{"id":837917,"date":"2025-09-19T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-09-19T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=837917"},"modified":"2025-09-18T17:30:15","modified_gmt":"2025-09-18T15:30:15","slug":"get-ready-for-national-minimum-wage-changes-in-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/government\/837917\/get-ready-for-national-minimum-wage-changes-in-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Get ready for National Minimum Wage changes in 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Department of Employment and Labour has given the National Minimum Wage (NMW) Commission more time to get public input and submissions on adjustments to the NMW for 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Representations were supposed to be handed in by 18 September 2025, but this has been extended to 30 September 2025<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The commission does an annual call to stakeholder for inputs, which it then compiles into a recommendation report for possible adjustments to the wage the next year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The recommendations are given to the Minister of Employment and Labour later in 2025, in accordance with Section 6(2) of the NMW Act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Along with the extension, the commission has also called on stakeholders to complete an online survey and questionnaire<\/strong><\/a>, which will also go into consideration in the final report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“This survey will assist the department to analyse the inputs and aid more detailed report writing,” the commission said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It added that another period for inputs and comments will take place after the report has been published, which will then be taken into consideration before a final decision is taken for implementation in 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The National Minimum Wage is the lowest remuneration rate that employers are obligated and legally permitted to pay their employees for each ordinary hour worked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is illegal for employers to pay their employees less than the minimum threshold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The minimum wage is currently fixed at R28.79 for each ordinary hour worked, which was announced in February 2025 and implemented from March.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For a person working a 38-hour week, this works out to a minimum salary of R1,094 per week or R4,737 per month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The minimum salary for a person working a 45-hour week increased to R1,295 per week and R5,610 per month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The National Minimum Wage Commission is responsible for annually reviewing and recommending adjustments to the national minimum wage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It also investigates and reports annually to the minister on the impact of the national minimum wage on the economy, collective bargaining, and income differentials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Therefore, input from stakeholders is vital to the process, as it can have a real-world impact on what the final approved rate will be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Minimum wage heading for R30 an hour<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
Labour Minister, Nomakhosazana Meth<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

While the NMW commission speaks of \u201cpossible\u201d changes to the minimum wage, the group has already committed to hikes each year above inflation at the bare minimum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In May 2023<\/strong><\/a>, the commission gazetted its medium-term NMW targets, which set a three-year goal for the minimum wage and its commitments to meeting it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2026 represents the final of the three-year window determined by the commission, so it is likely that the same targets and considerations will be taken into account in this year\u2019s report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the commission considers all the inputs given, it has explicitly linked the minimum wage to economic indicators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Specifically, future minimum wage increases will be linked to the consumer price index (CPI) as well as the median wage level in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The commission has also determined that the minimum wage should increase at rates above inflation, so that wages grow in real terms and don\u2019t lose value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Factors considered by the Commission in the annual adjustment also include the cost of living, South Africa’s GDP, the overarching business enviroment and the potential impact on job creation and employment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While consultations for 2026’s changes are ongoing, with inflation expected to average around 3.2% this year, workers can at the very least expect an increase of the same amount.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Based on the current monthly minimum of R28.79, employers should expect a new level upwards of R29.71 per hour.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Department of Employment and Labour has given the National Minimum Wage (NMW) Commission more time to get public input and submissions on adjustments to the NMW for 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":788637,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[5179],"class_list":["post-837917","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-government","tag-minimum-wage"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/837917","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=837917"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/837917\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":837918,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/837917\/revisions\/837918"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/788637"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=837917"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=837917"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=837917"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}