Minister of Labour, Mildred Oliphant, spoke at an Imbizo in Durban on Sunday 27 August 2017. This meeting was hosted with city mayor Zandile Gumede. She addressed domestic workers on the imminent changes in labour legislation. Among others, she highlighted that if employers do not comply with labour legislation – such as the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA) or the Employment Equity Act (EEA) – they could be fined 10% of their annual turnover.
Labour Law Amendments 101
Proposed Amendments to the BCEA
1. Parental Leave
When a employee’s child is born or they adopt a child, they are entitled to at least 10 consecutive days of parental leave as opposed to the current four days of family responsibility leave. This leave begins on the day that the child is born or when the adoption order is granted.
An employee is required to notify their employer – in writing – of when they intend to start this leave. In addition, they must let their employer know when they intend to come back to work. This notification needs to happen one month before the expected date of the birth of the child or one month before the date when the adoption order is expected to go through.
2. Adoption Leave
Parents who adopt a child, who is younger than the age of 2, will both be entitled to leave after the adoption has gone through:
- One parent will be entitled to 10 consecutive weeks leave, while
- The other parent will be entitled to parental leave as mentioned in point 1.
3. Commissioning Parental Leave
With the increase in frequency of surrogate pregnancies, it has been proposed that the structure of leave be amended as follows:
- One parent be entitled to commissioning parental leave of 10 consecutive weeks, with
- The other parent being entitled to the parental leave mentioned in point one above.
To read the Labour Laws Amendment Bill, follow this link. If you would like us – at Global Business Solutions – to decode what this means for you and your business, click here to leave your name and requirements. One of our expert consultants will get back to you shortly.