How many paternity leave days in South Africa
It is common knowledge that becoming a parent is a tremendously demanding and fulfilling experience. But this does not imply that having children is simple. Additionally, it does not imply that pausing from becoming a parent is simple. The fact of the matter is that in many nations, it is illegal for employees to take time off work to be with a new child. This applies equally to South Africa. There must be a solution to this important problem.
Paternity leave days in South Africa
In November 2018, President Cyril Ramaphosa first signed the paternity leave into law. But on January 1st, 2020, the law became operative. Despite the fact that the new legislation was warmly welcomed, many individuals do not comprehend what it means or how it will help them.
When a child is born, an adoption order is granted, or a court places a child in the care of an adoptive parent, the employee who is also the parent of the child is entitled to 10 consecutive days off.
Given that women are already protected by maternity leave under the rules of the new registration (BCEA)
Unemployment insurance fund (UIF) and and paternity leave
Such employees may receive 66% of their wages from the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF), up to the BCEA (Basic Conditions of Employment Act) earnings cap of R205,433.
When filling out the paternity leave form and specifying the start and return dates to work, an employee is required to give the employer a month’s notice.
The employee is entitled to time off when a child is born prematurely, even if they don’t have to give parental leave notice.
If it is impossible for an employee to submit a notice, they are not also required to do so. A similar circumstance would be if an employee were traveling or in a location without internet access. An employee must inform the employer if such a situation arises.
Types of paternity leave
Adoptive leave
A single adoptive parent is entitled to ten weeks off in a row. If there are two adoptive parents, only one of them is eligible for the 10 weeks, and the other one takes the 10 days off consecutively.
Employees who wish to take time off for adoption-related reasons must notify their employers in writing at least one calendar month in advance, stating the start and end dates of their vacation. If they cannot do so in a reasonable amount of time, they are not compelled to.
Surrogate parental leave
The Children’s Act defines a surrogate motherhood arrangement as the process of artificially fertilizing an adult female in order to have a child for another person. She gives the child to the parent after birth with the expectation that they will adopt him/her as their legal child. The parent who receives the kid is known as the commissioning parent.
10 weeks of uninterrupted time off are granted to the commissioning parent, who will be in charge of caring for the child.
It is important that workers are granted this opportunity to help deal with situations effectively
