The Constitutional Court has given male and female parents equal right to parental leave in a groundbreaking decision.
Parents in South Africa have been granted a total of four months and 10 days of parental leave, regardless of their gender. The development emerged from the case of Van Wyk and Others v Minister of Employment and Labour, with the decision handed down on 3 October in the South African Constitutional Court.
The case began when Werner van Wyk applied to take parental leave to look after his son while his wife took care of her business. However, his request was denied by his employer, which stated that leave policy applied only to mothers.
The case was taken to the High Court of South Africa, Gauteng Division, after which it was taken to the Constitutional Court, which confirmed the High Court ruling that the applicability of leave to mothers alone was invalid relating to the provisions under the Basic Conditions of Employment Act. The invalidity has been suspended for 36 months while parliament draws up remedial legislation.
Under the new universal leave policy, all parents, regardless of gender, birthing or adoptive status are entitled to four months and 10 days of parental leave between the couple.
If both parents are employed, they must decide how to divide the leave, and if a decision cannot be reached, the leave will be split as evenly as possible. Single parents may take the entire leave for themselves, and parents undergoing adoption or surrogacy may...
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