Cabinet has approved the National Minimum Wage Bill, Basic Conditions of Employment Amendment Bill and Labour Relations Amendment Bill.
In a statement on Thursday, the cabinet said: “these Bills may now be submitted to the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces for concurrence and enactment.”
It said, “in February 2017, representatives of government, business, labour and the community sector signed agreements, at NEDLAC, on measures to strengthen labour stability and collective bargaining and on modalities for the introduction of a national minimum wage.”
“The agreements represent a significant advance in efforts to address the challenges of labour instability and wage inequality in the South African labour market,” the cabinet statement said.
The National Minimum Wage Bill makes provision for the introduction of a minimum wage of R20 per hour which is due to come into effect on 1 May 2018.
There are a few exceptions to the national minimum wage which include:
The NEDLAC social partners have agreed that the farm, forestry and domestic sectors will be brought up to 100% of the NMW within two years pending research by the National Minimum Wage Commission.
Cabinet says the Basic Conditions of Employment Bill, 2017 “seeks to introduce amendments to the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, 1997 in line with the enactment of the National Minimum Wage Act, 2017.”
“The primary amendments to be introduced relate to the repeal of sections of the BCEA that relate to the making of sectoral determinations and the powers and functions of the Employment Conditions Commission.”
It said that amendments to the Labour Relations Act aim to strengthen collective bargaining and to introduce an advisory arbitration measure to resolve strikes that are intractable, violent or may cause a local or national crisis.
“The LRA amendments will be accompanied by a Code of Good Practice on Collective Bargaining, Industrial Action and Picketing.”
Cabinet said that the NEDLAC social partners have also reached agreement on an Accord on Collective Bargaining and Industrial Action in which all social partners commit to taking steps necessary to prevent violence, intimidation and damage to property and to improve the capacity of social partners and other agencies to resolve disputes peacefully and expeditiously.
“All trade unions and employers will be encouraged to sign the Accord on Collective Bargaining and Industrial Action,” cabinet said.
