Minimum Wage Calculator South Africa 2026

South Africa's national minimum wage: 2026 update

South Africa's National Minimum Wage (NMW) is set at R30.23 per ordinary hour worked, effective 1 March 2026. This rate was announced by the Minister of Employment and Labour on 3 February 2026 in Government Gazette No. 54075, and represents a 5% increase from the previous rate of R28.79 per hour.

The NMW is the legal floor for every worker the Act covers: R30.23 an hour for most, R16.62 for EPWP workers (Schedule 1) and a weekly allowance for learners on a registered learnership (Schedule 2). It overrides any lower rate in a contract, collective agreement or sectoral determination (section 4(6)), and it applies to full-time, part-time and casual workers alike. An employer who pays below the NMW is in breach of the National Minimum Wage Act No. 9 of 2018 and may face enforcement action, penalties and a back-pay order.

What the 2026 rate means in practice

The BCEA caps ordinary hours at 45 a week, and at 8 a day for anyone who works more than five days a week (section 9(1)), so the six-day row includes 3 hours of overtime at 1.5 times (section 10(2)). Overtime itself is capped at 10 hours a week (section 10(1)(b)), or 15 for a domestic worker (Sectoral Determination 7, clause 11(1)(b)) or a farm worker (Sectoral Determination 13, clause 13(1)(b)), and the calculator warns you when a pattern goes past it. EPWP work has no overtime clause; the EPWP section below sets out its limits. Our guide to working hours in South Africa sets out the daily and weekly limits in full.

Who does the minimum wage apply to?

The NMW applies to all workers in South Africa except members of the South African National Defence Force, the National Intelligence Agency and the South African Secret Service, and unpaid volunteers (NMW Act section 3). The Act defines a worker as anyone who works for another and is paid, or is entitled to be paid, for that work, in money or in kind, so it includes part-time workers, casual workers, temporary workers and home-based workers.

Domestic workers: now at full NMW

Domestic workers are entitled to the full NMW of R30.23 per hour from 1 March 2026. Their rate was brought in line with the standard NMW in 2022, closing a historical gap where domestic workers were paid at a lower rate. This means cleaning staff, nannies, gardeners and housekeepers all earn the same minimum as other workers. Our domestic worker calculator, linked in the box above, works out full pay including accommodation deductions and UIF.

Employers of domestic workers should be aware of an important deduction rule: if accommodation is provided, the employer may deduct a maximum of 10% of the worker's wage for that accommodation, not the full value of the accommodation.

Farm workers: also at full NMW

Farm workers are equally entitled to R30.23 per hour from 1 March 2026. They reached the full national minimum on 1 March 2021, a year before domestic workers. A farm worker employed for more than six months is entitled to four weeks' notice (BCEA section 37(1)(c)).

EPWP workers: separate rate

Workers employed under the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) fall under a separate rate of R16.62 per hour from 1 March 2026, up from R15.83. The EPWP covers government-funded public works projects, and its rate is written into Schedule 1 of the NMW Act itself (item 2(c)), so it is not a lower rate an employer chooses. Ministerial Determination 3 limits EPWP work to 40 hours a week, 8 hours a day and five days a week (clause 3.1), or four days of up to 10 hours by agreement (clause 3.2), and a task-rated worker at most 55 hours a week (clause 3.3); it has no overtime clause. The calculator prices hours inside those limits and flags any pattern past them.

Sector-specific minimum wages (sectoral determinations and bargaining councils)

Some sectors set their own minimums, at or above the general R30.23/hour floor. Contract cleaning and wholesale and retail do it through a sectoral determination, both updated in Government Gazette No. 54075 from 1 March 2026. Private security, and restaurants in Johannesburg and the East Rand, do it through a bargaining-council agreement the Minister of Employment and Labour has extended to every employer it covers.

Contract cleaning (Sectoral Determination 1)

Contract cleaning employees are entitled to a higher minimum wage than the general NMW, with the rate depending on location:

In KwaZulu-Natal, contract cleaning wages and conditions are governed by the collective agreement of the Bargaining Council for the Contract Cleaning Service Industry (BCCCI) rather than the SD1 rates above.

Wholesale and retail (Sectoral Determination 9)

The wholesale and retail sector has its own job-category-based wage scale, also higher than the general NMW for most roles. A sample of full-time (more than 27 hours/week) rates:

Area A covers major metropolitan and local municipalities (Cape Town, Johannesburg, Tshwane, Ekurhuleni, eThekwini and others listed in the gazette); Area B covers municipalities not listed under Area A. The full schedule covers 15 job categories from general assistant through to manager, with separate rates for employees working 27 hours or less per week; see Government Gazette No. 54075 for the complete table.

