Proposed labour law changes could grant parental leave after miscarriage or stillbirth

Minister of Employment and Labour Nomakhosazana Meth. Picture: Supplied. South Africans have until the end of March 2026 to comment on proposed labour law changes, including a proposal to allow employees who miscarry in the third trimester or give birth to a stillborn child to take parental leave.

Employment and Labour minister Nomakhosazana Meth has gazetted the Labour Laws Amendment Bill 2025 and the Labour Relations Amendment Bill 2025, proposing wide-ranging changes to South Africa’s labour framework. The amendments introduce a more equitable parental leave system by replacing the fragmented maternity and parental leave framework with a shared parental leave model. A single or sole employed parent is entitled to four months’ parental leave, while two employed parents share four months and ten days, subject to agreed arrangements or equal sharing in the absence of agreement, with priority given to the birthing mother.

Leading corporate and commercial law firmCliffe Dekker Hofmeyr(CDH) notes that this leave may be taken by two parents concurrently, consecutively, or partly concurrently and partly consecutively. However, the birthing mother is not allowed to work for six weeks after birth, unless a medical practitioner certifies she is fit to do so. CDH added that the introduction of the parental leave model allows employees who have a miscarriage during the third trimester of pregnancy or bear a stillborn child to go on a six-week parental leave.

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The scope has also been expanded to cover adoptions of children up to six years old (previously limited to under two) and commissioning parents in surrogate arrangements. CDH highlighted that if the parents are unable to agree on the leave allocation, the leave entitlement must be apportioned equally between them.

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