| (1) | An employee, who is an adoptive parent of a child who is below the age of two, is subject to subsection (6), entitled to— |
| (a) | adoption leave of at least ten weeks consecutively; or |
| (2) | An employee may commence adoption leave on the date— |
| (b) | that a child is placed in the care of a prospective adoptive parent by a competent court, pending the finalisation of an adoption order in respect of that child, |
whichever date occurs first.
| (3) | An employee must notify an employer in writing, unless the employee is unable to do so, of the date on which the employee intends to— |
| (a) | commence adoption leave; and |
| (b) | return to work after adoption leave. |
| (4) | Notification in terms of subsection (3) must be given— |
| (a) | at least one month before the date referred to in subsection (2); or |
| (b) | if it is not reasonably practicable to do so, as soon as is reasonably practicable. |
| (5) | The payment of adoption benefits will be determined by the Minister, subject to the provisions of the Unemployment Insurance Act, 2001 (Act No. 63 of 2001). |
| (6) | If an adoption order is made in respect of two adoptive parents, one of the adoptive parents may apply for adoption leave and the other adoptive parent may apply for the parental leave referred to in section 25A: Provided that the selection of choice must be exercised at the option of the two adoptive parents. |
| (7) | If a competent court orders that a child is placed in the care of two prospective adoptive parents, pending the finalisation of an adoption order in respect of that child, one of the prospective adoptive parents may apply for adoption leave and the other prospective adoptive parent may apply for the parental leave referred to in section 25A: Provided that the selection of choice must be exercised at the option of the two prospective adoptive parents. |
[Section 25B inserted by section 3 of Notice No. 1305, GG 42062, dated 27 November 2018 (Labour Laws Amendment Act, 2018)]
