Non-Payment of Salary by Employer in South Africa | Your Legal Rights

An employer who fails to pay an employee’s salary on the date it falls due is liable for interest on the unpaid amount from the due date until actual payment under section 73A of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, and the employee may pursue recovery of the underlying wage plus interest through the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) or the Labour Court. The BCEA separately requires that wages be paid in South African currency on the agreed date — for monthly-paid employees, no later than seven days after the end of the pay period — and that any deductions from pay meet the Act’s written-consent and percentage-cap requirements. Where the non-payment leads to dismissal, the employee may have a separate, and often stronger, claim under the Labour Relations Act, including a potentially automatically unfair dismissal if the dismissal is linked to exercising a right under the BCEA.

What the Law Says: When an Employer Must Pay Salary

Two statutes govern the salary-payment relationship in South Africa. The Basic Conditions of Employment Act 75 of 1997 (BCEA) is the controlling statute for the mechanics of payment: when wages must be paid, in what currency, what may be deducted, and the right to interest when payment is late. The Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995 (LRA) governs the unfair-dismissal and unfair-labour-practice overlay — what happens when an employer retaliates, dismisses, or otherwise punishes an employee for raising the non-payment.

Under the BCEA:

• For monthly-paid employees, wages must be paid no later than seven days after the end of the pay period. For shorter pay cycles (weekly, fortnightly), the agreed payday set out in the employment contract controls.
• Payment must be made in South African currency, by direct deposit, cheque, or cash.
• An employer may not deduct any amount from an employee’s pay unless the deduction is required by law, by a court order, or by a written authorisation from the employee that complies with the BCEA’s percentage-cap and specificity requirements.
• A wage-deduction authorisation must be specific in amount or percentage and may not, in aggregate, exceed the percentage cap set out in the BCEA.
• The employee is entitled to a payslip reflecting the gross and net amount, the period of payment, the employer’s details, and any deductions made.

Each of these requirements is enforceable in its own right — a missing payslip, an unauthorised deduction, or a payment made late is a contravention of the BCEA, separate from any contractual claim the employee may have for the unpaid wage itself.

Employee Remedies When Salary Is Not Paid

The non-payment of salary gives rise to a layered set of remedies. The employee is not limited to recovering the unpaid amount — interest, costs, and in some circumstances dismissal-related compensation all sit alongside the principal claim.

Interest on late payment under BCEA Section 73A

Section 73A, inserted into the BCEA by the BCEA Amendment Act 7 of 2018 (in force from 1 January 2020), gives the employee a statutory right to interest on any amount of remuneration the employer is required to pay in terms of the Act, a sectoral determination, a collective agreement, the employment contract, or any other law regulating the payment of remuneration, but that is not paid on the due date. The interest accrues and is payable from the due date until the date of actual payment, at the rate prescribed by the Minister of Labour in terms of section 33(2) of the BCEA — the same prescribed-rate framework used elsewhere in South African law for default interest on debts.

Claim for the unpaid wage itself

The full unpaid amount is recoverable alongside the interest. Interest under Section 73A is not a substitute for the wage — it runs on top of it. In practice the CCMA or Labour Court will award both the principal (the unpaid remuneration) and the interest that has accrued up to the date of payment or award.

Referral to the CCMA

Disputes about non-payment of an amount owing under the BCEA are referred to the CCMA for conciliation. If conciliation does not resolve the matter, the dispute can proceed to arbitration, where a commissioner may make a binding award including the unpaid wage, the Section 73A interest, and costs in some circumstances.

Referral to the Labour Court

For more complex matters, for Section 73A interest claims pursued alongside other reliefs (such as a dismissal claim or a declaratory order), or where direct court access is appropriate, the Labour Court has jurisdiction. The Johannesburg Labour Court is the serving court for most Gauteng employment matters; the Labour Court also sits in Cape Town, Durban, and other regional seats.

Bargaining council jurisdiction

Where a registered bargaining council has primary jurisdiction over the sector in which the employer operates, the dispute must be referred to that council first, before any CCMA involvement. Bargaining councils have their own dispute-resolution procedures, and the timeframes and conciliation/arbitration steps differ from the CCMA’s.

