Premium Pay on Farms (SD13)

What SD13 Changes

Farm and seasonal workers are covered by Sectoral Determination 13. Most of the premium rules are the same as the rest of the country, but three things differ and all three cost money if you miss them.

• Night work runs 20:00 to 04:00, not the BCEA's 18:00 to 06:00
• The night allowance is at least 10% of the ordinary daily wage and must be paid in money - time off is not an option
• A farm worker who does not live on the farm and works a Sunday is treated as having worked at least 2 hours

The Two-Hour Sunday Minimum

If a worker who lives off the farm is called in on a Sunday, they have travelled in for you, and the determination will not let that be paid as fifteen minutes' work. They are treated as having worked at least 2 hours.

Remember that the Sunday premium sits on top of this: an occasional Sunday is 2x, so a twenty-minute callout for a worker on R30.23 an hour is paid as 2 hours at 2x. And the section 16 floor still applies - Sunday pay may never come out below the ordinary daily wage.

Live-In Workers Are Different

The two-hour rule exists because of the trip in to work, so it does not apply to a worker who lives on the farm.

SA Wages Pro takes this from the "Live-in worker" setting on the employee. Tick it for workers housed on the farm and leave it clear for those who travel in. If it is wrong, Sunday callouts will be paid on the wrong basis.

Which Workers Are Treated as Farm Workers

SA Wages Pro applies the SD13 rules to employees recorded as farm workers or seasonal workers. Get the worker type right when you add someone - it decides the night work window, the night allowance floor and the Sunday deeming rule all at once.