The short answer
The Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA) sets minimum employment conditions in South Africa, including working time, leave and notice. A UK business planning a South African hire should check the employee’s working pattern, earnings and applicable industry agreements before agreeing the contract. More generous terms are possible; reductions need a lawful basis.
Editorial source review: 9 September 2026. This guide covers the questions UK managers should raise with their South African employer, EOR or adviser. It includes the May 2026 earnings threshold and the Constitutional Court’s 2025 parental-leave order. It is general information, not advice on an individual employment arrangement.
What is the BCEA earnings threshold in 2026?
The threshold is R269,600.90 a year from 1 May 2026, according to Government Notice 7384, Gazette 54544, page 3.
Employees earning above it are excluded from sections 9–12, 14–16, 17(2) and 18(3). These cover specified working-time protections. The exemption does not remove the whole BCEA, annual leave or sick leave, and it does not remove every public-holiday rule.
Use the notice’s earnings definition, not take-home pay or the full employer cost. It starts with regular annual remuneration before employee deductions and excludes employer benefit contributions, subsistence and transport allowances, achievement awards and overtime payments. Record the calculation when setting hours and overtime terms.
Source note: the department’s accompanying press release gives a different amount. The figure above follows the signed Gazette notice.
How many hours can an employee work?
For employees covered by the ordinary working-time provisions, the usual limits are 45 ordinary hours a week, nine a day when working five days or fewer a week, or eight a day when working more than five days. These are limits, not a required working week.
Overtime generally requires agreement, is limited to ten hours a week and is paid at least at 1.5 times the wage, with agreed paid-time-off alternatives. Check the rules for daily limits, rest, night work and any permitted variations before setting shifts. Some categories, including senior managerial employees, have separate exclusions. The CCMA/BUSA working-time guidance explains the underlying provisions; use the 2026 notice above for the current threshold.
Does 21 days’ annual leave mean 21 working days?
No. Section 20 provides at least 21 consecutive days on full remuneration per 12-month employment cycle: normally 15 working days for a five-day week, or 18 for a six-day week. A qualifying public holiday during leave is additional when it falls on a day the employee would ordinarily have worked.
By agreement, leave can instead accrue as one paid day per 17 days worked or entitled to be paid, or one paid hour per 17 such hours. Statutory leave must be granted within six months after the cycle ends. Do not substitute cash for statutory annual leave during employment. See BCEA sections 19–21. The leave chapter excludes employees working fewer than 24 hours a month for that employer.
How does the three-year sick-leave cycle work?
Section 22 uses successive 36-month employment cycles, starting when employment begins. The allowance is the number of days normally worked in six weeks: 30 days for a five-day week. It does not reset every January and is not a moving look-back window.
During the first six months, the entitlement is one paid sick day for every 26 days worked. Leave used under that rule can be deducted from the first cycle’s allowance. Section 23 sets the medical-certificate conditions for payment, including absence of more than two consecutive days or more than two occasions in eight weeks. Read sections 22–23 before applying a policy.
What changed for parental leave?
On 3 October 2025, the Constitutional Court made an interim order in Van Wyk while Parliament addresses unequal parental-leave provisions. Employers should use that order when updating policies, rather than relying solely on older maternity and ten-day parental-leave summaries.
| Situation | Entitlement |
|---|---|
| Both parents employed | Four months and ten days in aggregate, shared between them; not that amount for each parent. |
| Single parent or only employed parent | At least four consecutive months under section 25(1) as read by the Court. |
| Birth mother’s recovery | No work for six weeks after birth unless a medical practitioner or midwife certifies fitness to return. |
The order provides for sharing around birth-related leave, notice to employers and a default allocation where parents disagree. It also addresses adoption and commissioning parents. Check those provisions for the particular family arrangement. Read the Court’s judgment record and the judgment and operative order, pages 3–8.
Leave entitlement and payment are separate. The Court did not introduce matching interim UIF benefit changes. Do not promise that UIF will fund the whole shared period; confirm eligibility and any employer-paid benefit separately. The Labour Law Amendment Bill published for comment in February 2026 is a proposal, not a substitute for checking the operative rules.
Who gets family responsibility leave?
The general section 27 entitlement is three paid days per annual leave cycle for an employee who has worked for the employer for longer than four months and works at least four days a week. It covers a sick child or the death of specified relatives, including a spouse or life partner, parent or adoptive parent, grandparent, child or adopted child, grandchild or sibling. Unused days lapse at the cycle’s end; a collective agreement can vary the entitlement.
Birth of a child is no longer a statutory ground under this section: section 4 of the Labour Laws Amendment Act 10 of 2018 removed it. Use the parental-leave rules above for birth-related leave.
Can we use UK bank holidays instead?
A UK work schedule does not automatically replace South African public-holiday entitlements. A public holiday may be exchanged for another day by agreement. For employees covered by section 18, work on a public holiday requires agreement; pay depends on whether it is an ordinary working day and whether work is performed. An ordinary working-day holiday normally attracts ordinary pay if not worked, and at least double pay if worked, subject to the section’s calculation.
Check section 18 and the Public Holidays Act exchange provision. The earnings-threshold exemption concerns section 18(3), not the whole section. Put any agreed exchanges and the holiday calendar in writing before scheduling cover.
What should a UK manager confirm before the hire?
- Applicable terms: ask the employer or adviser to check the BCEA, any bargaining council or sectoral rules, and the proposed employment contract.
- Working schedule: document local working hours, overtime approval, rest, public holidays and UK daylight-saving changes.
- Leave administration: identify who records each employee’s annual and sick-leave cycles, approves requests and arranges cover.
- Parental leave: agree a process for checking the family circumstances, coordinating dates and explaining pay separately.
- Ending employment: check the notice, fairness and payment requirements before acting; probation does not remove unfair-dismissal protection. See our notice, severance and CCMA guide.
An EOR can administer employment and leave, but the UK manager still needs to plan work around the agreed terms. Our South Africa Employer of Record guide explains the arrangement. Use its due-diligence worksheet to record who handles each responsibility.
Update history and source scope
9 September 2026: corrected the earnings threshold, added the 2025 parental-leave order, clarified sick-leave cycles and family responsibility eligibility, and tightened the public-holiday explanation. Older Act compilations linked above are used for the specified unchanged provisions; later amendments, the 2026 notice and the Court’s order take precedence where relevant. This was an editorial source review, not a qualified legal review.
