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Fin24 reports that the national minimum wage could be hiked by more than 8% this year, according to a new proposal by the Department of Employment and Labour's (DEL’s) National Minimum Wage (NMW) Commission.
The commission has proposed a hike of the consumer price index (CPI) plus 0.5% to 1%. In November, CPI reached 7.4%. If a hike of CPI plus 1% was to be adopted, at the current inflation rate that would increase the minimum wage to around R25.13 per hour. For those working nine hours a day, this would works out to a monthly wage of around R4,750. The minimum wage was hiked by almost 7% in March 2022, from R21.69 to R23.19 an hour. For the first time, domestic workers earned the full minimum wage. Stakeholders had until 13 January 2023 to respond to the new proposal. Once inputs from the public have been collected, the commission will send a final report to DEL Minister Thulas Nxesi, and he will make a final determination based on the reports and the inputs. The NMW chair, Professor Adriaan van der Walt, indicated: "All wage-earning workers must earn enough to maintain a decent standard of living, defined as sufficient to support themselves and their families at a level that is both socially acceptable and economically viable." But businesses, which have been hit by rocketing interest rates and record load shedding, may balk at the proposed steep rise in the minimum wage.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Khulekani Magubane at Fin24
- Read too, Does the minimum wage hike go too far - or not far enough? at Fin24 (subscriber access only)
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page