The Department of Labour will embark on another national series of roadshows on the National Minimum Wage (NMW), this time focusing on the bill exemption process with employers’ across the country.
The bill, which is set to pave way for the NMW in South Africa, is currently in Parliament and has been published for the public to make representations by Friday, 16 March.
The briefing sessions will commence in Johannesburg on Monday, 19 March at Orion Hotel on 49 Jorissen Street, Braamfontein. It will be followed by a session in Pretoria on Tuesday at Southern Sun Pretoria, corner Pretorius and Steve Biko Streets in Arcadia.
Under the new law, employers will have to pay their staff a minimum wage of R20 an hour, with the exception of sectors such as the farm/forestry, domestic and Expanded Public Works Programme workers, who have been given a longer transition period to pay R18, R15 and R11 per hour respectively.
The NMW is set for implementation from 1 May 2018.
Exemptions
Section 15 of the bill makes provision for an employer or an employers’ organisation registered in terms of section 96 of the Labour Relations Act, acting on behalf of its members, to apply for an exemption in the prescribed form and manner from paying the NMW.
“The department has drafted regulations to this effect and is currently designing an IT system that will make provision for applicants to apply for exemptions online.
“These regulations and the new NMW exemption system therefore compels the department to meet with employers and employer organisations across the country in order to present the draft regulations, the application system and ways of calculating,” the department said in a statement.
The next briefing sessions are lined up as follows:
Cape Town (22 March), George (23 March), Durban (27 March), Richards Bay (28 March), Lichtenburg (03 April), Springbok (05 April), Upington (06 April), East London (09 April), Port Elizabeth (10 April), Nelspruit (12 April), Piet Retief (13 April), Tzaneen (16 April), Polokwane (17 April), Bloemfontein (19 April) and culminating in Bethlehem on (20 April).
Venues for the other provinces will be communicated in due course and can be viewed on the Department of Labour website.
The briefing sessions will be held from 10:00 -13:00. – SAnews.gov.za
