| (1) |
An employee who is a single parent or the only employed party in a parental relationship, such employee shall be entitled to at least four consecutive months parental leave. |
| (2) |
A birth mother who has completed at least 6 months unbroken service with the employer as a class of employee specified in Schedule 5 in respect of whom minimum wages are prescribed is entitled to be paid 33 per cent of her normal basic wage while on maternity leave. This amount must be paid by the employer weekly on the usual pay day. |
| (3) |
In the case of birth, adoption, or commissioning of a child, every employee, regardless of gender or family structure, is entitled to parental leave. |
| (4) |
If both parties to a parental relationship are employed, the parties are entitled in the aggregate to four months and ten days' parental leave. |
| (5) |
A party shall be deemed to be a party to a parental relationship if such a party has assumed parental rights and responsibilities over the child as contemplated in the Children's Act, 2005 (Act No. 38 of 2005). |
| (6) |
A birth mother retains the statutory protection against performing work for four weeks before and six weeks after the birth of the child, unless certified fit to work by a registered medical practitioner or midwife. |
| (7) |
Parental leave may be taken by the parties in such manner as they may agree, including concurrently or consecutively, or partly concurrently and partly consecutively, save that any such parental leave must be taken by the party concerned in a single sequence of consecutive days. |
| (8) |
If the parties cannot agree on the manner in which the parental leave referred to in subsection (6) is to be taken, such parental leave shall be apportioned between the parents in such a way that each parent's total parental leave is as close as possible to half of four months and ten days, provided that such leave is completed within a period of four months from the birth of the child or, where applicable, from the date referred to for adoption or commissioning parent. |
| (9) |
An employee who suffers a miscarriage during the third trimester of pregnancy or bears a stillborn child shall be entitled to six weeks' parental leave immediately following the miscarriage or stillbirth, whether or not the employee had already commenced parental leave at the time. |
| (10) |
All categories of parents - biological, adoptive, or commissioning (surrogacy) - qualify for parental leave, and no distinction shall be made based on parental role, gender, or the age of the child. |
| (11) |
Parental leave shall commence on a date agreed between the employee and employer, which may not be later than the date of birth, adoption, or placement of the child. |
| (12) |
An employee intending to take parental leave must notify the employer in writing, unless the employee is unable to do so, at least one month before the expected date of birth, adoption, or commissioning of a child. The notice must indicate— |
| (a) |
the anticipated commencement date of the leave; and |
| (b) |
the portion of leave the employee intends to take and, where applicable, the portion to be taken by the other parent. |
| (c) |
A date to return to work after the leave. |
| (13) |
If an employee is unable to notify an employer at least one month before the expected date of birth, adoption, or commissioning of a child, he must do so as soon as is reasonably practicable. |
| (14) |
Parental leave may be taken as a continuous period or, by agreement between the employer and employee, in separate periods. |
| (15) |
During parental leave, an employee is entitled to claim benefits from the Unemployment Insurance Fund. The payment of parental benefits will be determined by the Minister, subject to the provisions of the Unemployment Insurance Act, 2001 (Act No. 63 of 2001). |
| (16) |
An employer may not refuse, obstruct, or penalise an employee for taking or sharing parental leave in accordance with this clause 23. |
| (17) |
For the purposes of this clause, the term "parental leave" replaces and consolidates all previous references in this Agreement to maternity, paternity or adoption leave. |
| (18) |
An employer may not require or permit an employee to work during paternity leave. |
| (19) |
An employee who returns to work after a period of parental leave is entitled to resume work in the same capacity and on the same terms and conditions that applied immediately prior to taking such leave if the employee— |
| (a) |
returns to work within six months of the commencement of parental leave; or |
| (b) |
in the case of a birth mother, furnishes a medical certificate confirming the need for a further period of absence. |
[Clause 23 substituted by Notice No. R. 7319, GG64424, dated 30 March 2026]
Superior Courts Act, 2013
