Certain pleasing amendments are about to be introduced to the Basic Conditions of Employment Act. These are to provide for parental, adoption and commissioning parental leave to employees.
All employees have to be registered with the Unemployment Insurance Act of 1996. The amendments refer to parental leave where certain beneficial amendments will be made for payments to employees in different circumstances.
First, an employee who is a parent of a child is entitled to at least 10 consecutive days of parental leave and may commence on the day that the employee's child is born or the day that the adoption order is granted.
An employee must notify an employer in writing the date in which the employee intends to commence parental leave and to return to work. The notification must be given at least one month before the employee’s child is expected to be born or the adoption order is expected to be granted.
An employee who is an adoptive parent of a child who is below the age of two, is entitled to adoption leave of at least 10 weeks consecutively or the parental leave referred to.
One of the adoptive parents may apply for adoption leave and the other adoptive parent may apply for parental leave of 10 days. This selection of choice must be exercised at the option of the two adoptive parents.
An employee who is a commissioning parent in a surrogate motherhood agreement is entitled to commissioning parental leave of at least 10 weeks consecutively. The employee may commence commissioning parental leave on the date the child is born as a result of a surrogate motherhood agreement.
Once again the employee must notify the employer in writing, unless the employee is unable to do so, of the date on which the employee intends to take commissioning parental leave and intends to return to work. In the case of surrogate motherhood agreement with two commissioning parents, one of the parents may apply for parental leave and the other may apply for the 10 days option.
Application for parental benefits must be made in the prescribed form at the employment office. The application must be made within six months after the date of child birth, but the commissioner may accept an application after a six month period on good cause shown.
The claims officer must investigate the application and, if necessary, request further information regarding the period the applicant was not working in order to care for the child. Obviously, payment will only be made if the UIF contributor spent the time caring for the child and was not working.
It is important to understand there will be a provision in our law, colloquially known as paternity leave. It is understood that fathers play an important role in the upbringing of their children.
* Michael Bagraim is an MP.
*** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Media.