Minimum Wage
“Raising the national minimum wage isn’t just pro-worker; it’s pro-economic growth” – Thomas Perez. As a company Skitterblink agrees with Mr Perez since we will always be pro-worker and pro-economic growth.
As we are sure most of you know the national minimum wage in South Africa has been increased and came into effect on 1 January 2019. The national minimum wage has been increased to R20,00 per hour for all employees in South Africa. National minimum wage exemptions have been given to farming / forestry and domestic workers. The farming / forestry workers should now be paid R18,00 per hour while domestic workers should be paid R15,00 per hour. This exemption will only be valid for 2 years after which all employers must pay at least the national minimum wage to any and all employees.
In a practical example this means if you have a domestic worker currently working for you 8 hours a day: you will need to pay at least R15,00 x 8 = R120 per day.
Raising the national minimum wage will have direct benefit for 6.4 million of South Africa’s most vulnerable workers which adds up to 47% of the workers in South Africa. The government hopes that raising the minimum wage will result in more money in the workers pockets. The idea behind raising the minimum wage is to reduce wage inequality and promote labour stability which will promote economic growth.
According to Dr Stephanie Luce, a scholar of minimum wage at the University of New York, adjusting minimum wage not only causes significant economic growth but also increases employee productivity. The reason for the increase in productivity can be due to the fact that more employees stay in their jobs and reduced staff turnover for companies. Her research on many other countries has shown that raising wage levels can help in reducing poverty.
Skitterblink is all for empowering people which is why we are excited about the increase in minimum wage. Raising the national minimum wage empowers the employees receiving minimum wage by increasing the money in their pockets. At Skitterblink we pay our employees according to the Contract Cleaning Sectoral rates, which is currently R22.00 per hour. (since 1 February 2019)
We believe, true power is the power to empower others. From there our slogan: Empowering 10 000 Dreamers! Are you empowering your workers? We challenge you to empower your workers not only with fair wages but also empowering them to reach their dreams.
Skitterblink – Empowering 10 000 Dreamers
Cleaning The Unthinkable