Minimum wage calculator

This calculator turns the national minimum wage into the number that matters to you: what you must be paid for the hours you actually work, by the week or by the month. If you enter what you are paid, it shows the shortfall. It is for workers who suspect they are underpaid, for households and small businesses that want to pay correctly, and for anyone who has been told "the minimum is R4 000 a month" and wants to know whether that is true. It usually is not, because the minimum is set per hour and the monthly figure depends on the hours.

The rate the calculator uses is the one in force from 1 March 2026 under the National Minimum Wage Act 9 of 2018. It is adjusted by notice every year, so the calculator reads the figure from a dated rate table rather than from the text of this page.

What this calculator works out and who it is for

South Africa has no minimum monthly salary. It has a minimum hourly wage, and everything else follows from the hours. A full-time worker on 45 hours a week and a part-time worker on 20 hours a week are owed the same rate for every hour and very different amounts at the end of the month. People are regularly misled by a monthly figure quoted for a 45-hour week and applied to a longer one.

You enter four things: your ordinary hours a week, whether you are a general worker or employed on the Expanded Public Works Programme, whether you are paid weekly or monthly, and, if you want the comparison, what you are actually paid for that period. The calculator returns the hourly rate, the weekly minimum, the monthly minimum, and, where you entered your pay, the shortfall or the margin above the minimum and your implied hourly rate.

Domestic workers and farm workers use the general rate. For several years after 2019 they were on lower rates, phased up each year; that ended, and they have been on the full national minimum since. Workers on the Expanded Public Works Programme have their own lower rate set in the same notice, which is why the calculator asks. Learners on learnerships have allowances set in a separate schedule to the Act and are outside this tool.

How the calculation works

The calculator reads the hourly rate for your worker type from the rate table. It multiplies that by your ordinary hours a week to get the weekly minimum. It converts the weekly figure to a monthly one by multiplying by 52 and dividing by 12, which is 4.333 weeks to a month, the same conversion the Basic Conditions of Employment Act uses when it moves between weekly and monthly pay. A calculator that multiplies the weekly figure by four understates the monthly minimum by about seven per cent, and a surprising number of them do.

If you enter what you are paid, it subtracts that from the minimum for the same period. A positive result is a shortfall; a negative one is shown as the margin above the minimum. It also divides your pay by your hours to show the hourly rate you are actually receiving, which is often the clearest way to see the problem.

Two things it does deliberately. It treats all the hours you enter as ordinary hours at the ordinary rate, so if you enter more than 45 it warns you that the excess is overtime and must be paid at a premium, but it does not add the premium, because the overtime calculator does that properly. And it only counts money. The Act is explicit that payment in kind, such as food, accommodation or transport, and allowances, tips, bonuses and gifts, may not be counted towards the minimum wage. If part of your "wage" is a room or meals, the calculator wants the cash figure only.

The law behind the numbers

The National Minimum Wage Act 9 of 2018 came into force on 1 January 2019. Section 4 gives every worker the right to a wage of not less than the national minimum, and provides that payment of at least the minimum is a term of the worker's contract whatever the contract says. A clause agreeing to less is simply overridden to the extent that it is lower, and a worker cannot waive the right. Section 5 sets out what counts: the wage is what is payable in money for ordinary hours of work, excluding gratuities and tips, bonuses, payments in kind, and allowances for transport, tools, equipment, food or accommodation, unless a sectoral determination says otherwise.

The Act also provides, through an amendment to the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, that a worker who works for less than four hours on a day must be paid for four hours. That protects people called in for short shifts. If you are asked to come in for two hours, you are owed four hours' pay at the minimum rate.

The rate itself is set by the Minister of Employment and Labour by notice in the Government Gazette, on the recommendation of the National Minimum Wage Commission, and is reviewed every year. The adjustment normally takes effect on 1 March. The rate in the calculator is the one effective from 1 March 2026 of R30.23 an hour for most workers and R16.62 an hour for workers on the Expanded Public Works Programme. Each year's notice also deals with learnership allowances and any remaining sectoral differences.

An employer can apply for an exemption from paying the full minimum. The exemption regulations allow a reduction of up to ten per cent for up to twelve months where the employer shows it cannot afford the full rate, and the application process involves the workers or their union. An exemption is a formal document; if an employer claims to have one, ask to see it.

