Hospitality Sector Minimum Wages 2017/18

From the 1st of July 2017, the minimum wages for the Hospitality Sector will be increased, are you ready?

The Department of Labour has listed the Hospitality Sector as a sector employing vulnerable workers, meaning that a larger interest is given on regulating their hours of work and minimum wages.

Another important consideration here is that due to the nature of work in this sector, employees are often paid low “Basic” wages with the addition of commission.

 Where such Employees earn commission, their minimum take home in any period should still exceed the minimum wage, where they do not meet the minimum wage even with their commission the employer must pay the employee the difference between his/her take home wage and the published minimum wage for that cycle. For more information on this, please read Sectoral Determination 14 – Hospitality.

What is the minimum wage for the Hospitality Sector?

While this amendment to the minimum wage is the key consideration of many employers, they should be wary of the geographic area in which they operate as there exist various bargaining councils across South Africa that further regulate not only the minimum wage for those areas but other benefits, including provident funds and annual bonuses. It remains the responsibility of the employer to ensure compliance with any of these collective agreements that may apply to them.