Employee termination
in South Africa.

SALARY PAYMENT IN South African Rand (ZAR, R)

CONTRACT LANGUAGES English

PAYROLL TAX 2%

PAYROLL CYCLE Monthly

TIME TO HIRE 12 hours
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South Africa

Valid reasons to terminate employment in South Africa

It is okay to terminate employment in South Africa for the following reasons:

Individual-related. This includes misconduct, poor work performance, incapacity.
Business-related. This includes the economic, technological, and/or structural needs of the employer.
Other reasons that may have been stated and agreed upon in the contract.

Unfair reasons to terminate employment in South Africa

Employers must comply with the Employment Equity Act, which aims to promote equal opportunities in the workplace and eliminate unfair discrimination. The act requires employers to take affirmative action to redress past imbalances and ensure that their workforce is representative of the country’s demographics.

Under the Employment Equity Act you cannot terminate employment based on protected characteristics of the individual, like race, gender, or religion.

Dismissal procedure in South Africa

If an employer wants to dismiss an employee in South Africa, the employer must give the proper notice depending how long the employee has been with the company. It is best practice to: (1) inform that employee of the issue or reasoning in writing; (2) conduct a meeting with the employee about the issue or reason; (3) inform the employee of the decision in writing after the meeting, and; (4) give the proper amount of dismissal notice depending on how long the employee has been with the company.

Resignation procedure in South Africa

The employee must resign in writing giving the proper amount of resignation notice depending on how long the employee has been with the company.

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Your business can easily hire employees in South Africa without opening a local entity. We handle local employment law, complex tax regulations, and international payroll in 180+ countries worldwide. All you need to do is focus on your business.

FAQs

Is it difficult to terminate employment in South Africa?

If you have a reason and you follow the most important legislative acts in South Africa then it is not difficult to terminate employment in South Africa. There just must be a reason to do so, and the dismissal procedures must be followed properly.

What are the risks of terminating employment in South Africa, and how do I mitigate them?

In some instances, if you dismiss and employee without justified reasoning, then you can be forced to pay that employees for another 12 months after you terminated them. There are three ways to mitigate this.

Only terminate employment if you have a strong justified reason regarding either poor performance of the individual or economic business effects.
Make sure to follow the proper dismissal procedure above, in which a written letter is given to the employee and confirmation of the employee receiving it is confirmed.
Ensure that the proper amount of dismissal notice period is given to the employee depending on how long they have worked for the company.

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