The Government Gazette No. 45882 Notice 1732 was published 7 February 2022, determining that in terms of Section 6(5) of the National Minimum Wage Act, No. 9 of 2018, the national minimum wages contained in Schedule 1 and Schedule 2 are amended in accordance with the schedules provided in this notice, and fixed the 1 March 2022 as the date on which these amendments shall become binding.

The national minimum wage takes precedence over any contrary provision in any employment contract, collective agreement, sectoral determination or law, except a law amending the National Minimum Wage Act. The national minimum wage must constitute a term of the worker’s contract except to the extent that the contract, collective agreement, or labour law provides a wage that is more favourable to the worker.

National Minimum Wage
Worker Categories	Rate per Hour
General workers	R23.19
Farm workers	R23.19
Domestic workers	R23.19
Expanded public works programme workers	R12.75

*Refer to the gazette for learnership allowance rates

National Minimum Wage and ETI

As per section 4 of the Employment Tax Incentive Act, No. 26 of 2013, an employer is not eligible to receive the employment tax incentive in respect of an employee in respect of a month if the wage paid to that employee in respect of that month is less than the higher of

• the amount payable by virtue of a wage regulating measure applicable to that employer, or
• the applicable minimum wage according to the National Minimum Wage Act

If the employer, upon application, is successfully exempted from the National Minimum Wage and no other wage regulating measure is applicable to that employer, then the employee must earn a wage of at least R2 000 in respect of a month (160 ordinary hours).

For ETI purposes, employers must ensure that the applicable minimum wage rates are updated on the ETI minimum wage rate configuration. If the employee is paid a wage rate that is less than the national minimum wage, even if adhering to the wage regulating measure, the employee does not qualify for ETI. Where the wage regulating measure specifies a minimum wage rate that is higher than the national minimum wage, adherence to the wage regulating measure is necessary for ETI qualification.