South Africa Pursues Biggest Labor Reform in Over 10 Years

On February 26, 2026, South Africa’s Minister of Employment and Labour introduced the Labour Law Amendment Bill, 2025, for public comment. The legislation represents South Africa’s biggest labor reform in more than ten years.

The bill was accompanied by the Government Notice regarding an increase in the Basic Conditions of Employment Act earnings threshold to 269,600.90 ZAR (~$16,400 USD), effective May 1, 2026.

The Labour Law Amendment Bill proposes changes to the following labor laws:

• Labor Relations Act, 1995 (LRA)
• Basic Conditions of Employment Act, 1997 (BCEA)
• Employment Equity Act, 1998 (EEA)
• Unemployment Insurance Act, 2001 (UIA)
• National Minimum Wage Act, 2018 (NMWA)

The bill’s proposed amendments come after lengthy consultations with the National Economic Development and Labour Council (NEDLAC), and they cover a range of labor-related issues.

Protections for on-call and zero-hours workers: Employers must specify maximum hours, availability periods, and notice periods for reporting and cancellation of work. An employee must be paid for cancelled hours if the employer cancels the work without the required notice.

Parental leave: The bill proposes a single parental leave framework that applies to both the mother and father in cases of birth, adoption, or surrogacy. Four months of parental leave is permitted once a year under the bill, and if both parents are employed, the leave allowance extends to four months and ten days, which can be shared between both parents.

Severance pay: The bill proposes increasing the statutory severance pay from one week’s pay to two weeks’ for each completed year of uninterrupted service.

Definition of employee: The bill broadens the definition of “employee” to include individuals who perform work or provide services for another person but are not engaged in an independent trade or business. The broader definition was created for enforcement and dispute resolution purposes.

Expanded harassment claims: Under the amendments to the EEA, employees gain the right to refer any claim of unfair discrimination on the grounds of harassment (not just sexual harassment) to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA).

Additional proposed changes cover the exclusion of deferred payments when determining whether an employer complies with the national minimum wage; new business exemption from bargaining council agreements; and capped remedies for high earners, among other matters.

As of early May, the public consultation period and the parliamentary process for remaining provisions of the bill are still underway, and the BCEA earnings threshold of 269,600.90 ZAR has taken effect.

Sources: Norton Rose Fulbright, Global Law Experts