Private security guards (NBCPSS)

Security guards are covered by the National Bargaining Council for the Private Security Sector (NBCPSS) Main Collective Agreement, extended by the Minister of Employment and Labour to bind every employer in the sector, not just its signatories. Rates are set by pricing area and grade (Government Gazette No. 50065, 1 March 2026 to 28 February 2027), and all of them sit above the general R30.23/hour NMW:

The agreement sets a monthly wage, and that monthly figure is the rate (R8,184 a month for a Grade A guard in Area 1 or 2, for example). The hourly figures above are each monthly wage divided by 208 hours: the agreement's 48-hour ordinary week (clause 7(1)(a)) over four and one-third weeks, not the general 45-hour BCEA week used elsewhere on this page. So the calculator gives a guard on 48 ordinary hours exactly the monthly wage, a guard on a shorter week a proportionally lower amount, and pays hours past 48 a week as overtime at 1.5 times.

Restaurant and catering trade

The old sector-wide Sectoral Determination 14 for hospitality is not confirmed to still be in force: the National Minimum Wage Commission's own December 2025 report recorded a stakeholder submission noting that the hospitality, forestry and taxi sectoral determinations "appear to have become outdated and have effectively ceased to exist," and the Commission did not dispute it. Hotel, lodge and B&B staff therefore fall under the general R30.23/hour NMW like most other workers.

Restaurants and caterers in Johannesburg and the East Rand are different. The Bargaining Council for the Restaurant, Catering and Allied Trades (BCRCAT) sets hourly rates by job category, and the Minister has extended its agreement to every employer in its area (Government Notice R. 4776, Government Gazette No. 50609). The rates in force from 1 June 2026 to 31 May 2027:

Every rate in the table is above the R30.23 national minimum, and any BCRCAT rate below it rises to it (the agreement's own proviso, and NMW Act section 4(6)). A new employee on probation may be paid up to 10% less for up to three months, and a new or small employer may pay up to 10% less, never below R30.23. In Pretoria, the Bargaining Council for the Food Retail, Restaurant, Catering & Allied Trades (BCFood) still carries 2022 rates below the national minimum, so R30.23 applies there. Everywhere else, restaurant and catering staff are paid at least the general R30.23 an hour.

Taxi and forestry sectors: no current distinct rate

The old Sectoral Determinations 11 (taxi) and 12 (forestry) are among those a stakeholder submission in the National Minimum Wage Commission's December 2025 report said had effectively ceased to exist, and the Commission did not dispute it. Neither sector has a bargaining council wage on the Department of Employment and Labour's current register. If you drive a minibus taxi or work in forestry, the general R30.23/hour NMW applies to you like it does to most other workers; we found no verified separate taxi or forestry rate.

Learnership allowances (Schedule 2)

Workers on a registered learnership agreement under the Skills Development Act are paid a weekly allowance instead of the NMW, scaled by NQF level and the number of credits already earned:

Between the entry band and the top band, the allowance steps up every 120 credits. An NQF Level 4 learner, for example, gets R910.04 a week on 121 to 240 credits and R1,402.87 on 241 to 360, before R2,047.41 on 361 to 480 (Government Gazette No. 54075, Schedule 2).

Step-by-step minimum wage calculation

How much should a domestic worker who works 6 hours a day, 5 days a week earn per month?

Our overtime calculator, linked above, gives a full breakdown of overtime, Sunday and public holiday rates. For a week with different hours each day, the work hours calculator checks your hours against the BCEA limits.

Am I being paid fairly?

Enter your current hourly wage in the calculator above and it will instantly tell you whether you are being paid below, at or above the minimum for your category. If you are being paid below the minimum, you have the right to raise this with your employer, and if unresolved, to refer a claim for the unpaid amount to the CCMA (BCEA section 73A).

Keep in mind that the NMW is a floor, not a target. Many South African workers, and most formal sector employees, earn well above the minimum wage. The NMW exists to protect the most vulnerable workers in informal, casual and domestic employment where bargaining power is lowest.

Being paid minimum wage doesn't put you outside the UIF system. Most employees earning R30.23/hour, including domestic and farm workers, must still be registered for UIF, with 1% deducted from their wage and matched by their employer; the main exception is someone who works fewer than 24 hours a month for one employer (Unemployment Insurance Contributions Act section 4(1)(a)). Use our UIF calculator to work out your monthly contribution and what you could claim if you're ever between jobs.

History of the South African minimum wage

Frequently Asked Questions