IOL News writes that, with a Nedlac expert panel currently taking stock of the intricacies of a national minimum wage (NMW), questions have been raised on where job creation programmes such as the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) and internships will fit in.
Researchers at the annual labour law conference posed questions on whether the government would be able to expand these programmes and pay higher stipends even though there were often fixed budgets in place. The stipend that is earned by those who are part of the programme is far less than the minimum amounts being put forward, such as R3,500 a month. Gilard Isaacs, coordinator at Wits University’s National Minimum Wage Institute, which published a research paper looking at how a national minimum wage can be applied, said it was possible to include EPWPs in the broader framework, however at only 60 to 70% of the wage. This percentage would also be the same for domestic workers, whose sector was different from others.
- Read this report by Zintle Mahlati in full at IOL News
- Read too, National minimum wage can be made to work, at Financial Mail
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page