2017-11-29
The Labour Laws Amendment Bill was passed in parliament today providing parental, adoption and surrogate leave.
Parental Leave: An employee who is a parent, and not entitled to maternity leave, is entitled to 10 consecutive days unpaid Parental Leave when the employee’s child is born, but the father’s name must be on the birth certificate to be able to apply for the Parental Leave.
The Paternity Leave under Family Responsibility Leave will fall away, but a father may still evoke Family Responsibility Leave after Parental Leave is taken, should, for instance, his child be sick.
Parental Leave commences on the date that the employee’s child is born. There is no minimum period of employment required before Parental Leave can be taken.
Parental Leave may only be taken once per year.
Adoption Leave and Surrogacy Leave: An employee who is an adoptive parent of a child that is less than two years old is entitled to unpaid Adoption Leave of 10 weeks. In the case of two adoptive parents, one of the employees is entitled to Adoption Leave, and the other to Parental Leave. The same provisions apply to parents-to-be via surrogacy.
Adoptive Leave commences on the date that the adoption order is granted; or the date that the child is placed in the care of the prospective parent by a court, pending the completion of a final adoption order.
The Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) will be required to pay for these new benefits. Parental leave, Adoption Leave and Surrogacy Leave will be paid by the UIF, and the Fund’s maternity benefits should increase too.
Same gender families: The Amendment Bill goes a long was to dealing with the matter of same gender parents: None of the new leave types is gender specific.
The bill will now be referred to the National Council of Provinces for approval. if passed, it goes to the president, who will sign it into law.
The bill might come into effect by June 2018.
Mark - 13:38 @ common, Industrial Relations, Human Resources | 8937 comments