Enforcement runs through the Basic Conditions of Employment Act. A worker can complain to a labour inspector, who can issue a compliance order at no cost to the worker. A worker earning below the earnings threshold can also refer a failure to pay the minimum wage to the CCMA for arbitration under section 73A, which is quick and free. The penalties for underpaying the minimum wage are set at the greater of twice the amount underpaid or twice the worker's monthly wage for a first offence, and three times for a repeat, which is one reason the shortfall figure the calculator produces is worth writing down.

Worked example

Thandi works as a shop assistant for 40 ordinary hours a week and is paid R4 600 a month. She is a general worker, so the rate is R30.23 an hour.

The weekly minimum is 40 hours multiplied by R30.23, which is R1 209.20. The monthly minimum is R1 209.20 multiplied by 52 and divided by 12, which is R5 239.87. Her pay of R4 600 is R639.87 a month short. Her implied hourly rate is R4 600 divided by 40 hours and by 4.333 weeks, which is about R26.54 an hour.

The calculator reports a shortfall of R639.87 a month and warns that she cannot agree to the lower figure, that a contract term below the minimum is invalid to that extent, and that she should work out the shortfall for each month she can document and raise it in writing before going to an inspector or the CCMA. Over twelve months the shortfall is about R7 678, which is the amount she is owed in back pay if the underpayment ran for a year.

Change one input and the picture changes. If Thandi worked 45 hours, the monthly minimum would be R5 894.85 and the shortfall nearly R1 300 a month. If she worked 25 hours, the monthly minimum would be R3 274.92 and R4 600 would be well above it. The hours drive everything.

What the calculator does not include

It does not add overtime, Sunday or public holiday premiums. Those are separate entitlements under the Basic Conditions of Employment Act and the overtime calculator on this site handles them, including the double rate for Sundays that are not ordinary working days.

It does not know about sectoral determinations or bargaining council agreements that set a higher minimum for a specific sector, such as contract cleaning, private security or the wholesale and retail sector. Where one applies, the higher sectoral figure is your minimum and this calculator understates it.

It does not calculate the learnership allowances in Schedule 2 of the Act, which depend on the NQF level and the credits already earned.

It does not deal with deductions. The minimum is a gross figure, and lawful deductions such as UIF and PAYE come off it afterwards. Unlawful deductions, such as for breakages or shortfalls without the proper procedure, are a separate problem; the salary deduction checker deals with those.

It does not apply an employer's exemption. If your employer holds a valid exemption, the permitted rate may be up to ten per cent below the figure shown.

When to get advice

For most underpayment cases you do not need a lawyer. Start by writing to the employer with the arithmetic from this calculator and asking for the shortfall to be corrected and the arrears paid. If that fails, a labour inspector or, if you earn below the earnings threshold, a CCMA referral under section 73A is free and designed for exactly this. The CCMA can arbitrate a minimum wage claim together with an unfair dismissal claim if raising the issue got you dismissed, which is itself an automatically unfair dismissal.

Get advice if the amounts are large, if the employer is disputing your hours and you have no records, if there is a sectoral determination or bargaining council agreement that may apply and you are not sure which, or if the employer claims an exemption and you doubt it. Keep your own record of hours worked from now on, in a notebook or your phone. The employer is obliged to keep hours records, but your own is the one you can produce.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a minimum monthly salary in South Africa? No. There is a minimum hourly rate. The monthly figure depends on the hours you work. For a 45-hour week the monthly minimum works out to about R5 895 from 1 March 2026, but a shorter week gives a lower monthly figure and the hourly rate is what the law protects.

Can I agree to be paid less than the minimum wage? No. The Act makes payment of at least the minimum a term of your contract regardless of what you signed, and you cannot waive it. An employer can only pay less under a formal exemption, and then by at most ten per cent.

Does my accommodation count towards my wage? No. Payment in kind, including a room, meals and transport, is excluded from the minimum wage. The cash you receive must on its own be at least the minimum for your hours.

I work three hours a day. What am I owed? At least four hours' pay for each day you work, because the Basic Conditions of Employment Act requires payment for a minimum of four hours on any day you work less than that.

What about domestic workers and farm workers? They are on the same national minimum as everyone else. The lower rates that applied in the first years after 2019 have been phased out.

Who do I complain to? A labour inspector at the Department of Employment and Labour, who can issue a compliance order, or the CCMA under section 73A if you earn below the earnings threshold. Both are free. Write to the employer first and keep a copy.

Does the rate change every year? Yes, by notice, normally from 1 March. The calculator reads a dated rate table and the figure will be updated when the next notice is published.