Johnathan Paoli
The Public Servants Association (PSA), representing more than 240 000 public-sector employees, has welcomed the recent judgement by the Constitutional Court, which grants both parents the right to maternity leave, including leave for children born through surrogacy or adoption.
The Court found that the provisions of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA) regarding parental leave violated sections 9 and 10 of the Constitution.
That the policy choices evident in the BCEA are in respect of child nurture and not merely a birth mother’s experience of pregnancy and childbirth and her need for a physiological recovery period and as such, both parents were able and should be entitled to provide comprehensive nurturing to their child.
The Court ruled that these provisions unfairly discriminate against mothers and fathers, as well as parents based on the child’s manner of birth.
Therefore, in cases of natural birth, parents can now choose
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