The first of the new parental leave laws will be implemented at the end of July
President Cyril Ramaphosa signed the Labour Laws Amendment Bill into law in November 2018, but its enactment has been delayed to allow the Department of Labour to configure its systems to facilitate the new Unemployment Insurance Fund benefits. The new legislation lays the foundation for parental leave, adoption leave and commissioning parental leave for specific employees.
According to the department, the scheduled dates for system readiness are:
- Parental benefits โ 31 July 2019
- Adoption benefits โ 11 October 2019
- Commissioning parental benefits โ 20 December 2019
Once the system is ready and the legislation has been approved, the new amendments to parental leave laws will come into effect.