Mahikeng - Strict action will be taken against those who are not complying with the National Minimum Wage Act (NMWA), the department of labour said on Friday.
"If we conduct an inspection and find that an employer is not complying with the NMWA, an inspector will try to secure an undertaking from an employer to comply. The undertaking is for 14 days whereafter if there is still non-compliance the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration will be approached to make an arbitration award to force the employer to comply” said Morgan Mokwana, the department's provincial employment specialist.
He was speaking to Chinese employers at a stakeholder engagement of the department of labour in Mahikeng.
The session was directed at Chinese employers as they were identified as crucial in the implementation of National Minimum Wage Act. They were identified because they were they were active participants in the wholesale and retail sector in the North West province and were employing a significant number of employees.
The wholesale and retail sector is one of the sectors that were mostly affected by act.
Mokwana said if employers do not pay their workers the minimum R20 and hour or R3 500 a month, as required by the Act, labour inspectors would come in and attempt to enforce the law.
Chinese employers’ representative, Attie Zhuang said he was grateful for the session as it was informative and would assist them with compliance as they were not familiar with South African labour laws.
The National Minimum Wage Act came into effect on January 1 this year and sets a bar below which no worker must be paid with the exemption of the farm workers, domestic workers and the extended public works programme workers.