Minimum wage violation in South Africa

Abstract

Abstract: This article aims to provide a more solid, quantified basis for policy debate over minimum wage levels and their enforcement in South Africa – and in other developing countries. Matching data from the 2007 Labour Force Survey to the occupational and locational specifications of gazetted minimum wages, the authors present estimates of minimum wage violation in South Africa. They find that 44 per cent of covered workers get paid wages below the statutory minimum, with an average shortfall of 35 per cent of the minimum wage. Around these averages, violation is most prevalent in the security, forestry and farming sectors.