South African labour law is primarily governed by the Basic Conditions of Employment Act 75 of 1997 (BCEA), the Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995 (LRA), and the National Minimum Wage Act 9 of 2018. The Department of Employment and Labour conducts inspections and can issue compliance orders or impose fines for violations.
The standard working week is 45 hours (9 hours/day for 5-day workers; 8 hours/day for 6-day workers). Overtime beyond 45 hours must be compensated at 1.5× the employee's normal wage, or 2× for work on a Sunday or public holiday. Maximum overtime is 10 hours per week. Senior managers and sales staff paid on commission may be excluded.
How ClockIt Helps
ClockIt automatically calculates BCEA overtime thresholds, applies 1.5× or 2× multipliers based on day type, and caps weekly overtime at 10 hours with manager alerts when limits are approached.
Employees are entitled to 15 consecutive days (3 weeks) of paid annual leave per year of employment, or 1.25 days per month. Leave pay must be equivalent to the employee's ordinary wage for the leave period. An employer may not pay out annual leave instead of granting it (except on termination).
How ClockIt Helps
ClockIt accrues annual leave at 1.25 days/month, tracks balance usage, and automatically calculates leave pay based on the employee's ordinary wage at the time of leave.
During every sick leave cycle of 36 months, an employee is entitled to paid sick leave equal to the number of days the employee would normally work in 6 weeks. For a 5-day employee, this is 30 days per 3-year cycle. During the first 6 months of employment, sick leave is 1 day per 26 days worked.
How ClockIt Helps
ClockIt manages sick leave on the 36-month cycle, tracking days used and remaining within each cycle, and flags when the first-6-months cap is reached for new employees.
Employees who have been employed for longer than 4 months and work more than 4 days per week are entitled to 3 days of paid family responsibility leave per year. This covers the birth of a child, a child's illness, or the death of a spouse, parent, grandparent, child, or sibling.
How ClockIt Helps
ClockIt tracks family responsibility leave as a separate category from sick and annual leave, ensuring the 3-day statutory entitlement is correctly applied without consuming other leave balances.
Both employer and employee contribute 1% of remuneration each to UIF (combined 2%), subject to a monthly ceiling of ZAR 17,712 in remuneration. Contributions are paid monthly via SARS's eFiling or EMP501 returns. Domestic and learnership workers are covered; independent contractors are not.
How ClockIt Helps
ClockIt calculates UIF contributions each pay run, applies the monthly remuneration ceiling, and exports data in SARS-compatible format for EMP501 reconciliations.
The NMW is reviewed annually on 1 March. As of 1 March 2024, the NMW is ZAR 27.58 per hour. Sectoral determinations may set higher rates for specific industries (e.g., farm workers: ZAR 28.79/hour; domestic workers: ZAR 27.58/hour). Non-compliance is a criminal offence and subject to fines.
How ClockIt Helps
ClockIt validates pay rates against the current NMW (including sectoral rates where configured), blocking payroll processing for any employee whose effective hourly rate falls below the threshold.
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