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In a letter to the editor, MP Michael Bagraim, who is the Democratic Alliance’s (DA’s) labour spokesman, notes that the labour minister has drafted regulations relating to applications for exemption from paying the new national minimum wage (NMW).
The minister has asked the public to comment to the Department of Labour on the draft by not later than this Wednesday. In Bagraim’s view, the regulations are “incredibly onerous, in fact almost ridiculous in their structure”. He observes that there will be “an incredibly complicated and exceptionally onerous structure applicable in what is required with regard to supporting documentation.” The minister will require all audit documents, including assessment of affordability and profitability, and will look at the liquidity analysis and assess solvency. But, Bagraim predicts that the regulations will make it almost impossible for small and start-up businesses to apply for the exemption and will encourage them to rather pay whatever wages they choose, knowing that the chances of them being discovered are negligible given that the department is bad at enforcing the current law.
- Read this letter in full at BusinessLive
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page