The Minister of Employment & Labour has gazetted an increase to the earnings threshold in section 6(3) of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act 1997; see attached. The threshold will increase from R241,110.59 per annum // R20,092.54 per month to R254,371,67 per annum // R21,197.64  per month. This change is effective from 1 April 2024.

The primary ramification of the increase in the threshold is that employees earning more than R20,092.54 per month but less than R21,197.64 per month are now entitled to statutory overtime payments. The threshold also impacts an employee’s entitlements to meal breaks, minimum rest periods, night work and public holidays.

There are other implications – this threshold has wide application in a number of statutes and is relevant for issues such as the restriction for fixed-term employment and the jurisdiction for CCMA disputes, regulated by the Labour Relations Act 1995 and the Employment Equity Act 1998 respectively.

This is the fourth year in a row that the threshold has increased.