an EAP you arrange medical leave through HR, and you can contact us yourself, with no referral needed.

How much sick leave do you get in South Africa?

Six weeks of normal working days in every 36-month cycle, paid. Under section 22 of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act that is 30 working days on a five-day week; in the first six months of a job it is one day for every 26 days worked. Sick leave can cover the first month of residential treatment if you have the days and your certificate supports it. Most clients stay into a second month, which can come from annual leave or leave agreed with HR; how long you stay is agreed with your counsellor.

If sick leave runs out and you are paid less than your normal wage, an employed contributor who cannot work because of illness can apply for UIF illness benefits at a labour centre.

What should you look for in an EAP provider?

Look for an EAP that can get someone into proper treatment when counselling is not enough, and bring them back to work with a plan. Check for:

• intake kept separate from the personnel file;
• a quick route from a substance use assessment to residential care;
• referral partners that treat depression, anxiety and trauma alongside the addiction;
• a written return-to-work plan and aftercare, not only the first referral.

If your EAP stops at counselling sessions, you can write to us yourself: the first conversation is free and confidential and takes 20 to 40 minutes by WhatsApp, video or phone.

What does treatment at Renewed Life Center look like for someone with a job?

At Renewed Life Center you keep your phone and laptop with you, and you can work remotely during treatment; you agree with your counsellor how much work fits around the programme. The first conversation with our team is free and confidential, and a relative can talk to us before the person has agreed to treatment.

The time away goes on the reason behind the drinking or using. If that reason is burnout, anxiety or low mood, it is treated together with the addiction through our dual diagnosis treatment; NIDA notes that “it is usually better to treat these health issues at the same time rather than separately”. Ruby Weber, our psychologist, has more than 20 years in the addictions field and leads the psychological side of that work.

We use cognitive behavioural therapy, which NICE recommends for harmful drinking and mild alcohol dependence, alongside DBT, schema therapy and family therapy. WHO and UNODC standards (2020) list cognitive behavioural therapy, dialectical behavioural therapy and family therapy among the interventions that “have proved effective” for drug use disorders. For trauma we use EMDR, which NICE and the WHO recommend for PTSD.

A doctor examines you after you arrive, and if you need a detox, our medical team runs it. In the first month you live at the centre and get steady: therapy groups run every weekday, and your own counsellor works with you one-to-one every week, 45 minutes at a time. The second month goes deeper into what the drinking or drugs were covering, and most clients stay for it. After that, the programme steps down in stages:

• if more time is agreed with your counsellor, our Recovery Integration Programme: you keep living with us but go out on your own in the afternoons;
• sober living on the same property: you work or study by day, come back in the evening and keep seeing a counsellor every week;
• an outpatient programme after you leave, if your counsellor recommends it.

Every discharge includes a written relapse-prevention plan built for your home environment. The programme is run by Nikki Edwards, our Programme Director and Clinical Manager, who is 11 years in recovery herself, and the first call is usually with John Roberts, our Senior Recovery Specialist and Operations Manager, who has 39 years in recovery.

If it is your partner’s job you are worried about, you do not need proof to write to us, and you can make the first call for them. Families can join a group by video every week and have sessions of their own with our team.

Want to talk through work and treatment? Talk to our team on WhatsApp.Want to talk through work and treatment? Call +27 79 880 0045, free and confidential.

Questions people ask about EAPs, rehab and your job

What’s the difference between an EAP and a medical aid benefit?

An EAP is a free counselling and referral service paid for by your employer. A medical aid benefit pays for treatment under your scheme’s rules and limits. With us neither is needed, because you pay us directly and there is nothing to claim or pre-authorise.

Can an employer force an employee to use the EAP?

An EAP is a voluntary service. An employer can suggest it as a first step when there is a concern about your work; if you are unsure what turning it down would mean in your case, ask your union or an employment lawyer.

What happens to my job if I go to rehab through my EAP?

Under the 2025 Code of Good Practice: Dismissal, counselling and rehabilitation are named as steps an employer may consider when alcoholism or drug abuse is the problem. What happens in your case depends on your employer; if a disciplinary process has started, get advice from your union or an employment lawyer.

What is an EAP limit?

It is the number of free counselling sessions your employer’s contract with the EAP provider allows. Ask at intake what yours is. When the counsellor says you need more than sessions, that is the point to contact our team.

What does EAP stand for?

EAP stands for employee assistance programme. In short, the EAP meaning is a confidential counselling service your employer pays for, with a set number of free sessions and a referral if you need more.

Do I have to tell my employer I am going to rehab?

You need to tell HR that you need medical leave and provide the certificate. POPIA treats health information as special personal information, and you decide what to tell colleagues. If you want more kept private than the certificate shows, put that request in writing.