Department of Labour's conduct in Parliament undermines meaningful national minimum wage package

The Institute for Economic Justice claims the Department of Labour has weakened the National Minimum Wage (NMW) Bill by sidelining social partner agreements and reducing the independence of the NMW commission. Key concerns include the lack of guaranteed annual increases, a weak medium-term target, and the subordination of the commission's budget and operational authority to the department.

• The Department of Labour has compromised the independence of the NMW commission by housing its secretariat within the department and removing its independently appropriated budget, meaning funds must now be "defrayed from the department at their discretion".
• The NMW Bill fails to guarantee annual wage increases, violating the Nedlac agreement which stated that adjustments "should not lead to the erosion of the value of the NMW". Instead, the Bill only requires the commission to "consider" retaining the value of the minimum wage.
• The medium-term target for the NMW is described as a "damp squib" because the Bill only requires the target to be set within two to three years, without specifying benchmarks or implementation dates, potentially delaying the target until 2026.
• The Department of Labour has weakened the role of sectoral determinations by not mandating regular reviews and leaving the trigger for new investigations to the minister rather than the commission.
• The Bill introduces a provision allowing employer organisations to apply for exemptions on behalf of members, a move not present in the Nedlac agreement that critics argue risks creating a "sophisticated conveyer belt of applications".

APA

Isaacs, G. (2018). Department of Labour's conduct in Parliament undermines meaningful national minimum wage package. Institute for Economic Justice. https://iej.org.za/press-room/in-the-media/department-of-labours-conduct-in-parliament-undermines-meaningful-national-minimum-wage-package/

Chicago

Isaacs, Gilad. Department of Labour's conduct in Parliament undermines meaningful national minimum wage package. Institute for Economic Justice, 2018. https://iej.org.za/press-room/in-the-media/department-of-labours-conduct-in-parliament-undermines-meaningful-national-minimum-wage-package/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Isaacs |first1=Gilad |title=Department of Labour's conduct in Parliament undermines meaningful national minimum wage package |publisher=Institute for Economic Justice |date=15 May 2018 |url=https://iej.org.za/press-room/in-the-media/department-of-labours-conduct-in-parliament-undermines-meaningful-national-minimum-wage-package/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{isaacs2018department, author = {Isaacs, Gilad}, title = {{Department of Labour's conduct in Parliament undermines meaningful national minimum wage package}}, publisher = {Institute for Economic Justice}, year = {2018}, month = may, url = {https://iej.org.za/press-room/in-the-media/department-of-labours-conduct-in-parliament-undermines-meaningful-national-minimum-wage-package/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }