A Critical Thought on Paternity Leave for Working Fathers
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25159/2520-9515/16613Keywords:
paternity leave, gender roles, working fathers, best interest of the child, labour laws, South Africa, Kenya, TanzaniaAbstract
Paternity leave is one of the crucial aspects of employment relations that fosters paternal involvement in family life and raising children. Contrary to the importance of paternity leave in our modern societies, laws can be promulgated on wrong perceptions that women must stay at home and take care of the household and children, while men are obliged to work to provide for their families. The current reality of life calls for a paradigm shift in traditional gender roles of men and women that both are equal and have become career- and family-orientated. In many democratic societies, constitutionally entrenched rights prohibit unfair discrimination based on sex or gender. However, labour laws in some jurisdictions do not expressly provide for paternity leave for working fathers the way women are given a reasonable period to take maternity leave for the caring of their newborn babies. This warrants a debate on whether excluding paternity leave in laws and policies aligns with constitutional values. We investigate how existing paternity legislation is regulated and the impact that failure to provide paternity leave has on the children. Paternity leave in South Africa, Kenya, and Tanzania is discussed within an international, regional, and national legal framework and compared with the Western countries of Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. The article concludes that effective measures and policies are essential in Africa to dismantle traditional gender stereotypes and promote equal roles in the workplace.
References
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Cases
Harksen v Lane NO and Others 1997 (11) BCLR 1489.
Jooste v Score Super Market Trading (Pty) Ltd 1999 (2) SA 1 (CC).
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Legislation
African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child of 1990.
Basic Conditions of Employment Act 1997 (South Africa).
Children’s Act 38 of 2005 (South Africa).
Child Care Act 74 of 1983 (South Africa).
Civil Union Act 17 of 2006 (South Africa).
Constitution of the Republic of South Africa of 1996.
Constitution of the Republic of Tanzania, 1977.
Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989.
Crown Lands Ordinance of 1902 (Kenya).
Employment Act of 2007 (Kenya).
Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998 (South Africa).
ILO Convention on Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) No 111 of 1958.
ILO Recommendation 165 on Workers with Family Responsibilities of 1981.
Labour Laws Amendment Act 10 of 2018 (South Africa).
Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995 (South Africa).
Maternity/Paternity and Parental Leave Act 95/2000 (Iceland).
National Insurance Act of 12 1966 (Norway).
Parental Leave Act 95 of 2000 (Iceland).
Paternity Leave and Benefit Act in 2016 (Tanzania).
Title II of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) of 1993 (USA).
Unemployment Insurance Act 63 of 2001 (South Africa).
Working Environment Act 62 of 2005 (Norway).
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