The Department of Employment and Labour (DEL) has published a new earnings threshold under the Basic Conditions of Employment Act 75 of 1997 (BCEA). The new earnings threshold will take effect from 1 March 2021. The earnings threshold was last amended 7 years ago on 1 July 2014.
The table below summarises the new change to the earnings threshold –
| |
Current threshold |
New threshold (wef 1 March 2021) |
|
Earnings threshold | 205 433.30 ZAR per annum | 211 596.30 ZAR per annum |
Section 6 of the BCEA empowers the Minister of Employment & Labour to publish an earnings threshold that will exclude employees who earn
above that amount from certain sections of the BCEA as follows –
| Ordinary hours of work (Section 9) | | Overtime (Section 10) | | Compressed working week (Section 11) | | Averaging of hours of work (Section 12) | | Determination of hours of work by Minister (Section 13) |
| Meal Intervals (Section 14) | | Dailing and weekly rest period (Section 15) | | Pay for work on Sundays (Section 16) | | Night work [Section 17(2)] | | Pay for work on public holidays [Section 18(3)] |
The following sections of the Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995 apply to employees earning below the earnings threshold –
| Labour broker workers (Section 198A) | | Fixed term employees (Section 198B) | | Part time workers (Section 198C) |
It is important for employers to assess whether employees previously excluded from the application of the applicable sections of the LRA and/or BCEA as set out above now fall under these sections. This may have significant financial consequences for an employer.
