South Africa

Impact date: 1 March 2025 The National Minimum Wage (“NMW”) has increased from R27.58 to R28.79 for each ordinary hour worked. This includes farm workers and domestic workers. NMW workers employed on an expanded public works program will receive a minimum wage of R15.83 per hour, increased from R15.16 per hour. 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.

Impact date: 6 March 2025 (all previous regulations set to be repealed within 18 months) New Regulations have been introduced and amendments made to the General Safety Regulations, in respect of the Occupational Health and Safety Act 85 of 1993 (“the New OHSA Regulations”):

• GN 5952 of 2025: Physical Agents Regulations, 2025: The Regulations are applicable to, among others, any employer or self-employed person who carries out work at a workplace which may expose any person to a physical agent (a source of energy which may result in injury or disease after exposure) in that workplace
• GN 5953 of 2025: Noise Exposure Regulations, 2025: The Regulations are applicable to, among others, any employer or self-employed person at any workplace where persons are exposed to continuous or impulse noise at or above the noise-rating limit. These Regulations require, among other things, that employers consult with health and safety representatives and put in place noise exposure risk assessments, monitoring, and training
• GN 5954 of 2025: General Safety Regulations, 2025: Employers are obligated to make evaluations of risk associated with any condition or situation which may arise from the activities of such an employer and to which persons at the workplace are exposed. The amended Regulations include amendments to personal safety equipment and facilities, fire precautions, means of egress and offences and penalties for failure to comply with specified provisions

Impact date: 28 March 2025 The Labour Court has held that a female pastor employed by the Cape Conference of the Seventh Day Adventists (“Cape Conference”) had been constructively dismissed.

The claim arose in circumstances where the pastor was subjected to a persistently hostile working environment after being placed in Queenstown, where the congregants refused to accept her as a female pastor. Despite raising these concerns with her employer, no steps were taken to address or remedy the situation. The Labour Court held that the employer’s failure to act rendered the working environment intolerable and justified the pastor’s decision to resign. The Labour Court reaffirmed that an employee alleging constructive dismissal bears the onus of proving three essential elements: first, that they themselves terminated the employment relationship; second, that continued employment had become objectively intolerable; and third, that the intolerable conditions were caused by the conduct of the employer.

On appeal, the Labour Appeal Court (“LAC”) concluded that the employer’s conduct created an intolerable working environment, prompting the employee’s resignation. It accordingly set aside the arbitration award issued by the CCMA, ruled in the employee’s favor, and awarded her compensation equivalent to twelve months’ salary, together with a costs order.

Impact date: 1 April 2025 The minimum annual earnings threshold under the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, No. 75 of 1997 (“the BCEA”) has been raised from R254 371.67 per annum to R261 748.45 per annum. When considered on a monthly basis, this represents an increase from the previous amount of R21 197.63 per month, to monthly threshold earnings of R21 812.37 per month.

Employees who earn above this threshold are excluded from the sections of the BCEA that govern ordinary and averaging hours of work, compressed working weeks, meal intervals and rest periods as well as compensation for working overtime, on Sundays, public holidays or at night (sections 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17(2) and 18(3) of the BCEA).

“Earnings” is defined as the regular annual remuneration before deductions i.e. income tax, pension, medical and similar payments but excluding similar payments (contributions) made by the employer in respect of the employee (provided that subsistence and transport allowances received, achievement awards and payments for overtime worked shall not be regarded as remuneration.

Impact date: 14 April 2025 The Judge President of the Labour Court has issued a Directive requiring that all new matters, whether initiated by legal practitioners or lay litigants, be instituted via the online platform known as Court Online. No new cases may be filed manually (i.e., in person at the Labour Court). The Court Online platform enables parties and their legal representatives to file documents, manage cases, and correspond with the Labour Court and Labour Appeal Court electronically. This development is aimed at enhancing efficiency, promoting accessibility, and streamlining litigation processes within the Labour Courts.

Impact date: 15 April 2025 The Minister of Employment and Labour has published a new and comprehensive set of Employment Equity Regulations (“the EE Regulations”), which repeal the previous regulations published on 1 August 2014.

