Plain-language guides and cited law answers for South African employers, HR managers and payroll staff: bargaining council returns, COIDA, the labour law checklist and the 2026 compliance calendar, each written from the Act and linked to its official source.
This is the public reference library behind Compliance Radar. Each page is written for the person who actually has to do the work: the owner of a 15-person workshop, the HR manager at a 120-person factory, or the payroll administrator who files for both. Every page cites the Act and section or code item inline (BCEA s.37(1)(c); Code of Good Practice: Dismissal, 2025, GG 53294, item 11) and ends with a list of official sources so you can check the wording yourself.
Two kinds of page live here. Guides cover a process end to end: who must register, what the form contains, when it is due, what a late filing costs and how to build it from a payroll export. Law answers take one question employers ask often and answer it with the section that decides it. Neither states a rate, threshold or date that changes by Gazette notice unless the notice is linked or the page says which official site to check.
Most employer obligations in South Africa fall into three groups, each with its own Acts, regulator and rhythm of deadlines. Knowing the group tells you who enforces a task and where the official form lives.
The Basic Conditions of Employment Act 75 of 1997 sets the floor: written particulars (s.29), hours and overtime (ss.9–10), annual leave (s.20), sick leave (s.22), notice (s.37) and records (s.31). The Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995 governs discipline and dismissal: s.186 defines a dismissal, s.188 makes it unfair unless the employer proves a fair reason and a fair procedure, and the Code of Good Practice: Dismissal, 2025 (issued under s.203(2A), GenN 3470 in GG 53294 of 4 September 2025, replacing the 1995 Code in Schedule 8) sets the procedure a chairperson and the CCMA expect. Around those sit the Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998 (plans and reports for designated employers, ss.20–21), the Occupational Health and Safety Act 85 of 1993 (employer duties, s.8; safety representatives, s.17) and POPIA 4 of 2013, under which every employee file is personal information and a registered Information Officer is required (s.55). Labour inspectors enforce the BCEA by compliance order (s.69); disputes go to the CCMA or a council.
The monthly and annual traffic between your payroll and three bodies. SARS collects PAYE, UIF contributions and the skills development levy on one EMP201, due within seven days after month end (Income Tax Act 58 of 1962, Fourth Schedule para 2(1); Unemployment Insurance Contributions Act 4 of 2002 s.8; Skills Development Levies Act 9 of 1999 s.6), and reconciles them on the EMP501. The UIF also needs the employee declaration under Unemployment Insurance Act 63 of 2001 s.56, filed on uFiling. The Compensation Fund needs an annual Return of Earnings under COIDA 130 of 1993 s.82, then an assessment (s.83) and payment; a Letter of Good Standing depends on both. Designated employers add the Employment Equity report (EEA s.21). Amounts and some dates move each year, so the calendar and COIDA pages link to the official notices instead of fixing numbers.
A bargaining council is registered under LRA s.27 by employers' organisations and trade unions in a sector. Its collective agreement sets wages, conditions and fund contributions, and once the Minister extends it under s.32 it binds every employer in the sector's scope, member or not. The practical obligation is a monthly return: each employee's wages, hours and grade, the council levy, and contributions to the council's provident, sick-pay or other funds, paid by the council's own deadline. Councils enforce through their agents and arbitration under s.33A, and an award can be enforced like a court order (s.143). Which council covers you depends on what the business does and where, not on how the company is registered. MIBCO, MEIBC, NBCRFLI and NBCCI each have a guide below.
The starting point: what a council is, who must register, what the monthly return contains, the deadline pattern, penalties and compliance orders, and building the return from a Sage, VIP or Pastel export.
Motor industry: registering the employer and every employee, what the monthly return covers, the deadline and interest on late payment, wage schedules and exemptions.
Metal and engineering: council and MIBFA registration, the levy and fund lines on the monthly return, the deadline pattern, exemptions and enforcement.
Road freight and logistics: the E-Business Portal, what the online return covers, driver wage grades and how to classify them from payroll, the deadline, penalties and interest.
Chemical industry: the council's five sectors (industrial chemicals, FMCG, glass, petroleum and pharmaceutical, with industrial chemicals split into surface coatings, explosives, speciality chemicals, fertiliser and base chemicals), parties and non-parties under extended agreements, the monthly levy return, exemptions and penalties.
Registration under s.80, the Return of Earnings under s.82, the submission window, assessment and payment, late-return penalties, the Letter of Good Standing and why it lapses, and injury-on-duty reporting.
Every registration, document and record an employer must hold, in seven groups from registrations to record-keeping, with the section to cite and the official form for each.
Every recurring statutory deadline in 2026, month by month: the SARS and UIF filings due by the 7th, council returns, the Return of Earnings window, Employment Equity reporting and annual renewals, each with its source.
One question, one cited answer, with a URL you can send to a manager.
Notice by length of service under s.37(1), why an employee cannot be bound to longer notice than the employer, and payment instead of notice under s.38.
Whether theft of a small amount is a fair reason to dismiss, why the breach of trust matters more than the value, and the process the Code of Good Practice: Dismissal, 2025 expects: a fair reason (item 7), the sanction factors (items 8 and 9) and a fair procedure (item 11), which the Code says need not be a formal hearing as long as it is proportionate to the allegation and the size of the employer.
The 21 consecutive days per leave cycle in s.20(2), the one-day-per-17-days alternative, when leave must be granted (s.20(4)) and pay for untaken leave on termination (s.40).
| Situation | Start here |
|---|---|
| A council agent is demanding returns and levies | Bargaining council returns, then your council's page |
| A tender needs a Letter of Good Standing | COIDA Return of Earnings |
| New HR manager, unsure what is missing | Labour law compliance checklist |
| An employee has resigned: how much notice? | BCEA s.37 notice period |
| An employee was caught taking stock or cash | Dismissal for theft |
The same law sits behind the product. Ask the assistant a question and it answers from the Acts and the codes, cites the section the way these pages do, and keeps the exchange on the employee's file. The council pages describe what the returns module does automatically: drop a Sage 300 People, VIP or Pastel export, review the mapped schedule and flagged anomalies, and download every council form for the month as one ZIP. The calendar's dates become reminders against your registrations, and the checklist becomes a live one with an owner, evidence and due date on each item.
Yes. Every guide and law answer is public, with no sign-up and no paywall. They are general information for South African employers, not legal advice for your situation.
The Acts change rarely, but rates, thresholds and deadlines change by Gazette notice. Each guide lists its sources so you can check the current notice, and the compliance calendar is reissued for each year.
It depends on what the business does and where it operates, not on how the company is registered. Compare your activities to the registered scope in each council's main agreement, and if you straddle two sectors ask the council in writing for a ruling.
For routine filings and records, usually not. For a dismissal that may go to the CCMA, a retrenchment under LRA s.189 or a dispute with a council, get advice from a labour lawyer or an employers' organisation registered under the LRA. The guides say what the law requires; they cannot weigh your facts.
Compliance Radar puts this library to work. Ask the assistant a labour-law question and get an answer cited to the same sections; connect your payroll and get your council returns back as a ZIP; turn the calendar's deadlines into reminders. See how it works or talk to us.
See it on a payroll like yours.
Book a demoCompliance Radar provides compliance tooling and information to help you manage your obligations. It does not provide legal advice and is not a substitute for a qualified professional.