Blog

The Department of Employment and Labour released the Labour Law Amendment Bill, 2025 for public comment on 26 February 2026, signalling one of the most far‑reaching overhauls of South Africa’s employment law framework in years.

The Bill consolidates amendments to four pieces of legislation – the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA), Employment Equity Act (EEA), Unemployment Insurance Act (UIA) and the National Minimum Wage Act (NMWA) – responding to legal developments, the Van Wyk Constitutional Court ruling, and structural shifts in the labour market.

For employers, the Bill introduces significant new obligations, clarifies long‑contested areas, and tightens enforcement.

Below is an overview of the most important changes that business owners and HR leaders must be aware of.

New Protections for “On-Call” and “As‑and‑When‑Needed” Workers

One of the most transformative changes is the insertion of Section 9B into the BCEA to regulate the rapidly growing segment of workers employed on zero‑hours, min‑max, on‑call, or as‑needed contracts.

These workers – common in retail, hospitality, logistics, gig‑economy platforms, and seasonal operations – have previously operated in a legally grey zone with little predictability or security.

In terms of the new Section 9B of the BCEA, employers who require employees to make themselves available for work on demand must now include the following in the employee’s written particulars of employment:

• Maximum hours of work over the relevant period.
• The timeframe during which the employee must be available.
• The notice period for being called in to work.
• The notice period for cancellation of work.

Critically, these notice periods must be reasonable, considering the employer’s operational context and the impact on workers.

Further implications include:

• Cancellation pay introduced: If the employer cancels scheduled work without giving the agreed notice, the employer must pay the employee for the cancelled hours – a major shift toward income security.
• No exclusivity unless justified: Employers may no longer prevent an on‑call worker from accepting work elsewhere unless there are genuine operational reasons (e.g., protection of confidential information, conflict of interest), and these reasons are recorded in writing.
• Paid sick leave entitlement: Instead of the standard BCEA sick‑leave cycle, these employees must receive one day of paid sick leave for every 26 days worked.

 What this means for employers: Businesses using flexible staffing models must significantly revise employment contracts, scheduling practices, and cost projections. Cancellation pay and the prohibition on blanket exclusivity arrangements are likely to be particularly impactful.

Major Overhaul of Parental Leave

The Bill completely restructures the parental leave regime in the BCEA following the Constitutional Court’s Van Wyk decision, which found the previous distinctions unconstitutional.

The new framework replaces Sections 25, 25A and 25B. The BCEA will now recognise “parental leave” as a single entitlement accessible to all parents, including biological, adoptive and commissioning parents.

 Core entitlements are as follows:

• If a single parent or only one parent is employed, the employee is entitled to four consecutive months of parental leave.
• If both parents are employed, they share a collective entitlement of four months and ten days, which they may divide between them by agreement – concurrently or consecutively. Neither parent may take more than four months.
• In the case of a miscarriage or stillbirth in the third trimester, six weeks’ parental leave is provided in keeping with previous provisions.
• The adoption leave age threshold increased with parental leave now applying to adoptions of children up to six years old (previously this was for children aged under two years).

 New notice obligations mean that employees must give at least four weeks’ written notice of both the commencement and end of parental leave. If both parents are employed, each must notify their respective employer, and provide any agreement reached on how the leave will be shared.

Default rules if parents do not agree are as follows:

• Birth mothers: The birth mother may take up to four months; the other parent receives ten days plus any part that the birth mother does not take.
• Adoption/surrogacy: Leave must be shared as equally as possible.

 Corresponding amendments to the UIA introduce 17.32 weeks of parental benefits for a single parent or sole contributor, or 17.32 weeks plus ten days shared between two contributors. The benefit payment will be at 66% of earnings.

What this means for employers: HR leave policies, payroll systems and parental leave contracts must be rewritten. The traditional “maternity vs parental vs adoption leave” structure is abolished.

Statutory Severance Pay Doubled

Section 41 of the BCEA is amended to increase statutory severance pay from one week per completed year of service to two weeks per completed year of service.

This applies to dismissals for operational requirements and insolvency‑related terminations. Transitional provisions specify that the increased rate applies only to years of service commencing after the Act takes effect.

Additionally, the Bill clarifies that disputes solely about severance pay fall within the jurisdiction of the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) or the relevant bargaining council. This is no longer restricted to disputes only in terms of Section 41 of the BCEA.

What this means for employers: Retrenchment costs will rise significantly, and dispute mechanisms have been broadened. Employers should begin modelling financial scenarios now, particularly in volatile industries.

Stronger Enforcement Mechanisms for Benefit Fund Contributions

The Bill introduces new enforcement architecture for unpaid retirement, medical aid, and other benefit fund contributions.

Key additions include the following:

• Section 62B (BCEA) deems non‑payment of fund contributions equivalent to non‑payment of remuneration, allowing labour inspectors and the CCMA to enforce these amounts.
• Section 77B empowers the Labour Court, CCMA, and bargaining councils to order payment of outstanding amounts to the fund, plus interest at the rate prescribed under Section 13A of the Pension Funds Act.
• Jurisdiction is excluded where the Pension Funds Adjudicator has already issued a determination.

