Employers might profit from a genderinclusive approach
ACCORDING to the Labour Laws Amendment Act, fathers in South Africa are entitled to 10 days of parental leave following the birth of the employee’s child.
For four months, mothers are eligible for unpaid maternity leave.
The validity of this act has been questioned, though.
Werner and Ika van Wyk contend that the Basic Conditions of Employment Act should be declared illegal because it unfairly discriminates against fathers of newborn children in a recent case filed in the high court.
This is accomplished by unfairly limiting their ability to take paternity leave in South Africa.
Local legislation must be used to support various parental options, according to Carmen Arico, Chartered reward specialist and spokesperson for the South African Reward Association.
This can be giving fathers extra time off or allowing parents to pick how parental leave is divided in a way that best suits their needs.
Laws and regulations must change to reflect the times
“If you look at other nations, especially in Scandinavia, there has been a shift away from categorising it as either ‘maternity’ or ‘paternity’, and toward an approach of ‘parental leave’, which can be shared by parents.”
This recognises the evolution of traditional family structures to incorporate same-sex couples, single parents, and co-parenting families today.
Employers, in Arico’s view, need to be flexible in order to adapt to shifting social norms and conditions.
“In the 1970s, fewer than half of women of working age were employed, and men frequently didn’t spend a lot of time with their families. But things have changed. Men spend meaningful time with their children around seven times more frequently now than they did in the past.”
While many local firms still don’t seem particularly ready to formalise a flexible parental leave approach for a variety of situations, Arico notes that she feels lockdown has started to affect the perception of many businesses.
“Employees now have a lot more freedom, and maybe this trend will also apply to parental leave.”
Long-term value is added by happy workers
Arico says a company’s Employee Value Proposition may benefit from flexible parental leave.
“It should be seen for what it is: an engagement driver, rather than a disadvantage where you now have to give more time off to male employees, for example.
“Employers might consider providing flexible parental leave plans to staff members in light of recent legal findings. It creates an environment where employees want to return after taking parental leave.”
Arico emphasises once more how advanced South Africa’s Constitution is in outlawing discrimination.
“We set an example,” she says.