By: John Botha - Joint-CEO, Global Business Solutions

South Africa's unemployment rate hovers above 33%. Every serious economic conversation in this country, eventually returns to the same urgent question: how do we create more jobs?

Yet sitting quietly in an annual government gazette, is a number that may be working against that goal. Not through bad intent, but through a consequence few are openly discussing.

That number is the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA) earnings threshold. And it deserves a national conversation.

What it is and why it matters

The BCEA threshold is not a minimum wage. It is the line that determines which employees qualify for overtime pay, Sunday premiums, night shift allowances and public holiday rates. Earn below it, and employers are required to pay premium rates forloo overtime, Sundays and Public Holidays. Earn above it, and those protections fall away entirely.

Currently set at R269,600 per annum following its May 2026 adjustment, the threshold sounds technical. Its consequences are anything but. In retail, security, logistics and healthcare, sectors that run around the clock and employ hundreds of thousands of South Africans, this number shapes every roster decision, every hiring conversation and every cost calculation a business makes.

The unintended consequence hiding in the data

Between 2024 and 2026, the threshold rose from R241,110 to R269,600. In 2024 it increased by approximately 5.5%, marginally ahead of consumer price inflation at around 5.3%. In 2025 and 2026, adjustments tracked inflation closely at 3%.

On the surface, responsible and measured. Look deeper and a pattern begins to emerge.

When the threshold rises, even at inflation, employers in high-hours industries face an expanding pool of employees who qualify for premium pay. More workers cross into overtime eligibility. Sunday rosters cost more. Night operations carry greater liability. The rational employer response is often not to not absorb cost, but to reduce hours, delay hiring or accelerate automation.

In a country desperate for employment growth, particularly among youth and entry-level workers, particularly in labour-intensive sectors that create jobs at scale, that is a consequence worth examining honestly.

What employers should be doing right now

Smart employers are not waiting for a policy resolution. They are acting decisively within the current framework.

The most important step is deliberate role design. Positions that can be enhanced with broader skill sets and responsibilities should be reviewed, providing growth for both the business and the employee. Those that genuinely require managerial discretion should be structured clearly above the threshold.

Roles below the threshold require tighter working time controls and robust time-and-attendance systems to prevent unbudgeted premium-pay exposure creeping into the cost base unnoticed.

Remuneration architecture also needs attention. Allowances, commissions and bonuses need to be analysed to establish how they impact the threshold calculation.

Finally, employers should treat the threshold as a strategic input, reviewed annually alongside salary budgets, not as an administrative footnote discovered during a Department of Employment and Labour audit.

The conversation we still need to have

None of this diminishes the principle behind the threshold. Workers in demanding, irregular and unsocial hours deserve protection. That is not in question. What is worth asking openly is whether the current trajectory of the threshold is achieving its protective intent without creating friction in the labour market South Africa most urgently needs to activate.

When the cost of flexible or extended hours rises faster than productivity, employers do not always find creative solutions. Sometimes they simply hire fewer people.

In a country that cannot afford that outcome, this deserves more than a gazette notice once a year. It deserves urgent and honest debate.