Section 6(3) of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (“BCEA”) states that the Minister of Employment and Labour (“the Minister”) may exclude the application of Chapter Two of the BCEA to a category of employees earning in excess of a determined amount. This threshold is often referred to as the “BCEA threshold”. Chapter Two is titled Regulation of Working Time and includes all the working time provisions such as ordinary hours, overtime, Sundays, public holidays, meal intervals, etcetera. In simple terms, if you earn more than the BCEA threshold, these provisions may not apply to you, depending on which provisions of the BCEA the Minister has elected to exclude you from applying to these employees. This is usually the basis on which people are excluded from being paid overtime, for example.

The BCEA Threshold remained unchanged for years being set at an annual figure of R205 433.30 from 1 July 2014 until 2021. However, since 2021, the Minister has become diligent in increasing the BCEA Threshold annually.  Below is a breakdown of the BCEA increases:

Applicability Period	BCEA Threshold Per Annum	BCEA Threshold Per Month
1 July 2014 – 28 February 2021	R205 433.30	R17 119.44
1 March 2021 – 28 February 2022	R211 596.30	R17 663.03
1 March 2022 – 28 February 2023	R224 080.48	R18 673.37
1 March 2023 – 31 March 2024	R241 110.59	R20 092.55
1 April 2024 –	R254 371.67	R21 197.64

Before we evaluate which provisions of the BCEA do not apply to employees earning above the 2024 threshold of R254 371.67 per annum or R21 197.64 per month, it is important to understand how “earnings” are calculated. In the various determinations, the Minister usually includes a description of “earnings” as follows:

“Earnings” means the regular annual remuneration before deductions i.e. income tax, pension, medical and similar payments but excluding similar payments (contributions) made by the employer in respect of the employee: Provided that subsistence and transport allowances received, achievement awards and payments for overtime worked shall not be regarded as remuneration for the purposes of this notice”.

Earnings therefore includes any gross remuneration paid to the employee per annum except for:

1. Pension, medical aid, group life risk, or similar contributions paid by the employer;
2. Transport, accommodation, food, or other sustenance allowances;
3. Bonuses for the reward of any achievement; and
4. Overtime payments.

Having determined what “earnings” means, the next question is what impact this BCEA threshold has on employees earning above the threshold in terms of the BCEA.  

BCEA Exclusions

Sections 9 – 12; 14 – 16; 17(2) and 18(3) of the BCEA do not apply to employees earning above the BCEA threshold. These provisions are as follows:

Section	Title	Effect
Section 9	Ordinary Hours of Work	The limitation of 45 ordinary hours, eight hours a day if working more than five days a week, or nine hours a day if working five or fewer days a wewek does not apply.
Section 10	Overtime	The limitation of ten overtime hours per week in addition to the right to be paid overtime does not apply.
Section 11	Compressed Working Week	The need for an agreement in writing to work up to 12 hours per day subject to certain conditions does not apply.
Section 12	Averaging of Hours	This section is not applicable.
Section 14	Meal Intervals	The need to provide a meal interval after five continuous hours of work does not apply.
Section 15	Daily and Weekly Rest Periods	The minimum daily and weekly rest periods, in addition to the weekly rest period including a Sunday, does not apply.
Section 16	Pay for Work on Sundays	This is not obligatory for employees earning above the threshold.
Section 17(2)	Night Work – only a certain section	The obligation to pay an employee a night shift allowance in addition to the obligation to ensure transport is available does not apply to those earning above the BCEA threshold.
Section 18(3)	Public Holidays – only a certain section	The requirement to pay an employee who works on a public holiday that he or she does not normally work his or her ordinary wage plus any amount earned by the employee for work performed on that day is excluded.   Notably, employees who earn above the threshold are still entitled to payment for public holidays at their normal rate if they do not work and double if they do.

In addition to exclusions from the BCEA, employees earning above the BCEA threshold are also excluded from various provisions of the Labour Relations Act (“LRA”) and are limited in terms of the matters they can refer to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation, and Arbitration (“CCMA”) in terms of the Employment Equity Act (“EEA”).

Reach out to us if you need any assistance on the impact of the BCEA threshold or would like to update your employment agreements to ensure that you are not giving employees more than what they are statutorily owed if this has a detrimental impact on your business.