South Africa’s Minister of Employment and Labour announced two draft bills to reform labour legislation, which include restructuring parental leave, doubling severance pay, and capping unfair dismissal compensation.
These Bills are the Draft Employment Laws Amendment Bill, 2025 (ELA Bill) and the Draft Labour Relations Amendment Bill, 2025 (LRA Bill).
These bills amend five key employment-related statutes, including the Basic Conditions of Employment Act and the Labour Relations Act.
They address various aspects of the employment relationship, including work arrangements, retrenchment costs, and employee qualifications.
The first public comment period ended on 28 March 2026, with further opportunities for public input expected as the bills are formally introduced to Parliament.
Legal experts at Webber Wentzel said the amendments related to parental leave are “the most immediate and with widespread operational impact.”
“The Constitutional Court ruled that the existing maternity and parental leave provisions in the BCEA unconstitutionally discriminate between different classes of parents on the basis of the length of leave available,” said Webber Wentzel.
“Parliament was given 36 months to remedy the defects, and the ELA Bill is the legislature’s response.”
Parents can now split parental leave, allowing both parents to take a combined leave of over four months, depending on their individual circumstances.
Under the new legislation, a single employed parent is entitled to four months of parental leave. In contrast, two employed parents can share a total of four months and ten days of leave.
These additional ten days are subject to mutual agreement between the parents or can be equally shared in the absence of an agreement, with priority given to the parent who gave birth.
The scope of parental leave has also been expanded to include the adoption of children up to six years old, whereas it previously only applied to children under two.
Additionally, commissioning parents in surrogate arrangements are now covered under this legislation.
The department stated that these changes promote greater gender equality, acknowledge diverse family structures, and provide increased flexibility for families.
Big changes for work hours
New section 9B of the BCEA (Basic Conditions of Employment Act) provides protections for workers on “on-call,” zero-hours, or min-max contracts.
These employees, often working in sectors such as retail, security, or hospitality, can be vulnerable to irregular hours, lack of guaranteed income, and last-minute cancellations.
The amendments require employers to clearly outline in writing the guaranteed hours, maximum hours, availability periods, and reasonable notice periods for reporting to work or cancelling shifts.
If an employer cancels work without providing proper notice, the employee must be compensated for those hours.
The notice period must consider the nature of the business, the employer’s control over work availability, and the potential impact on the employee’s life.
Additionally, employees are protected from being unfairly restricted from seeking work elsewhere unless there are legitimate operational reasons, such as protecting confidential information.
The ELA Bill proposes to double the statutory minimum severance pay for dismissals due to operational requirements.
Currently, employees receive one week’s remuneration for each completed year of service; this will increase to two weeks’ remuneration per year of service.
This change will take effect going forward: employees will continue to earn one week of severance pay for service completed before the Bill’s commencement date, while they will receive two weeks of severance pay for service completed after that date.
Employers planning or anticipating retrenchments that fall across the commencement date will need to implement a dual calculation, which adds complexity and highlights the need for early planning.
Any disputes regarding entitlement to severance pay, whether arising from a statute, a collective agreement, or an employment contract, may be referred to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) for arbitration.
The LRA Bill changes dismissal laws, removing reinstatement for high earners except in cases of automatically unfair dismissal.
Compensation for ordinary unfair dismissals will be capped at 12 months’ pay, with a maximum of R1,800,000 per year, adjusted annually for inflation.
