PAYROLL: Timeframe for payment of deducted contributions: Comments invited.

Dear employer

The Minister of Employment and Labour has issued a notice inviting interested parties to comment on her proposal to amend the timelines within which employers must pay over deducted contributions from their employees’ remuneration to benefit funds (such as pension, provident, retirement, or similar funds).

The proposed amendment seeks to return the regulation of these payments to fall under the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA), which requires that employers must pay the amounts to the fund within seven days of the deduction (the BCEA seven-day-from-deduction/payment rule). Funds regulated by the Pension Funds Act (PFA) have been excluded from this timeline since 2003.

Currently, the applied timeline is prescribed by the PFA which requires that payments must be made seven days after the end of the month for which the contribution is due, which is usually the 7th of the following month.

The practical implication of this amendment is that if payroll and deductions run on the 25th of a month, payment would need to reach the Fund by roughly the 1st of the following month (seven days after deduction), instead of the 7th (seven days after month-end). Therefore, where payroll falls before month-end, employers will have to prepare to bring contribution payments forward to accommodate the shorter period window.

The proposed change may have operational and/or cost implications for employers who will have to change their payroll calendars, cash-flow planning etc. to accommodate the change. Additionally, this amendment will also grant Labour Inspectors explicit authority to monitor and enforce the timeous payment of contributions.

Employers who could be negatively affected by these changes are encouraged to submit comments to unathiramabulana@labour.gov.za by 17 September 2025.

For more information

NEASA Media Department

media@neasa.co.za

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