As of 1 January 2020, the Basic Conditions of Employment Act 75 of 1997 (hereinafter the Act) was amended to include the employees’ right to parental leave after the birth or adoption of a child. The Act has broken this right down into three applicable sections: Parental Leave (irrespective of gender), Adoption Leave, and Commissioning Parental Leave.
Parental leave must begin after at least one month’s written notice by the employee and on the day the child is born for ten consecutive days. An adoptive parent is entitled to 10 consecutive days or ten consecutive weeks of leave in the event of adopting a child under two years old. The adoptive parental leave must begin on the day the adoption order is granted or the day the child is taken into the parent’s care, whichever comes first. A commissioning parent in terms of a surrogate motherhood agreement is also entitled to 10 consecutive days or ten consecutive weeks of commissioning parental leave from the date of the child’s birth. Regarding all three of the above instances, the parents must give the employer one month’s written notice of the date on which they intend to take their leave unless the parent is reasonably unable to do so due to exceptional circumstances.
It is noteworthy that the employer is not obliged to pay the employee in the above circumstances, but the employee may claim from the Unemployment Insurance Fund.
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