Labour market indicators

Unemployment rate in 2001: 29.1% (ILO data)

Working population:

Employment by sector:

Employment contracts
Employment contracts are regulated by legal clauses. Collective agreements (which may have a legal force above the law) and individual negotiations complement them.
The terms of employment contracts are rather rigid. The conditions for hiring and the limits for dismissal are rigid.

Salaries

National monthly minimum wage as of : No legally mandated national minimum wage

Social security contributions

Employer: 2 %.

Employee: 1 %.

Number of hours

Legal definition of full time work (per week): 45 hours

Retirement age: From 55 to 65 years' old depending on collective agreements.

Unions

Average rate of union membership:31 %.

Unions: The main trade union is the COSATU (Congress of South African Trade Unions). This trade union is totally affiliated to the ANC (AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS) and to the SACP (South African Communist Party). The second trade union after the COSATU is the FEDUSA (Federation of Unions of South Africa). This federation, created in 1997, gathers small trade unions and is not tied to the State.

Useful links

For further informations on the labour market, check out the following web sites:

- International Labour Organization (ILO): studies, statistics and reports on working conditions and labour markets

- NATLEX : ILO database on national labour laws

- Department of Labor

- South Africa Labor Law Profile