LABOUR LAW AMENDMENT BILL, 2025

Notice Title: Labour Law Amendment Bill, 2025

Government Notice: GN 3801 in GG 54220 on 26 February 2026

Commencing date: Comments to be submitted on or before 27 March 2026

The Minister of Employment and Labour published the Labour Law Amendment Bill, 2025, accompanied by the Memorandum of Objects on the Labour Law Amendment Bill, 2025, for public comment.

The Bill intends to amend the following Acts:

Basic Conditions of Employment Act, 1997, so as:
to substitute and insert certain definitions;
to permit sectoral determinations to apply to a broader category of employees;
to provide minimum conditions of employment applicable to employees who are required to be available for work;
to provide for parental leave in a manner consistent with the Constitution;
to specify the severance pay that employees are entitled to and clarify the forum for resolving disputes about severance pay;
to further specify procedures for the recovery of unpaid contributions to benefit funds;
to further specify the powers of the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration to enforce compliance orders;
to clarify the powers of bargaining councils to arbitrate disputes concerning basic conditions of employment;
to empower the Minister to make regulations concerning the use of fines by the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration.
the Employment Equity Act, 1998, so as
to substitute a definition of employment law;
to enable employees to refer any claim concerning unfair harassment to the Commission for Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration;
to specify the capacity of bargaining councils to resolve disputes arising under the Act;
The Unemployment Insurance Act, 2001, so as
to amend the Unemployment Insurance Act, 2001 to provide for payment of parental leave benefits by the Unemployment Insurance Fund in a manner consistent with the Basic Conditions of Employment Act and the Constitution;
the National Minimum Wage Act, 2018, so as
to clarify that deferred payments made to employees are not taken into account when calculating compliance with the national minimum wage;
to alter the composition of the National Minimum Wage Commission;
to require that representatives on the Commission have appropriate knowledge, skills, and experience to fulfil their duties;
to remove the requirement that the President must determine the date for the Commission to submit its report to the Minister.

Members of the public are invited to submit comments on or before 27 March 2026. For a copy of the Government Gazette Notice click here: Labour Law Amendment Bill: Draft: Comments invited

For more information or assistance please contact Gert van der Waal at gert@shangoni.co.za.

LABOUR LAW AMENDMENT BILL, 2025