South African businesses faced a multitude of challenges during the preceding financial year. Load shedding posed a significant obstacle, disrupting operations and increasing costs. The railway freight logistics sector also grappled with security challenges, including cable theft, vandalism, and track theft. These security breaches disrupted schedules and inflated transportation costs and had a cascading effect [...]
The recent announcement by the Department of Employment and Labour to increase the National Minimum Wage (NMW) from R25.42 to R27.58 per hour, effective from 1 March 2024, marks a critical juncture for South Africa’s labour market. This legislative change is aimed at addressing longstanding issues of living wages and economic disparity, seeking to uplift [...]
Reflecting on 2022, members of the Metal and Engineering Industries Bargaining Council (MEIBC) undoubtedly recall a momentous juncture that reshaped the landscape for Small, Medium, and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs). During this significant period, official communication reverberated throughout the MEIBC, bearing news of a landmark triumph for small businesses. For the first time in the Council's [...]
In certain industries, such as hospitality, retail sector, estate agents and financial advisory, commission is an important component of the payment structure of these employees. In the calculation of the employee's remuneration, on more than one occasion, the question arose if the commission forms part of the calculation to comply with the National Minimum Wage [...]
The NMWA aims to advance economic development and social justice by protecting workers from being paid unreasonably low wages. The Act applies to all workers and their employers except members of the National Defence Force, the National Intelligence Agency and the South African Secret Service. Every employer may not pay wages that are below the [...]
A lot has changed since amendments were made to the Basic Conditions of Employment Act as at 1 January 2019, specifically to cater for compliance orders to now be entertained by the CCMA as opposed to the Labour Court. Employers are still unsure as to what to do when served with a compliance order, and [...]
The National Minimum Wage Act 9 of 2018 was promulgated with the aim of advancing economic development and social justice by improving the wages of the lowest-paid workers and protecting workers from unreasonably low wages. To this end, the current minimum wage stands at R20.76 per hour regardless of whether a worker falls under a [...]
Section 73A of the BCEA came into effect on 1 January 2019 and provides that employees earning below the threshold of R 205 433.30 per annum, may now refer disputes to the CCMA relating to employers' failure to pay any amounts owing to that employee in terms of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, the [...]
Purpose: Section 73A of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (“BCEA”) confers jurisdiction on the CCMA to conciliate and arbitrate disputes in which employees earning below the prescribed threshold may claim monies owing to them in terms of the National Minimum Wage Act, the BCEA, a collective agreement, a sectoral determination or contract of employment. [...]
The Basic Conditions of Employment Act 75 of 1997 (BCEA) lays down conditions of employment regarded by legislature as fundamental. Although the Act does not itself prescribe a national minimum wage, it ensures that working hours do not exceed certain maxima, that employees are granted adequate breaks during the working day, that they are given [...]