According to Government Gazette No 44136 dated 8 February 2021, the National Minimum Wage will be adjusted with effect from 1 March 2021. The increase is 16% for farmworkers.
As scheduled when the National Minimum Wage came into effect on 1 January 2019, farmworkers (including domestic workers and security guards employed on farms) have been phased into the full National Minimum Wage starting on 1 March 2021.
The new minimum wage will be R21.69 per hour (up from R20.76). It is important to note that the proclamation does not prescribe a minimum weekly or monthly rate. Neither the National Minimum Wage Act, 2018, nor the Proclamation determines a minimum number of hours to be worked per month, and specifically defines “wage” as meaning “the amount of money paid or payable to a worker in respect of ordinary hours of work or, if they are shorter, the hours a worker ordinarily works in a day or a week”. This therefore means that the new minimum wage is simply a per hour rate, and that neither the said Act, nor the relevant Proclamations provide for a minimum weekly or monthly wage, just a minimum hourly rate for ordinary hours of work per week.
Domestic workers, who are not employed on farms, are to be paid a minimum wage of R19.09 per hour, an increase of 22,6%, as they are still being phased into the National Minimum Wage.
The National Minimum Wage applies to all workers: casual, temporary, permanent or fixed term.
If you have any questions about other Labour or Land issues, contact McCarthy & Associates Attorneys on (033) 266 6170 or ad***@ma****.za.