Govt ensures tough enforcement of National Minimum Wage
The department is in the process of naming and shaming employers who fail to comply by publishing their names on the department’s website.
GOVERNMENT’S political will is to ensure the tough enforcement of the implementation of the National Minimum Wage (NMW).
“Ours as a government is to strengthen the inspectorate and the Commission for Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) monitoring roles,” said Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant, pledging that government was looking at increasing the budgets of these entities.
The minister cautioned employers who dismiss workers en masse and re-employ and pay them at NMW rate or even less.
Oliphant said government was aware of a new tactic that was gathering traction – that of firing workers to undermine the labour laws that seek to address unemployment, inequality and poverty.
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The Minister said her department will stop these tactics in their tracks.
Already the department is in the process of naming and shaming employers who fail to comply by publishing them on the department’s website.
The department is also on a national blitz to assess levels of NMW Act, at businesses with over 1 300 inspectors assigned to monitor compliance.
The Act, which came into effect on 01 January 2019, stipulates that R20 is the minimum rate workers should earn per hour. For farm and forestry workers – it is R18 per hour, domestic workers R15.00 per hour and for Extended Public Works Programme (EPWP) it is R11 per hour.
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