SEIFSA says R99 is a lie. Here’s the arithmetic

Dear Steel Industry employer

R99 per hour.

That is the minimum cost-to-company of employing an unskilled, entry-level worker in South Africa’s Metal and Engineering sector. Not R71. Not close to R71. R99 — once you account for UIF, SDL, COIDA, provident fund, leave enhancement pay, and every other cost item that moves when the base wage moves.

SEIFSA is calling that figure misleading. NEASA Chief Executive, Gerhard Papenfus, explains, in plain terms, why it is not.

The more important number: apply the same 40% on-cost loading to the national minimum wage and you get R42.32 per hour. The MEIBC is R99. Steel sector employers are paying more than twice the national floor for their most junior employees.

And in the Motor Industry — also covered by NUMSA — the entry-level minimum wage is 48% of the Steel sector rate.

Same union. Very different outcomes. The variable is the negotiators.

The below episode of The Employers’ Voice is essential viewing for every employer in the sector.

For more information
NEASA Media Department
media@neasa.co.za