Deadline looms for comments on minimum wage adjustments

Image source: Rabia Elif Aksoy – 123RF.com

The National Minimum Wage Commission, through its Chairperson Professor Adriaan van der Walt, issued a notice on 1 August 2023 inviting all interested parties to submit written representations concerning possible adjustment to the NMW in 2024.

“The written comments/representations concerning possible adjustments to the National Minimum Wage will be considered by the Commission before it publishes its annual report and recommendations on the annual review of the national minimum wage later in the year,” Van der Walt said.

The invite for written submissions is conducted in accordance with section 6(2) of the National Minimum Wage Act, No. 9 of 2018.

The current rate of NMW as announced by Employment and Labour Minister Thulas Nxesi in February 2023 jumped from R23.19 (in 2022) to R25.42 for each ordinary hour worked.

The annual rate came into effect from 1 March 2023.

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The existing National Minimum Wage determination now includes the vulnerable sectors of farm workers and the domestic workers – whom with effect from last year were also aligned with the NMW rates.

The National Minimum Wage Act applies to all workers and their employers except members of the South African National Defence Force, the National Intelligence Agency and the South African Secret Service.

The act does not apply to a volunteer, who is a person who performs work for another person and who does not receive or is not entitled to receive, any remuneration for his or her service.

A fine maybe imposed on an employer who paid an employee less than the national minimum wage.

The primary functions of the Commission is to review the NMW and make recommendations annually for its adjustment, and to investigate the impact of the NMW on the economy, collective bargaining and income differentials among others.

Representations should reach the directorate: Employment Standards, Department of Employment and Labour, Private Bag X117, Pretoria, 0001 or be sent to az.vog.ruobal@weiverwmn.