Cabinet approves minimum wage bill

Cabinet approved the National Minimum Wage Bill during its fortnightly meeting on November 1. The draft legislation will now be referred to Parliament for further deliberation, after which President Jacob Zuma will be required to officially sign it into law. In February this year representatives of government, business, the community sector and two of the three labour federations represented at the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac) signed the national minimum wage agreement. According to this, workers will receive a minimum of R20 per hour which translates into a monthly wage of about R3 500 for a 40-hour week, and about R3 900 for those who work 45 hours a week.