What you'll learn
- Country Introduction
- Tax Breakdown for Employers
- Statutory Leave Laws
- Minimum Wage and Working Hours
- Termination Process
- Additional Information
South Africa is the southernmost country in Africa, bordered by Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Eswatini, and it surrounds the enclaved country of Lesotho. The country has 3 capital cities, with the 3 branches of government each located in one of them. Since 1994, all ethnic and linguistic groups in South Africa have held political representation in the country's liberal democracy. South Africa is often referred to as the "rainbow nation" to describe the country's multicultural diversity, especially in the wake of apartheid.
Paid Leave and Statutory Leave
Parental Leave
Pregnant employees are entitled to 4 months of unpaid maternity leave, normally starting 4 weeks before the due date, and lasting at least 6 weeks after the birth. If the employee has been contributing to social insurance, they can receive a maternity benefit up to 60% of their regular salary for up to 121 days.
There is no statutory paternity leave in South Africa, instead there is parental leave where any new parents are entitled to 10 days of unpaid leave when their children are born/adopted.
Sick Leave
Employees can receive up to 30 days of paid sick leave every 3 years, paid at their full salary. At the end of the 3-year cycle, the number of sick days resets.
Paid Leave
There are 13 public holidays in South Africa, and employees are entitled to at least 15 days of paid time off each year. Employees can also qualify for leave for school or other circumstances.
Wage Requirements and Working Hours
The minimum wage in South Africa is ZAR 23.19 per hour, and a standard workweek of 45 hours at 9 hours per day. Overtime work has a maximum of 10 hours per week and is usually paid between 150%-200% of the regular salary. Employees who earn more than ZAR 205,433 per year are not entitled to overtime compensation.
Termination Process
Process
The termination process depends on the employment contract or collective agreement and reason for termination. Terminations must be for just cause.
Notice Period
The notice period is dependent on the employee’s length of time at the company:
- 0-6 months = 1 week of notice
- 6-12 months = 2 weeks of notice
- 1-4 years = 4 weeks of notice
Severance Pay
Severance pay is referred to as a “transition payment” and is usually stipulated in the Employment Contract or Collective Agreement. Employees are generally entitled to 1 week of pay for each year employed (unless they have been terminated due to poor performance or misconduct, in which case no severance payment is due).
Additional Information
While not explicitly mandatory, 13th-month salary bonus payments are customary in South Africa and paid out in December.
★ 1% - Skills Developemnt Levy (SDL)
★ 1% - Unemployment Insurance (UIF)
Simplified Global HR and Payroll.
Let’s work on it together.
We've made the process really simple
with only 3 steps.
Remote candidate
You've sourced a full-time employee or contractor located in a country where your company is not incorporated.
Cost Calculation
Pass us the details of your candidate and we will let you know exactly what it costs to employ your candidate in that country.
Onboarding & Admin
Sit back and relax as we onboard your new team member and take care of all the local compliances and admin work.
It can be prohibitively expensive to establish an entity in every country you want to hire talent in, so Remofirst will hire and pay your employee on your behalf while you manage their daily duties. Remofirst will handle formal HR procedures and employment contracts that adhere to local laws, so that you can simply approve invoices via our platform. When you work with an Employer of Record (EOR) you can compliantly hire the best employees around the world.
Unlike full-time employees, contractors work on projects with multiple companies at a given time and are technically self-employed. Full-time employees are solely focused on their employer and usually receive benefits (such as health insurance, equity or stock options, and time off) as an additional form of compensation. While it can be cheaper to work with international contractors instead of paying benefits to a full-time employee, you run the risk of misclassification. It's recommended to work with an EOR for contractor onboarding and payments, so you can know that your international contractors are paid compliantly and on time.