Recent Section 73A case law

Labour Court and Labour Appeal Court decisions in the period since Section 73A came into force have clarified the calculation of the prescribed rate, the accrual period (interest continues to run until actual payment, not the date of award), and the relationship between Section 73A and other contractual remedies. The interest entitlement is not capped by what the contract says — it is a statutory right.

Can an Employee Refuse to Work Until Paid?

The short answer is that a unilateral individual refusal to work without lawful justification is risky and is likely to be treated as insubordination or desertion, which can ground a fair dismissal. The law offers safer routes.

The position differs depending on whether the refusal is individual or collective:

Type of refusal	Legal position	Risk level
Individual, unilateral	Likely treated as insubordination or desertion; no statutory protection.	High — dismissal risk
Collective, via registered trade union	May be a protected strike if the procedural requirements under the LRA are met.	Lower if procedural steps followed
Stay-at-work and pursue claim through CCMA / Labour Court	Cleanest remedy pathway; preserves the employment relationship and the claim.	Lowest

A protected strike under the LRA’s strike provisions requires, among other things, that the dispute qualifies as an “issue in dispute,” that a ballot be conducted where the LRA requires one, and that the required notice be given. Whether non-payment of wages is a recognised “issue in dispute” for strike purposes has been considered by the CCMA and the Labour Court on a case-by-case basis; a properly constituted trade union’s involvement materially affects the analysis.

For most employees, remaining at work and pursuing the contractual and statutory claim through the CCMA or Labour Court is the cleaner route. It preserves the employment relationship, the dismissal claim (if the employer retaliates), and the right to claim the wage and interest that is actually owed.

Dismissal-Related Protections

Where the employer reacts to the employee’s complaint about non-payment — by dismissing the employee, threatening dismissal, or constructively forcing the employee to resign — a separate and often stronger claim arises under the LRA.

Automatically unfair dismissal

If the employee is dismissed for raising the non-payment issue, refusing to accept unlawful deductions, or refusing to accept a lesser payment than what is due, the dismissal may be automatically unfair under section 187 of the LRA, which lists dismissals related to the exercise of a right under the BCEA among the grounds that attract the highest protection. Automatically unfair dismissals attract a higher compensation ceiling than ordinary unfair dismissals — currently capped at 24 months’ remuneration rather than 12 — and reinstatement is the primary remedy.

Constructive dismissal

An employee who resigns and treats the non-payment as a constructive dismissal may, in narrow circumstances, pursue an unfair-dismissal claim. The constructive-dismissal test is strict: the employee must show that the employer’s conduct (including persistent non-payment) left them with no real choice but to resign. Persistent late payment, refusal to pay what is contractually due, and demands that the employee accept a lesser payment can all bear on this analysis, but each case is fact-specific.

Timeframes

The general 30-day unfair-dismissal referral window in the LRA applies; late referrals are barred unless the employee shows a condonable reason and substantive fairness at the time of referral. Unfair-labour-practice claims, which can include certain underpayment disputes not framed as dismissals, generally carry a 90-day referral window.

The Step-by-Step Process: What an Employee Should Do

1. Confirm the amount owed and the date it was due. Pull together payslips, the employment contract, and the bank statement. The arithmetic of the claim starts with a clear paper trail.
2. Put the claim in writing to the employer. A written demand letter, sent by email or delivered with proof of delivery, forces the employer to respond and creates a record of the dispute. Keep copies of every piece of correspondence.
3. Identify the correct forum. If a registered bargaining council covers the sector, the dispute must be referred to that council first. If not, the CCMA is the default forum for BCEA disputes (subject to the BCEA earnings threshold, which determines whether the matter is arbitrated at the CCMA or referred to the Labour Court).
4. Attend conciliation. Most unpaid-wage disputes settle at conciliation. If the dispute does not settle, the next step is arbitration (CCMA) or filing in the Labour Court where the matter warrants it.
5. Lodge the referral within the applicable statutory window. The relevant timeframes differ depending on whether the claim is framed as an unfair dismissal (30 days), an unfair labour practice (90 days), a contractual underpayment, or a Section 73A BCEA interest claim. A labour-law practitioner should be consulted before the window expires.
6. Preserve evidence. Payslips, the employment contract, banking records, written correspondence, any union involvement, and a clear timeline of what was promised, what was paid, and what was missed — all of it matters at the hearing.

