South Africa is considered to have some of the longest working hours in the world, but to change this would require massive increases in wages and changes to the country’s labour laws.
In a parliamentary Q&A back in 2023, the Department of Employment and Labour (DEL) said there was a possibility of reducing working hours in South Africa.
However, the department added that while feasibility studies had been conducted in the past, further research and new studies are needed to examine the possibility of further reducing them.
The Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA) provides that the maximum normal working hours allowed are 45 hours weekly (excluding overtime).
As of February 2025, this applies to all workers in South Africa who earn below a certain threshold, which is set at R254,371.67 per year (R21,197.64 per month).
According to the DEL, although the BCEA specifies 45 hours, this does not mean employers should regard 45 hours as the going rate.
“The BCEA allows for the hours to be revised downward through collective bargaining agreements and contractual agreements entered into between employers and employees,” it said.
The call to reduce working hours came after past research from Oxford University and the International Labour Organisation (ILO).
According to the report, South African workers have some of the longest working hours in the world. To this end, the DEL said it aims to reduce work hours to a 40-hour week.
However, ILO’s latest data shows that South Africans don’t work that much longer than the rest of the world, averaging 42.6 hours per work, which is not even among the top 50 hardest-working countries.
Even when measuring ‘excessive’ hours of work (49 hours or more per week), only 17% of the working population clocks these numbers—again, not even within the top 50.
Nevertheless, a scenario still exists that could reduce the number of hours South Africans work across the country.
What it would take to cut working hours in South Africa
To reduce working hours in South Africa, it would take a scenario where all workers earn a high enough wage per hour that allows them to work less but maintain a liveable total take-home pay package every month.
This is according to Development economist Dieter Von Fintel from Stellenbosch University, who told BusinessTech that this is generally the case in wealthier countries with shorter working hours than in South Africa.
“The average worker in a rich country can afford to work less but still be paid a good salary at the end of the month, without productivity is not necessarily negatively affected,” he said.
“We [South Africa] need to think of a scenario where firms pay minimum wages that are much higher than they currently are, and that would allow workers to earn enough to work significantly shorter weeks,” he added.
Von Fintel further explained that South African workers earn very little per hour, so they want to work longer hours to increase their monthly total take-home pay.
For instance, it may not be worth it for a worker to pay a high taxi fare and then work too few hours per day to be able to pay the taxi fare to get home and still put food on the table.
At a low wage rate, workers are incentivised to work longer shifts to make it worthwhile to accept a job—to be able to afford something as simple as transport costs, which do not go down if workers work fewer hours per day.
Currently, the National Minimum Wage (NMW) is R27.58 per hour. For a worker putting in an 8-hour day, this translates to about R220.64 daily and R4,633.44 monthly, assuming a 21-day work month.
Research from the PMBEJD Group shows that, as of February 2025, this wage falls short of a liveable total take-home pay.
The research shows that the current minimum wage leaves a worker about R2,000 short each month when considering the most basic household expenses, such as transportation, electricity, and food.
“If work hours are capped/reduced for these workers without increasing hourly wages, it may not be worth their while to choose to work at all.
“For this reason, minimum wage legislation could be an important complement to capping work hours,” said Von Fintel.
Interestingly, while there is no set ‘livable’ wage workers need to earn at the same time working hours are reduced, the PMBEJD Group’s data gives a good idea.
The data, based on their Basic Nutritional Food Basket for a family of four in major South African cities, shows that even after accounting for essentials, a person earning the minimum wage will struggle to meet the basic living costs.
The data reveals that a wage of R6,633.02 per month is the minimum necessary for dignity and functionality. This works out to R301.50 per day or an NMW of R37.69 per hour.
Von Fintel added that the evidence suggests that in many sectors, minimum wages, as they have been implemented in South Africa, did not destroy employment but reduced work hours.
However, he cautioned that we [South Africa] need to know more about “how far” we can increase minimum wages to ensure that firms can afford to create jobs while making it worthwhile for workers to work fewer hours at higher pay.
“We are unsure whether such a large jump in minimum wages could have adverse effects on job loss. Current evidence suggests that minimum wages are fairly benign to employment in South Africa.
“However, they are currently set at low levels where workers may not be able to afford work-hour reductions,” he added.
Von Fintel also noted that, organisationally, collective bargaining councils already limit work weeks to levels lower than the legislated maximum in various sectors.
However, this does not cover all workers. The BCEA would have to be changed to adapt it to uncovered sectors.
This article first appeared on BusinessTech.