 What this means for employers: Non‑payment of fund contributions – often a high‑risk area – is more directly enforceable and will attract interest and potential penalties.

Expanded Definition of “Employee” for Enforcement and Dispute‑Resolution Purposes

To address the growing use of disguised self‑employment and platform‑based contracting, the Bill inserts Section 50A and amends related sections. This expanded definition applies specifically for enforcement chapters dealing with compliance and minimum standards.

Any individual performing work is presumed to be an employee unless the employer proves ALL of the following:

1. The person is not under the employer’s direction or control.
2. The person is not part of the employer’s organisation.
3. The person does not perform services for the employer’s clients on terms set by the employer.

This narrows the scope for misclassification and strengthens protections for dependent contractors.

What this means for employers: Contractor arrangements – especially in logistics, telecommunications, hospitality and online service platforms – will require review to avoid inadvertent BCEA non‑compliance.

Trade Unions Empowered to Accompany Labour Inspectors

The newly inserted Section 65A obliges inspectors to ensure that at least one trade union representative accompanies them during inspections. Representatives may participate in consultations and accompany inspectors throughout the workplace.

What this means for employers: Expect greater union involvement in inspections, which may increase scrutiny and facilitate faster escalation of compliance issues.

Compliance Orders: Stricter Rules and Enhanced CCMA Powers

Amendments to Sections 69, 73, and 73A significantly strengthen enforcement:

• Employers must provide financial security equal to the amount in a compliance order when referring a dispute to the CCMA.
• The CCMA may condone late referrals “on good cause”.
• Arbitrators may now confirm, vary or set aside compliance orders; impose fines payable to employees; and immediately issue arbitration awards enforcing orders.

 What this means for employers: The window for avoiding compliance consequences is narrower, and enforcement will be faster and more costly if non‑compliance persists.

National Minimum Wage Act

Amendments to Sections 4 and 5 clarify that deferred payments such as bonuses, future allowances, or delayed earnings cannot be used to satisfy minimum wage requirements. Only the direct, in‑money payment for ordinary hours of work counts. This amendment follows litigation suggesting that loopholes existed, with these now decisively closed.

 What this means for employers: Businesses using incentive-heavy or deferred‑compensation models must ensure that basic hourly or monthly pay still meets the minimum wage. Compliance auditing will be essential.

Broader Access to Harassment Claims at the CCMA

Section 10 of the EEA is amended to allow all harassment claims – not only sexual harassment claims – to be referred to the CCMA for arbitration if conciliation fails. This reduces fragmented litigation and recognises that harassment claims often involve multiple intersecting forms of discrimination.

Additionally, Section 53 is amended to clarify that an employer issued with a Certificate of Compliance under the EEA is deemed compliant under other laws – reducing duplication.

What this means for employers: Harassment policies should be reviewed to cover psychological, gender‑based, racial, or other forms of harassment, with increased likelihood of CCMA scrutiny and easier access to dispute resolution mechanisms.

UIA Restructured to align with the New Parental Leave Regime

The Bill repeals and re‑enacts the UIA’s parental benefit sections (24–29C). It establishes:

• A single set of parental benefits applicable across birth, adoption and surrogacy.
• Shared entitlements between two contributors.
• Payment at 66% of ordinary earnings.
• Eligibility restricted to contributors with at least 13 weeks of prior employment.

 What this means for employers: Payroll departments must adjust UI‑19 and parental‑benefit guidance. HR teams must advise employees accurately on benefit eligibility.

Changes affecting Small and New Businesses

The Bill includes pro‑flexibility provisions for smaller employers:

• On‑call protections (Section 9B) do not apply to employers with fewer than ten employees.
• Under the LRA (in the related separate Bill), newly established businesses employing fewer than 50 employees may be exempt from certain bargaining council agreements for two years.

 What this means for employers: Start‑ups and small entities receive some regulatory relief, though core labour standards remain applicable.

Conclusion

The Labour Law Amendment Bill, 2025 represents a decisive evolution in South Africa’s labour regulatory framework. Employers should urgently begin reviewing their:

• Employment contracts.
• Parental leave and HR policies.
• Payroll and benefit systems.
• Contractor relationships.
• Inspection and compliance protocols.
• Retrenchment budgeting.
• Minimum wage and remuneration structures.

The Bill is still open for public comment, but the direction is clear: There is stronger worker protection, modernisation of parental rights, higher enforcement pressure, and tighter regulation of non‑standard work.

Comments can be emailed to Hlukani Mabunda at Hlukani.Mabunda@labour.gov.za or Kopano Kgatlhanye at Kopano.Kgatlhanye@labour.gov.za by no later than Saturday, 28 March 2026.

The government gazette can be viewed here.