Working hours – BCEA

The following short summary will give you a basic understanding regarding an employee’s working hours and remuneration thereof based on the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, 1997.

According to the Act in relation to ORDINARY HOURS OF WORKING TIME, no employer is allowed to let his/her employees work for more than 45 hours in any week. Therefore an employee who works 5 days a week may not work more than 9 hours per day and for those employees who work more than 5 days may not work for more than 8 hours per day. Lunch breaks are excluded.

If it comes to employees who works OVERTIME and paying them for those hard earned hours, it is of utmost importance that there is a collective agreement between the employer and the employee. With that been said, no agreement may require an employee to work for more than 12 hours per day. No employee may work more than 10 hours overtime per week although it may increase to 15 hours (For a period of two months in any period of twelve months) if there is a collective agreement. Remuneration of the above always calculates to 1.5 times (hourly rate) the employee’s wage OR the employee may agree to receive his/her overtime in paid time off if the employer prefers it.

In a COMPRESSED WORKING WEEK the employee may work up to 12 hours in a day without receiving remuneration for overtime but a written agreement is obligatory. In this agreement the same applies that the employee may not work for more than 45 ordinary hours in any week, more than 10 hours overtime in any week OR on more than 5 days a week.

It is commonly that all employers are aware that an employee must have a LUNCH TIME of 60 minutes after 5 hours of continues work. On the other hand, it may be reduced to not less than 30 minutes with a written agreement between the parties.

PAYMENT ON SUNDAYS AND PUBLIC HOLIDAYS are the same amount (double pay of normal wage) when an employee is requested to work and it is agreed upon (written agreement). If a public holiday falls within a working week/day, the employee receives his normal wage without having to work OR as mentioned above. An employee, who works ordinarily on Sundays, must receive 1.5 times their normal wage. Employees may receive paid time off in return for working on these days but only if it is agreed upon.

*Note that the above does not apply to senior managerial employees, sales staff who travel and employees who work less than 24 hours a month.

(Government, Act 75 of 1997)