National Minimum Wage Increases

Employment and Labour Minister Thulas Nxesi has announced a new National Minimum Wage (NMW) determination
which will go up from R25,42 to R27,58 for each ordinary hour worked. The Department of Employment and
Labour said on Saturday that the new NMW will take effect on March 1, 2024.

“The National Minimum Wage decision also includes vulnerable sectors like farm labourers and domestic
workers, who have been aligned with NMW rates since 2022.

“However, the workers employed on an expanded public works programme are entitled to a minimum wage
of R15,16 per hour up from R13,97. Workers who have concluded learnership agreements contemplated
in section 17 of the Skills Development Act, 1998, are entitled to the allowances as determined in
the latest government schedule,” the department said. The Act applies to all employees and employers,
with the exception of members of the South African National Defence Force, the National Intelligence
Agency, and the South African Secret Service.

The statute does not apply to a volunteer, who is someone who does work for someone else but does
not get or is not entitled to any compensation for his or her efforts. The NMW is the legal minimum
wage that an employer must pay employees for their labor. The price does not include compensation
for allowances (such as transportation, tools, food, or lodging), payments in kind (board or lodging),
tips, bonuses, and presents, among other things.

No employee should be paid less than the National Minimum Wage. The NMW was initially implemented
in 2019 at a minimum rate of R20 per hour. The NMW is legally enforced, and those who violate it face fines.