New National Minimum Wage effective 1 March 2022

Employment and Labour Minister TW Nxesi announces that the National Minimum Wage (NMW) for each ordinary hour worked has been increased from R21,69 to R23.19 for the year 2022 with effect from 01 March 2022.

This announcement is in terms of Section 6 (5) of the NMW Act, No 9 of 2018, to amend the NMW contained in Schedule 1 and Schedule 2 of the National Minimum Act, published under Government Notice No. 44136.

As in previous years, the adjustment provides exceptions for several worker groups, including:

Farmworkers are entitled to a minimum wage of R23.19 per hour;

Domestic workers are entitled to a minimum wage of R23.19 per hour;

Workers employed on an expanded public works programme are entitled to a minimum wage of R12.75 per hour;

Workers who have concluded learnership agreements contemplated in section 17 of the Skills Development Act, 1998 (Act No 97 of 1998), are entitled to allowances contained in schedule 2.

Employees earning more than R224 080,48 (two hundred and twenty-four thousand and eighty forty-eight cents) per year are exempt from sections 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, and 17(2) and 18(3) of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA) as of March 1, 2022. These sections protect vulnerable employees by regulating, among other things, working hours, overtime, and compressed schedules. working time, average hours of work, meals interval, daily and weekly rest periods, pay for work on Sundays, night work, and work on public holidays.

To view a copy of the published Government Gazette, click here.

To view a copy of the published Government Gazette on the Basic Conditions of Employment Act 2022, Earnings Threshold, click here.

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