Minimum wages to be set for gardening service workers

Minimum wages for workers in the gardening and landscaping sector are currently being determined as public hearings are conducted throughout South Africa. Image: EeziAds

The public hearings, which have been conducted in various other provinces, are now being held in Durban and will move on to Richards Bay and Newcastle next week.

The national public hearings are being held to establish a sectoral determination, which prescribes minimum wages and conditions of employment.

The hearings are held to engage employers and workers on issues such as the categories of workers to be covered by the sectoral determination; the factors to be taken into consideration when setting minimum wages; determining the mechanism to be used for setting minimum wages and annual increases, including the level at which minimum wages should be pegged and any other conditions related to operations within the sector.

The national public hearings are expected to conclude in Mpumalanga with hearings in Nelspruit, Ermelo and Witbank.

The garden and landscaping services sector currently has no sectoral determination although currently, most of the employers in the sector comply with the Basic Conditions of Employment Act.