Many employees wonder if there’s anything they can do if their salary isn’t paid on time. Can you refuse to go to work until you get paid? Is there anything you can do about it? These are valid questions. Unfortunately, most employees aren’t aware that in terms of the law (Section 32(3) of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act), employers have a grace period of 7 days to pay salaries, and this is 7 days after the end of the payment period.
This is important to understand because, technically speaking, the payment period runs until the end of the month. This means that if you usually get paid on the 25th of the month, the payment period will run until the last day of that month. Your employer then has 7 days after this period to pay you without breaking any laws. Your employer can pay you on the 7th of the following month and still be within the law.
If you decide not to go into work as a kind of protest against not being paid on time, you should be careful. Legally, your employer can take disciplinary steps against you because they have not broken the law by paying you late (unless they pay you after the 7-day grace period). If this is the case, you should speak to your employer about the situation and make use of the company’s internal grievance procedures.
It’s only after the 7-day grace period that you can take the matter of late payment of salaries further. You can then go to the Department of Labour and lodge a complaint against your employer for them to investigate. You need to lodge your complaint within 12 months of the date on which the issue arose.
Employees who earn less than R 205 443.30 per year and who don’t qualify to refer the matter to the Department of Labour must either deal with the matter internally or proceed with a civil claim against the employer. If you’ve tried all the internal processes and are still unhappy, you can refer the matter to the CCMA or Bargaining Council as an unfair labour practice. For the referral to be valid, you must report the issue within 90 days and you must still be employed by the company.
Tips:
- Employers have a 7-day grace period within which to pay your salary
- After the grace period, you can report them to the Department of Labour
If you have a query, follow us on our Facebook page and ask your question during our next live Q&A (the first Thursday of every month).
* This is only basic advice and cannot be relied on solely.