In South Africa, legally entitled fathers can take ten consecutive days of paternity leave within the first six weeks of their child’s life. This leave can be taken consecutively or split up into two periods of five days each. While ten days may seem like a short amount of time, it is important to remember that this leave is beside the mother’s maternity leave. New parents in South Africa are entitled to up to 16 weeks of paid leave. This is a significant amount of time to bond with a new baby. Fathers play a vital role in a child’s life and ten days of paternity leave allows them to establish a strong bond with their child from the very beginning. This leave also allows fathers to learn how to care for their children and to support their partners during this special time.
The act does not make provisions for adoptive fathers or same-sex partners. This is a problem for many fathers who want to take paternity leave but don’t meet the criteria. It’s also a problem for employers who want to offer paternity leave but don’t want to discriminate against employees who don’t meet the criteria. One way around this is to offer unpaid paternity leave. This is left that the Basic Conditions of Employment Act does not regulate and is at the discretion of the employer. Another way to offer paternity leave is to offer it as part of a family-friendly workplace policy. This is a policy that is not regulated by the Basic Conditions of Employment Act but is at the discretion of the employer. Both options have their pros and cons. Unpaid paternity leave may be a financial burden for fathers who want to take advantage of it. And family-friendly workplace policies may not be suitable for all workplaces. But they are both options that employers can consider if they want to offer paternity leave without discriminating against employees.
If you want paternity leave, it is important to give your employer a month’s notice,
If the child is born prematurely, the employee is entitled to days off without submitting the parental off notice.