The referral itself is made on CCMA Form 7.11 (or the equivalent bargaining council form), filed with the relevant CCMA regional office, by registered mail, or via the CCMA’s online portal where available.

What Recovery Typically Looks Like

Component	Basis
The unpaid wage amount	Contract / BCEA
Interest under Section 73A BCEA	Statutory, from due date to actual payment
Costs of the proceedings	Discretionary, in some circumstances
Compensation for unfair dismissal	LRA, where the non-payment led to a dismissal found to be unfair
Compensation capped per the LRA formulas	Higher cap (24 months’ remuneration) for automatically unfair dismissals

Practical Points Often Overlooked

• A payslip must itemise deductions; a blank or undated payslip is a contravention of the BCEA in itself and is useful evidence in any later claim.
• An employee cannot be required to sign an open-ended or blank deduction authorisation — a signed blank is unenforceable and is itself a contravention.
• Settlement agreements concluded at the CCMA are generally enforceable as orders, which means breach of a settlement can be enforced through the Labour Court without re-running the dispute.
• Interest under Section 73A can, in principle, be awarded by the CCMA, not only by the Labour Court — the practical award depends on the forum and how the claim is framed in the referral.
• Department of Employment and Labour inspectors can also issue compliance orders in respect of BCEA contraventions. A compliance order is a separate enforcement route, but it does not replace the employee’s right to pursue a contractual or interest claim through the CCMA or Labour Court.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long after payday can an employer delay salary before interest accrues in South Africa?

Interest under BCEA Section 73A runs from the date the payment was due — that is the agreed payday, and for monthly-paid employees, in any event no later than seven days after the end of the pay period. The interest accrues at the rate prescribed by the Minister under BCEA Section 33(2) and continues until actual payment.

Can I claim interest on unpaid salary in South Africa?

Yes. BCEA Section 73A gives the employee a right to interest on unpaid wages from the due date until the date of actual payment, at the prescribed rate. The claim is brought alongside the claim for the unpaid wage itself.

Where do I claim unpaid salary — CCMA or Labour Court?

Most unpaid-wage claims are first referred to the CCMA for conciliation; if conciliation does not resolve the dispute, the matter can proceed to arbitration at the CCMA or to the Labour Court. The Labour Court is the route where a Section 73A interest claim is being pursued alongside other reliefs, or where the matter warrants direct court approach.

Can I be dismissed for refusing to work when I have not been paid?

An individual refusal to work without lawful justification is risky and may be treated as insubordination or desertion. Collective action through a protected strike under the LRA’s strike provisions is the safer route, but the procedural requirements (the dispute as an issue in dispute, ballot where required, and notice) must be met. Where dismissal follows from the employee raising the non-payment issue or refusing unlawful deductions, a separate automatically-unfair-dismissal claim may be available.

How long do I have to bring an unpaid-salary claim?

The relevant timeframes differ depending on how the claim is framed: unfair-dismissal claims must generally be referred within 30 days of dismissal, unfair-labour-practice claims within 90 days, and contractual or Section 73A BCEA claims are subject to the LRA’s referral framework and the Prescription Act’s general timeframes. Because the exact window is dispute-specific, the referral should be lodged as soon as possible after the missed payment and ideally after a brief consultation with a labour-law practitioner.

Do I need an attorney for a CCMA unpaid-salary claim?

Not always — individuals can represent themselves at the CCMA. For more complex matters that are likely to proceed to arbitration, involve a Section 73A interest claim, or run alongside a dismissal claim, an attorney can draft the referral, prepare evidence, and represent the employee at the hearing. Legal Aid South Africa and Law Society referral routes exist for those who cannot afford private representation.

If you are dealing with non-payment of salary and want to understand whether your situation gives rise to a BCEA interest claim, a CCMA referral, or a Labour Court claim, Burger Huyser Attorneys’ labour-law team — led by specialist consultant Marius Ferreira — can talk through the options with you. The firm takes instructions across its Gauteng branches; reach the head office at 011 888 0246 or visit 49 First Avenue, Linden, Randburg. Initial guidance on whether a claim is worth pursuing is generally available at a first consultation.