By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Department of Employment & Labour has gazetted a notice adjusting the earnings threshold above certain provisions in the 1997 Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA).
The earnings threshold, which is determined by the Minister of Employment and Labour from time to time in terms of BCEA, has been increased to R269 600, 90 – excluding certain deductions and employer contributions stipulated in the notice with effect from 1 May 2026.
Sub-section 6(3) of the Act empowers the Minister to determine to which category of employees specific working time regulatory prescripts should not apply, based on their earnings.
The change means any workers whose salaries have increased beyond R269 600, 90 or R22, 000 a month in 2026 will lose certain automatic protections.
It also has implications for provisions under the Labour Relations Act (LRA) and Employment Equity Act (EEA).
Employees earning above this Threshold are excluded from various sections of the BCEA, namely sections 9 (Ordinary hours of work); 10 (Overtime); 11 (Compressed working week); 12 (Averaging of hours of work); 13 (Determination of hours of work by Minister); 14 (Meal intervals); 15 (Daily and weekly rest period); 16 (Pay for work on Sundays); 17 (Night work – 17(2) that deals with transport and night shift allowances); and 18 (Public holidays – 18(3) that deals with payment for work on a public holiday that falls on a day on which the employee would ordinarily not have worked).
Employees earning above the Threshold are not entitled to additional remuneration in respect of overtime as they may be required to work any reasonable hours for the performance of their duties without additional compensation. This increase in the Threshold would, however, have important implications for employees who earn below the Threshold.