On 05 March 2024, a new earning threshold was published by the Minister of Employment and Labour which will see the earning threshold contemplated in the Basic Conditions of Employment Act increase from R241 110.59 to R254 371.67, with effect from 01 April 2024.

For the purposes of determining whether an employee earns below/above the threshold, “earnings” refer to regular annual remuneration before deductions such as income tax, pension, medical or similar payments.

Employees who earn above this threshold are excluded from the provisions of Chapter 2 of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act. This includes provisions relating to ordinary hours of work, daily wage payment, overtime, compressed working week, averaging of hours of work, meal intervals, daily and weekly rest period, pay for work on Sundays, pay for night work and pay for public holidays.

The other effects of this increase are that an employee earning above the threshold and who has a dispute concerning the failure to pay any amount owing to that employee in terms of a contract of employment, sectoral determination or collective agreement may not refer such dispute to the CCMA – such employee must refer the dispute to the Labour Court or High Court, or the Magistrates’ Court or Small Claims Court in terms of Section 73A(3) of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act.

The protection afforded to employees under Section 198 of the Labour Relations Act does not apply to employees earning above the threshold.  Employees earning above the threshold are not subject to the deeming provisions that apply to fixed-term contracts and part-time employment of employees as contemplated in Sections 198A and B of the Labour Relations Act.

In terms of Section 10(1)(aA) of the Employment Equity Act, employees earning above the threshold may not refer disputes relating to unfair discrimination to the CCMA for arbitration, unless it is on the grounds of sexual harassment or all parties agree to arbitration.

The full Government Gazette can be accessed at https://wylie.co.za/LegalNotices