Salary discrimination not automatically unfair
20 August 2019
Case law is beginning to develop the South African labour law around unfair discrimination which has arisen since the introduction of the "equal pay for equal work" provisions of the Employment Equity Act (EEA) in 2014.
Although the EEA created this right and protection for employees by introducing inequality of pay where the same work, or work of equal value is performed, and although the Department of Labour released a Code of Good Practice on Equal Pay / Remuneration for Work of Equal Value in 2015.
It has been left up to case law to test the principles provided for in the law. A recent case from the labour court provides some guidance.
In the case of Sun International Limited v Commercial and Allied Workers Union on behalf of Ramerafe (2019) the Labour Court considered the claim of a female surveillance auditor who alleged that she ought to be remunerated at the same level as a male, white colleague who also occupied the same position at Sun International. The Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration found in her favour and ordered the pay gap (Ramerafe was paid about 51% of her colleagues salary) to be eliminated.