Constitutional Court rewrites parental leave — not just for birth mothers anymore
Van Wyk and Others v Minister of Employment and Labour — Constitutional Court · [2025] ZACC 20
What happened
Werner van Wyk's employer would only grant four months' parental leave to birthing mothers, not fathers. The Constitutional Court confirmed a High Court finding that the BCEA's leave scheme is unconstitutional because it excludes non-birthing, adoptive and commissioning parents from equal leave on the basis of sex and family structure.
Why it made the news
It immediately reshapes leave policy at every employer in the country and was widely reported as a turning point for gender equality at work.
For lawyers & law students
The declaration of invalidity was suspended for 36 months to let Parliament amend the BCEA, but the Court read in an interim regime giving roughly four months and ten days of shareable parental leave to any parent, regardless of gender or how the child joined the family. Expect employer policies and BCEA s25/s25A advice to lag the interim order — flag this explicitly when advising on leave disputes arising after 3 October 2025.
For citizens
Fathers, adoptive parents, commissioning parents in surrogacy and same-sex couples can now claim extended parental leave that used to be reserved for birth mothers only.