EARNING THRESHOLD TO INCREASE ON 1 APRIL 2024
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.