The short answer: The Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA) sets the legal floor for almost every SA employee: a maximum 45-hour ordinary work week, overtime paid at 1.5× your rate (and by agreement only), 21 consecutive days’ annual leave per year, roughly 30 days’ paid sick leave per 3-year cycle (5-day-week workers), 4 months’ maternity leave, written employment particulars, a payslip every payday, and minimum notice periods of 1–4 weeks. Since 1 March 2026 the national minimum wage is R30.23 per hour. No contract can take these rights away — anything in a contract below the BCEA floor is invalid on that point.
Learn: your core rights, plainly
The BCEA covers nearly all employees. The key exceptions are the SANDF, intelligence services, and genuine independent contractors; some sections don’t apply to workers earning above an annually adjusted earnings threshold, and some apply differently to businesses with fewer than 10 employees and to senior managers. For most workers, these are the floors:
Working hours. Maximum 45 ordinary hours per week — 9 hours a day if you work a 5-day week, 8 if you work more days. A meal break of 60 minutes after 5 continuous hours (reducible to 30 by written agreement). A daily rest period of 12 continuous hours and a weekly rest period of 36 continuous hours.
Overtime. Voluntary — it requires an agreement, and even then is capped at 10 hours a week. Pay: at least 1.5× your normal wage, or paid time off by agreement. Sunday work: 2× if you don’t normally work Sundays; 1.5× if you do. Public holidays are paid days off; if you agree to work one, you’re paid at least double.
Leave.
- Annual: 21 consecutive days’ paid leave per 12-month cycle (15 working days for a 5-day week), or 1 day per 17 days worked. Your employer cannot pay you instead of giving leave, except for accrued leave on termination.
- Sick: over each 36-month cycle, paid sick days equal to your normal 6 weeks’ work (30 days for a 5-day week). In your first 6 months: 1 day per 26 days worked. A medical certificate can be required for more than 2 consecutive days or frequent absence.
- Maternity: 4 consecutive months. The BCEA doesn’t force the employer to pay it — you claim UIF maternity benefits. See How to Claim UIF. You cannot be dismissed for pregnancy; that’s automatically unfair.
- Parental: 10 consecutive days for parents who don’t take maternity leave, also UIF-claimable. Note that the parental and maternity leave framework is currently under reform following a Constitutional Court ruling directing Parliament to move toward shared parental leave — if you are planning leave around a birth, confirm the current position with the Department of Employment and Labour, as the rules may have changed since this page was last checked.
- Family responsibility: 3 paid days per year (birth of your child, illness of your child, death of close family) once you’ve worked 4 months or more.
Pay and paper. You must receive written particulars of employment when you start, and a payslip every payday showing pay, hours and deductions. Deductions require your written agreement or legal authority — an employer can’t simply dock your pay for breakages, till shortages or “fines” without proper process. And nobody may be paid below the national minimum wage of R30.23 per hour (from 1 March 2026); at 8 hours a day that’s R241.84. Piece-work, commission and “but you agreed” arrangements can’t undercut it.
Ending employment. Minimum notice: 1 week (employed 6 months or less), 2 weeks (6–12 months), 4 weeks (over a year). On termination you’re owed all outstanding pay, accrued untaken leave, and — if retrenched — severance of at least 1 week’s pay per completed year of service. You’re entitled to a certificate of service. Unfair dismissal — the reasons and fairness of firing — lives in the Labour Relations Act; the CCMA handles both.
Also illegal: employing anyone under 15; making employment conditional on pregnancy tests; retaliating against you for exercising BCEA rights or reporting violations.
The earnings threshold, explained
This is the figure people mean when they say “the BCEA doesn’t apply to me.” From 1 May 2026 the threshold is R269,600.90 per year — roughly R22,467 a month — up from R261,748.45.
Earn above it and you’re excluded from specific sections covering ordinary hours, overtime, meal intervals, rest periods, Sunday pay, night work and public holidays. Earn below it and those protections apply in full. Importantly, the threshold does not remove your leave, notice, payslip or minimum wage rights — those apply regardless. The figure is adjusted periodically, so check the current gazette if you’re near the line.
Do: if your rights are being violated
- Document everything. Payslips, contracts, rosters, WhatsApps, a written log of hours actually worked. Cases are won on paper.
- Check your contract against the floor. A contract can give you more than the BCEA, never less. “You signed it” is not a defence for an illegal clause.
- Raise it internally first, in writing. A dated email or letter stating the issue (“I have not received payslips since March”) creates a record and often fixes it — many violations are sloppiness, not malice.
- Escalate to the Department of Employment and Labour. Report at any labour centre or through the department’s channels; labour inspectors can investigate and issue compliance orders. This is free.
- Refer disputes to the CCMA (Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration) — free, no lawyer needed, forms at ccma.org.za or any CCMA office. Note the deadlines: unfair dismissal referrals within 30 days of dismissal; unfair labour practice within 90 days. Missing the window can sink a strong case.
- Union members: involve your shop steward or union early — representation is what your dues buy.
Reality check, kindly meant: enforcing rights against a current employer carries real-world risk even where retaliation is illegal. Sometimes the smart sequence is: document now, secure your next job, then pursue what you’re owed. Your rights don’t expire the day you resign — money claims especially — but referral deadlines do, so know them.
⚠️ Scam warning
The CCMA is free, and the process is deliberately designed for people without lawyers. Anyone charging you a fee to “lodge your CCMA case,” promising a guaranteed outcome, or offering to “fast-track” a referral is exploiting you — there is no paid queue. Department of Employment and Labour inspections and labour centre help are also free. Be equally wary of “labour consultants” who cold-call after a dismissal; check credentials, and remember that a union, the CCMA itself, or a labour centre will explain your options at no cost.
Download: the free Know-Your-Rights card
📥 Free download: Know-Your-Rights Card — a printable one-pager with every BCEA floor (hours, overtime rates, leave, notice, minimum wage), the deduction rules, plus CCMA and Department of Employment and Labour contact channels and the referral deadlines. Keep it on your phone. Get the free download → (email required — we send the download link plus a short, useful tip series; unsubscribe anytime).
FAQ
Does the BCEA apply to domestic workers and farm workers?
Yes — including the full national minimum wage of R30.23 per hour, which domestic and farm workers are aligned to. For live-in domestic workers, accommodation deductions are capped at 10%.
Can my employer force overtime?
Only if you’ve agreed to it, usually in your contract, and never beyond the legal caps. Refusing overtime you never agreed to is not misconduct.
I’m called a “contractor” but work like an employee. Do I have rights?
Possibly yes — the law looks at the reality, not the label. If you work under their control, their hours, their tools, mainly for them, you may be an employee in law regardless of what the contract says. The CCMA can determine this.
Can I be fired for reporting my employer to the Department of Employment and Labour?
Retaliatory dismissal for exercising BCEA rights is automatically unfair — among the most serious findings a CCMA arbitrator can make. Document everything.
Is the CCMA really free?
Yes — conciliation and arbitration cost nothing, and the process is designed for people without lawyers.
Next step
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Related: How to Resign Professionally · How to Spot a Job Scam · How to Read Your Payslip
Last verified 30 August 2026 · Sources: Basic Conditions of Employment Act 75 of 1997; National Minimum Wage rates gazetted February 2026 (effective 1 March 2026); BCEA earnings threshold gazetted April 2026 (effective 1 May 2026); Department of Employment and Labour · Report an error
This is general information, not legal advice. For your specific situation, contact the CCMA, the Department of Employment and Labour, or a labour law practitioner. How To South Africa is not affiliated with any government body.