National minimum wage : a comparative study between Germany and South Africa
- Authors: Tshete, Vusumzi Victor
- Date: 2021-04
- Subjects: Gqeberha (South Africa) , Eastern Cape (South Africa) , Minimum wage--Law and legislation
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/51183 , vital:43227
- Description: This comparative research study attempted to provide the comparative analysis between the Germany’s MiLoG and the South African NMWA. The study has adopted the ILO definition of the Minimum Wage as the minimum amount of remuneration that an employer is required to pay wage earners for the work performed during a given period, which cannot be reduced by a collective agreement or an individual contract The Desk review was an appropriate data collection method for the present research studies. Desk research refers to secondary data that was collected without fieldwork. This included reviewal of libraries and the internet, that includes Journals; newspapers; clippings; reports; government statistics; dictionaries; books, On-line databases, Internet sources, legislations and case laws. The multiple research questions that will be addressed by the study question involve the regulation of the implementation of the NMW, the effectiveness and efficiency of the implementation of the NMW between South Africa and Germany, the impact of the NMW in addressing inequality, poverty and unemployment or socio-economic challenges, as well the overall role of the NMW in the entire labour between the two countries. The present study conducted a literature review on the historical development of the Minimum Wage in South Africa and Germany, the legislative framework around the Minimum Wage in both countries. The literature review also covered the impact of NMW on poverty alleviation and Wage inequalities. The literature further covered, the differences between the implementation of the MiLoG in the case of Germany and the NMWA in the case of South Africa. The literature also covered adjusting amendment and monitoring compliance including the best practices. The findings of the study is that the overarching purpose of introducing a NMW had multi- faceted purpose function such as of transforming the country’s inordinately unequal wage structure while at the same time redressing the inherent poverty, inequalities and transformation of the unequal wage structures both in South Africa and Germany. The Minimum Wage is implemented to prevent workers from earning very low wages. In both 3 countries the Minimum Wage is backed by the legislative framework. Processes to measure and enforce compliance are prevalent in both countries; however, the study found that it is very sophisticated to estimate the exact extent of non-compliance. The study further revealed that the effectiveness of Minimum Wages was seen to depend entirely on their policy design, implementation, and adoption as well as compliance measures. The success of the Minimum Wage solely depend on the compliance rate by employers, hence the study recommends that the New Minimum Wage legislation needs to ensure higher rates of compliance. The effective Minimum Wage should put measures in place to ensure that the compliance enforcement measures are practically implemented. A room still exists for both countries to mitigate wage inequalities that will benefit mostly the vulnerable employees. The study revealed that the NMW Commission needs to be capacitated with resources. A need of recruiting highly qualified inspectors was identified in order to strengthen the process of monitoring and ensuring compliance. The study further revealed that the appropriate Minimum Wage needs a collaborative participation of all stakeholders such as employers, the state, employees, trade unions, employer’s organization, bargaining councils, the member of public in order to achieve its professed mandate. , Thesis (LLM) -- Faculty of Law, Mercantile Law, 2021
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2021-04
The impact of the minimum wage in South Africa
- Authors: Brown, Kenrick
- Date: 2021-04
- Subjects: Gqeberha (South Africa) , Eastern Cape (South Africa) , Minimum wage--Law and legislation
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/51202 , vital:43224
- Description: On the 20th anniversary of freedom and democracy in South Africa, the government announced its intention to introduce a national minimum wage. The announcement made it clear that the intention was not to introduce a residual wage floor, but to rather completely transform the country’s inordinately unequal wage structure. “Change will not come about without some far-reaching interventions. … As government, we will, during this term, investigate the possibility of a national minimum wage as one of the key mechanisms to reduce income inequality.”1 Minimum wages are geared towards establishing wage floors, which are the bare minimum that employees are allowed to pay employees. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) describes minimum wages as remuneration that covers the basic needs of workers and their families, taking into account relevant economic factors.2 National minimum wages of course set these minimum wage floors at a national, economy-wide level. In South Africa, the stated purpose of a national minimum wage has the multi-purpose function of setting a national wage floor in order to reduce poverty and inequality in order to transform the inherently unequal wage structure radically that still exists in South Africa post-apartheid. Before 1st of January 2019 when the national minimum wage became effective, South Africa had minimum wages, but this was prescribed per sector of the economy. Particularly in unorganised sectors a nationally set minimum wage increased the scope and ease of enforcement for minimum wages in comparison to sectoral wage determinations. In short, it covers all employees in all industries, whereas sectoral determinations did not. Furthermore, a national minimum wage would be far more easily set to take into consideration broader governmental policy considerations in comparison to diverse, multisector wage determinations that only target the employees and economic considerations of their sector. , Thesis (LLM) -- Faculty of Law, Mercantile Law, 2021
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2021-04