South Africa’s parental-leave laws have recently changed following an interim Constitutional Court ruling. This ruling replaces the previous maternity, parental, and adoption leave framework with a single set of rules for parental leave.
At LeavePro, we want to keep things intuitive for your staff. That’s why we’ll continue to show Maternity, Parental and Adoption leave as separate options. For example, most expectant moms would still look for “Maternity Leave” when applying for leave.
Behind the scenes, however, all three leave types have now been updated in LeavePro to reflect the new rules.
How the New Parental Leave Entitlements Work
1. Single parent, or only one employed parent
The employee may take up to 4 months of unpaid leave.
2. When both parents are employed
- They share a total of 4 months and 10 days of unpaid leave.
- They need to agree on how to divide this time between them.
- If they can’t agree, the leave should be split as equally as possible.
And note that they don’t have to be employed at the same company, as we’ve seen some confusion over this.
The leave remains unpaid, although employees may qualify for UIF benefits.
Important Note
We’re not lawyers, so this is a general summary of the Constitutional Court ruling and shouldn’t be taken as legal advice.
Please confirm your company’s specific policy with your labour advisor or HR consultant.
Recommended Next Steps in LeavePro
We recommend reviewing and updating the policies shown to employees when they apply for leave.
In LeavePro, you can update these under Administration -> Leave Types and then select:
- Maternity leave
- Parental leave
- Adoption leave
Make sure that the wording you show to employees matches your internal policies and any guidance from your labour advisor.
Need Support With LeavePro?
If you’re a LeavePro customer and need help updating your leave settings or policies within the system, our support team is happy to assist.