Update on South Africa’s new paternity leave laws

President Cyril Ramaphosa signed off on the Labour Laws Amendment Act in November 2018 – introducing big changes to South Africa’s paternity leave regulations.

Under the new act, a father will receive 10 consecutive days of parental leave which they can take from the date that the child is born.

The new laws have been widely praised, and have gained significant traction among South African employees. But, uncertainty about when the regulations will officially come into effect has caused havoc at some businesses.

One BusinessTech reader said that while employees wished to apply for paternity leave, they couldn’t officially sign off on the requested dates as it was still not known whether the legislation was in effect.

Despite being earmarked for official implementation on 1 March 2019, the Department of Labour has still not introduced the new rules, reports The Sunday Times.

Speaking to the paper, a Department of Labour spokesperson said parental leave passed by parliament and signed into law by the president, but the UIF was ‘not ready with their systems ‘.

The UIF said that it was working around the clock to be systems-ready before it starts implementing the new system.

“The matter is receiving our urgent attention and we hope to start the implementation soon,” it said.

Read: South African companies may start offering ‘pawternity’ leave