{"id":8018,"date":"2023-11-27T14:18:15","date_gmt":"2023-11-27T12:18:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dotnewsconnect.co.za\/law\/?p=8018"},"modified":"2023-12-04T10:15:34","modified_gmt":"2023-12-04T08:15:34","slug":"the-new-law-on-parental-leave-a-simple-summary-for-employers-and-employees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dotnewsconnect.co.za\/law\/2023\/the-new-law-on-parental-leave-a-simple-summary-for-employers-and-employees\/","title":{"rendered":"The New Law on Parental Leave \u2013 A Simple Summary for Employers and Employees"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cThe crux of the case is about unequal treatment of persons. (Extract from judgment below)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The recent High Court judgment which declared unconstitutional differences between maternity, paternity, parental, adoption and surrogacy leave has received a lot of media attention, much of it focusing on the reasons for the decision – but what has actually changed on a practical level for employers and their employees?<\/p>\n

In summary, the Court has given Parliament two years to remedy those sections of two Acts \u2013 the BCEA or Basic Conditions of Employment Act and the UIF Act – that discriminate unfairly between mothers and fathers and between different sets of parents on the basis of whether a child was born of the mother, conceived by surrogacy or adopted.<\/p>\n

Employers and employees \u2013 what you need to know<\/h6>\n

The matter now goes to the Constitutional Court for confirmation of the declaration of invalidity and of the Court\u2019s interim order that \u201c\u2026all parents of whatever stripe, enjoy 4 consecutive months’ parental leave, collectively. In other words, each pair of parents of a qualifying child shall share the 4 months leave as they elect.\u201d<\/p>\n

To break that down, all<\/strong> parents (regardless of gender or category) will, subject to confirmation by the Constitutional Court<\/strong>, be entitled to at least four consecutive months\u2019 leave – what until now has been described in the BCEA as \u201cmaternity leave\u201d.<\/p>\n

To break that down simply –<\/p>\n