Your editorial opinion (“Court ruling on shared parental leave is a welcome move, but it’s only the first step”, October 9) refers.
The ruling is indeed welcome, but there are certain issues that are going to take months, if not years, for parliament to sort out.
First, the actuaries and researchers need to do their homework, as I believe, and though the time off remains the same it is going to cost the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) a lot more.
In reality, and unfortunately, many women are not working but have working husbands. In those circumstances it will certainly cost the UIF a lot more, as the husband will probably take the lion’s share of the four months and 10 days.
It is almost impossible to determine how much this will be, but after the first three or four years of payments I’m willing to bet that the cost will be at least a third more than what is being spent at the moment.
Not for one minute am I saying that this will bankrupt the UIF, though the fund has unfortunately blown a lot of its investments on non-functioning entities. We also know the UIF is planning to spend another R15bn on creating job opportunities, which will be another useless exercise.
It must also be remembered that though the judgment said the sharing of the parental leave can kick in immediately, this is to a large degree nonfunctional. The Basic Conditions of Employment Act has not been changed, so the fund will not be able to pay the UIF monies to the expectant father.
As it stands the act is clear, the money can only be paid to the birth mother. We will have to wait for the UIF Act to be amended, which could also take three years.
Michael Bagraim, MP
DA employment & labour spokesperson
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