The EE Regulations address several critical aspects of employment equity compliance, including, among others, the following:

• Equal pay for work of equal value: Under section 6(4) of the Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998 (“EEA”), it is considered unfair discrimination for an employer to pay employees performing the same or substantially the same work, or work of equal value, different terms and conditions of employment based on prohibited grounds. The EE Regulations provide guidance on interpreting ‘work of equal value’, outlining criteria and methodology for assessing job equality. The Regulations also impose a duty on employers to proactively identify and eliminate unfair pay discrimination, while establishing circumstances where pay differentiation may be justified based on objective and fair criteria
• Duties of a designated employer: Section 1 of the EEA defines designated employers as (i) those with 50 or more employees, (ii) municipalities and organs of state (excluding security services), and (iii) employers bound by collective agreements under sections 23 or 31 of the Labour Relations Act, appointed as designated employers for EEA purposes. The EE Regulations outline various obligations for these employers, including the duty to (i) collect information and conduct analysis under section 19 of the EEA, (ii) identify employment barriers affecting designated groups, (iii) prepare and implement an EE Plan, (iv) submit an annual report to the Director-General under section 20 of the EEA, and (v) inform employees of the EEA’s provisions
• General administrative matters: The EE Regulations also outline the requirements for obtaining an EE Compliance Certificate and the processes for withdrawing such a certificate
• Forms and annexures: The EE Regulations include approximately 20 forms and annexures for use by both employers and employees in implementing and complying with the Regulations. These forms cover a range of purposes, including templates for employment equity plans, income differential reports, requests for an EE Compliance Certificate, and others

Impact date: 15 April 2025 The Minister has published new Regulations in terms of section 15A of the EEA. These Regulations introduce numerical targets and other obligations that designated employers must attain.

The numerical targets, expressed as percentages, apply to designated employers (employers with more than 50 employees) and are designed to determine the representation and demographic composition of the workforce within specific national economic sectors. These sectors, identified in the Regulations, include some of the nation’s largest sectors, such as, for example Finance, Agriculture, Mining, Construction, as well as the Professional, Scientific, and Technical sectors. The Regulations set out five-year sectoral numerical targets for the representation of various population groups and genders across different occupational levels, including Top Management, Senior Management, Professionally Qualified, Skilled, and employees with disabilities. In applying these numerical targets, designated employers must also consider the provisions of the EEA, the General Administrative Regulations under the EEA, and the Codes of Good Practice issued under the EEA.

Impact date: 16 April 2025 There are numerous Labour Court decisions exploring whether long delays in taking disciplinary action against employees can amount to a waiver of the employer’s right to discipline. In such cases, employees may argue that the employer, through its inaction, has effectively waived that right. In a recent Labour Court, it was considered whether an employer’s right to discipline has prescribed under the Prescription Act 68 of 1969, which sets time limits for enforcing debts.

The CFO of a company was charged with misconduct five years after recommending a controversial R350 million credit facility for VBS. She argued, among other things, that the charges had prescribed under the Prescription Act. The CCMA agreed and found that the company’ s right to discipline her had lapsed, ordering her reinstatement with backpay.

On review, the Labour Court held that the Prescription Act, which applies to the enforcement of a “debt” such as a claim for money or services, does not apply to internal disciplinary processes. It ultimately set aside the CCMA’s award and sent the matter back for a fresh hearing.

Impact date: 15 May 2025 The Labour Appeal Court (LAC) recently considered whether the Labour Court has the power to set aside pre-arbitration minutes agreed between parties before a CCMA arbitration.

Parties must hold a pre-arbitration conference before arbitration begins. The aim is to streamline the process by identifying the real issues in dispute and resolving preliminary matters. The outcome is recorded in what’s known as ‘pre-arbitration minutes’. The pre-arbitration minutes is a document that binds both the parties and the arbitrator to the issues embodied in the document.

In this case, an employee who had been dismissed without a formal disciplinary hearing referred an unfair dismissal dispute to the CCMA. Before arbitration, the parties, assisted by legal representatives, concluded pre-arbitration minutes via written correspondence. After the arbitration had begun and the employer had already led its first witness, the employer attempted to set aside the pre-arbitration minutes, claiming its former legal representative lacked authority to sign them, that the minutes were inaccurate, and that it was unaware of the contents. Both the CCMA and the Labour Court dismissed the employer’s attempts to set the minutes aside.

The LAC confirmed that the Labour Court does not have the power to set aside pre-arbitration minutes. Instead, an employer must either apply for rescission of the commissioner’s ruling or launch a review application.

Impact date: Awaiting On 29 May 2025, the Department of Employment and Labour officially gazetted the National Labour Migration Policy (NLMP) White Paper 2025, following the Cabinet’s approval of the policy for implementation. The NLMP sets out a national framework to manage the movement and employment of foreign nationals in South Africa. A key feature of the policy is the introduction of sector-based quotas on the number of documented foreign nationals who may be employed in specific industries, such as agriculture, hospitality, tourism, and construction, among others.

Alongside this, Cabinet also approved the Employment Services Amendment Bill for submission to Parliament. This Bill proposes giving the Minister the power to apply quotas to particular sectors, occupations, or geographic areas, further regulating the employment of foreign nationals in the labour market.

These developments form part of a broader regulatory shift aimed at tightening controls on the employment of foreign nationals. This includes recent amendments to the National Small Enterprise Act 102 of 1996, which restrict foreign nationals from establishing or operating small, medium, and micro enterprises or trading in certain designated sectors of the economy.