From the 1st of March 2018, the minimum wages for Farm Workers and people employed in the Forestry Sector will be increased, this annual increase is valid for twelve (12) months until the 28th of February 2019 in stark contrast to the increases tabled for the Domestic Workers and Contract Cleaning Sectors earlier this year. It stands to be seen how this extended period of validity will play into the proposed Minimum Wage Bill (Read Our Article Here).

Hourly Rate from 1st of March 2018: R 16.25

It is also curious that the Department of Labour has issued a joint minimum wage for what appears to be two (2) seperate secors, with the Forestry Sector traditionally being dealt with in terms of Sectoral Determination 12 (Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3) and Farm Workers in terms of Sectoral Determination 13 (Part 1 and Part 2). The decision to join these two again reaffirms the opinion that the proposed National Minimum Wage Act will only be implemented later than the original expected date of 1 May 2018.

The government published only the following on the Department of Labour Website: Farm and Forestry Minimum Wages 2018 without any explanatory notes or additional comments and this leads the writer to believe that serious concerns about the proposed amendments to legislation is plaguing the department.