DADDY’S HOME: THE PROMOTION OF PATERNITY LEAVE AND FAMILY RESPONSIBILITIES IN THE SOUTH AFRICAN WORKPLACE

Abstract

Current labour legislation provides employees with three days’ family-responsibility leave for the care of their family. This means that fathers of new-born babies must rely on the provision of three days of family-responsibility leave, if they wish to take time off from work after the birth of a new baby. Alternatively, fathers will have to use annual leave on the birth of a baby. Paternity leave is exclusively offered to the working father as time off work immediately after the birth of his child, not only to care and bond with the new-born baby, but also to care for the mother during the post-natal stage. Most countries do not provide a separate legislative right to paternity leave. The right is generally included in parental-leave provisions, which provide fathers an exclusive period of leave. Providing maternity leave without a corresponding period of paternity leave creates an imbalance in family dynamics. The exclusion of paternity leave fuels the stigmatised notion of women as homemakers and caregivers. It leads to the perception that women are provided with maternity leave because the primary responsibility of women is to care for children, whereas men need not be afforded paternity leave because their primary responsibility is to be a “bread-winner”. Therefore, providing the right to paternity or parental leave would promote the equal treatment and opportunities between men and women in the workplace. The Constitution guarantees gender equality and fair labour practice. South Africa has made legislative efforts to provide these rights through labour law and decisions of the Labour Court. While certain aspects of these efforts have proved effective, the labour laws of South Africa fail to provide paternity leave for fathers.