South Africa 🇿🇦
Congratulations on your decision to hire employees in South Africa! As a vibrant country known for its rich cultural heritage and dynamic economy, South Africa can serve as a great base for businesses expanding in Africa. Plane simplifies the hiring process for you by offering automated tax document collection, payroll, benefits administration, and more, while ensuring compliance and maximum efficiency. Still, hiring in a new country can pose certain challenges, so we’ve put together the following guide on how to navigate the process of hiring in South Africa.
Currency
ZAR
 Onboarding
2.5 weeks minimum
Employer Cost
7.1%
Pay Frequency
Monthly
Public Holidays
12
4 Considerations Before Hiring in South Africa
As an employer in South Africa, it is important to have a comprehensive employment contract that outlines the terms and conditions of the employment relationship. The contract should include need-to-know info on compensation, benefits, vacation time, and sick leave policies. Before onboarding a new employee in South Africa, take a moment to consider the following:
Getting Started with Hiring in South Africa
Employment Contract
In South Africa, an employment contract can either be for an indefinite term or a fixed-term, but fixed-term contracts must be used for work for a specific period necessary to fulfill the temporary needs of a business. The document must be in a language that the employee can understand.
Payroll Timelines and Dates
Pay Frequency: Employee payroll is monthly, with 12 pay periods per year. Pay is distributed on the last business day of the month.Payroll Change Cutoff Dates: To meet payroll deadlines, any changes must be submitted to support@plane.com by the cutoff date. For South Africa, the payroll change cutoff date is on the last business day of the previous month. For example, changes to June payroll would need to be received no later than May 31, if May 31 is a business day.Plane sends payroll summaries to admins at the end of the second week of the month. After that, charges are automatically debited. Payroll summaries are also available to admins in their Plane accounts. Payday may vary based on country requirements.
Working Hours
Full-time working hours in South Africa consist of a 45-hour week, with nine-hour days for five or less days per week. For employees working more than five days a week, workdays are limited to eight-hour days. Employees must be allowed to rest for at least 36 consecutive hours, which must include Sunday unless otherwise agreed upon. Overtime is capped at 10 hours per week, and three hours per day, paid at a rate of 1.5 times the employee’s wage and double pay on Sundays or public holidays.
Public Holidays
South Africa has 12 national public holidays:
- New Year’s Day
- Human Rights Day
- Good Friday
- Family Day
- Freedom Day
- Workers’ Day
- Youth Day
- National Women’s Day
- Heritage Day
- Day of Reconciliation
- Christmas Day
- Day of Goodwill
Compensation
We recommend using Plane's Remote Compensation Tool to check remote salary data in South Africa by job title.Bonuses in South Africa are not mandatory. However, many employers commonly provide bonuses to their employees such as a 13th month bonus. If the employer chooses to offer bonuses, the terms related to the bonus must be written into the employment contract.
Health Insurance Benefits
South Africa has a public healthcare system for all its citizens and legal residents, funded by general taxation. However, the private healthcare system is much better resourced and offers higher quality of care.Employers may choose to, but are not required to, offer private health insurance or a healthcare stipend as an additional employee benefit for more comprehensive medical coverage. We offer healthcare as a supplemental benefit to employees in South Africa.Â
Sick Leave
Employees receive sick leave based on their days worked per 36-month cycle. If an employee works five days per week, their entitlement every 36 months is 30 days of paid sick leave. For employees who work 6 days per week, their entitlement is 36 days of paid sick leave per 36-month period. During their first six months of employment, employees receive one day of paid sick leave per 26 days of work.Â
Annual Leave
Employees in South Africa are entitled to 21 consecutive days of paid annual leave each leave cycle. The South African annual leave cycle refers to a period of 12 months with the same employer, calculated from either an employee's start date or the completion of their prior annual leave cycle.Annual leave amounts accrue over time, starting from zero when the employee begins employment. Employers and employees may mutually agree to either calculate annual leave as one day for every 17 days worked, or one hour for every 17 hours worked. Employers must pay annual leave remuneration before the starting date of the employee’s leave; you only pay for the normal working days within the leave period.If a public holiday falls on a day during an employee’s annual leave, the employer must give an additional day of paid leave.
Maternity / Paternity / Parental Leave
Maternity leave: Pregnant employees receive four months of paid maternity leave. Unless otherwise agreed upon, this maternity leave should begin one month before the expected due date. The employee is not allowed to return to work within six weeks of giving birth, unless a medical practitioner certifies otherwise. The payment for maternity leave comes from South Africa’s social security system, and is equal to 38% to 60% of the employee’s wage, as long as the employee has made contributions to the Unemployment Insurance Fund. Parental leave: Fathers are entitled to 10 days’ unpaid parental leave when their children are born. They must request this leave at least one month in advance via written notice.Adoption leave: An adoptive parent may take 10 consecutive weeks of unpaid adoption leave when adopting a child under two years of age. Only one adoptive parent can take adoption leave; the other must apply for parental leave. Commissioning parental leave: An employee who has entered a surrogate motherhood agreement with a surrogate mother is entitled to unpaid commissioning parental leave of 10 weeks. Only the primary caregiver may take this leave; the other parent must apply for parental leave.Â
Employment / Termination
At Plane, we process involuntary offboarding via Mutual Termination Agreement (MTA) as a common practice that enables an employer to terminate an employee while trying to minimize the risk of litigation and cost. It is a separation agreement including unused leave, notice period, severance, and terms negotiated between the parties in exchange for a waiver where an employee waives their right to challenge a termination as unfair or unlawful. The notice period varies based on the length of employment.It is important to note that Plane often cannot facilitate unilateral terminations or dismissals. These types of termination are a potential source of litigation that can expose employers to increased damages and other costs. Also, the reason for these terminations may not be valid for an employer of record. The notice period varies based on the length of employment.We ask that you give us as much notice as possible and involve us right from the beginning of the process so we can better support and guide you through the process. Involuntary termination can take time to negotiate with the employee to mutually agree and end on good terms. Here you can find additional information on how to terminate an employee.The notice period is:
- One week for less than four weeks of work,
- Two weeks for more than four weeks to one year of work, or
- Four weeks for more than one year of work.
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Annual cost of employment*
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*rates for: May 15, 2025
Once you have sorted out the details mentioned above, you can add the employee to the Plane platform. We provide a step-by-step workflow that shows what tasks need to be completed, as well as real-time updates and notifications. This way, you can stay on top of the hiring process at all times. With Plane, you can confidently hire, knowing that you have a powerful platform at your disposal to manage the entire process from start to finish. Here are the instructions for adding a new employee to the platform:
How to hire and onboard an employee
Plane offers a guided process for administrators and managers to hire and onboard their new employees...
Learn moreHiring an employee in a new country can be a complex process, but with the right guidance and resources, it can be a smooth and successful transition. At Plane, we're committed to helping you navigate the process of hiring an employee in South Africa. We'll keep you informed and up-to-date with the latest regulations and employment laws.Best of luck with your new hire, and welcome to South Africa!
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are the answers to some common questions about hiring employees in South Africa with Plane:
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