NATIONAL NEWS - The national minimum wage – R18 an hour for farmworkers and R15 an hour for domestic workers – will be phased in for these two categories of workers, the Minister of Labour Mildred Oliphant has said.

The national minimum wage will be introduced on May 1.

“The reason for that, for a phase-in approach, was because we are using currently sectoral determinations, and we say they must be part of the level of the national minimum wage,” Oliphant said.

She said other factors that influenced the introduction of the new minimum wage farm and domestic workers were considerations of the current pay levels for workers in both these sectors and that organising these workers for purposes of wage negotiations was a challenge.

“But we are encouraging them to come together so that they can be able to say we will be able to negotiate with employers,” Oliphant said.

She added another challenge with organising domestic workers was that they were employed by individuals, and at times, domestic workers become afraid to hold wage negotiations with their respective employers.

The minister said employers were also encouraged to register domestic workers, and in instances where the workers are not registered, then the worker should contact the National Unemployment Fund.

Read more on the Caxton publication, The Citizen.