According to the Labour Laws Amendment Act, fathers in South Africa are entitled to 10 days of parental leave following the birth of the employee’s child.
For four months, mothers are eligible for unpaid maternity leave.
The validity of this act has been questioned, though.
Werner and Ika van Wyk contend that the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA) should be declared illegal because it unfairly discriminates against fathers of newborn children in a recent case* that was filed in the high court.
This is accomplished by unfairly limiting their ability to take paternity leave in South Africa.
Local legislation must be used to support various parental options, according to Carmen Arico, Chartered Reward Specialist and spokesman for the South African Reward Association (SARA). This can be giving fathers extra time off or allowing parents to pick how parental leave is divided in a way that best suits their unique needs.
Laws and regulations must change to reflect the times
“If you look at other nations, especially those in Scandinavia, there has been a shift away from categorising it as either “maternity” or “paternity,” and toward an approach of “parental leave,” which can be shared by parents.
This recognises the evolution of traditional family structures to incorporate same-sex couples, single parents, and co-parenting families today.
Employers, in her view, need to be flexible in order to adapt to shifting social norms and conditions.
“In the 1970s, fewer than half of women of working age were employed, and males frequently didn’t spend a lot of time with their families. But things have changed.
“Men spend meaningful time with their children around seven times more frequently now than they did in the past.”
While many local firms still don’t seem particularly ready to formalise a flexible parental leave approach for a variety of situations, Arico notes that she does feel lockdown has started to affect the perception of many businesses.
“Employees now have a lot more freedom, and maybe this trend will also apply to parental leave.”
Long-term value is added by happy workers
Arico adds that a company’s Employee Value Proposition (EVP) may benefit from flexible parental leave.
“It should be seen for what it is: an engagement driver, rather than a disadvantage where you now have to give more time off to male employees, for example.
“Employers might consider providing flexible parental leave plans to staff members in light of recent legal findings.
“It creates an environment where employees want to return after taking parental leave.
Arico emphasises once more how advanced South Africa’s constitution is in comparison to others.
“We set an example for others when it comes to making sure that there is no discrimination based on gender, sexual orientation, or any other issue.
“In order to reflect the varied familial structures and parental roles, I do think that the Labour Laws Amendment Act must follow suit in the parental leave sector.”
We’ll get a lot closer to being the progressive nation we want to be if we can also shift the way we think about “maternity vs paternity” and adopt a parental perspective.
