South African severance pay: a week’s pay per completed year of service, plus notice pay
Estimates only, not financial advice. What you type stays on your device. Checked against sources on 20 Oct 2026.In South Africa, section 41 of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act gives a retrenched employee at least one week's remuneration for each completed year of continuous service. A week is the monthly pay times 3 divided by 13, so R26,000 a month for 10 full years gives R60,000.
2026 · Rates and rules read from Basic Conditions of Employment Act 75 of 1997, s.35, 37, 38 and 41 (Government Gazette 18491, gov.za copy) on 20 Oct 2026; they may have changed since.
Type the monthly remuneration in rand and the start and last dates of work.
Say whether you worked the notice period, and whether you are a farm or domestic worker.
Read the severance pay: one week’s remuneration for each completed year.
Check the notice period and the pay instead of notice next to it.
This calculator works out the minimum severance pay of section 41 of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act 75 of 1997 (BCEA) and the notice of sections 37 and 38.
Who gets it. Section 41(2) covers an employee dismissed for reasons based on the employer's operational requirements, which the Act defines as economic, technological, structural or similar needs: a retrenchment. An employee who unreasonably refuses an offer of alternative employment with that employer or any other employer is not entitled to it (section 41(4)).
How much. At least one week's remuneration for each completed year of continuous service with that employer. Section 35(3) says a monthly wage is four and one-third times the weekly wage, so a week is the monthly pay times 3 divided by 13. Only completed years count.
What counts as remuneration. For severance and notice pay, section 35(5) includes the cash value of payment in kind and leaves out gratuities, allowances paid to enable the employee to work, and discretionary payments not related to hours or performance.
Notice. Section 37(1) sets at least one week's notice for an employee employed four weeks or less, two weeks up to one year, and four weeks from one year, or for a farm or domestic worker employed more than four weeks. Section 38 lets the employer pay the remuneration for that period instead.
Example. R26,000 a month from 1 June 2016 to 30 September 2026 is 10 completed years. A week is R6,000, so severance is R60,000, plus R24,000 for four weeks' notice not worked.
What it does not do. Leave pay on termination (section 40), tax, sectoral determinations or agreements that pay more, and any variation by the Minister. The Act was read on 20 October 2026 in the copy on gov.za, which is the Act as published in Government Gazette 18491; the consolidated text with later amendments did not load, so check your case with the Department of Employment and Labour. Estimates only, not legal advice.
Everything runs in your browser; nothing you type is sent anywhere.
Section 41 of the BCEA gives at least one week's remuneration for each completed year of continuous service. Work out a week as the monthly pay times 3 divided by 13, then multiply by the completed years: R26,000 a month is R6,000 a week, so ten years give R60,000.
Section 35(3) of the BCEA says monthly remuneration is four and one-third times weekly remuneration. Divide the monthly amount by 4⅓, which is the same as multiplying by 3 and dividing by 13. On R15,000 a month a week is R3,461.54.
An employee dismissed for the employer's operational requirements, meaning economic, technological, structural or similar needs, is entitled to it. An employee who unreasonably refuses an offer of alternative employment with that employer or another one loses the right under section 41(4).
Severance counts completed years of continuous service, so less than one full year gives no severance pay under section 41. Notice is still owed: two weeks for more than four weeks and up to a year, which the employer may pay instead of letting you work it.
Section 37 sets at least one week for an employee employed four weeks or less, two weeks for up to one year and four weeks from one year. Farm and domestic workers get four weeks once employed more than four weeks. Section 38 allows pay instead of notice.
One week per completed year is the minimum in the Act. A contract, collective agreement or retrenchment agreement may pay more, and section 41(5) says paying severance does not affect any other amount the employee is owed by law, such as leave pay.
Rates and rules change; check the source before you rely on a figure.
Still stuck? Ask about South Africa Severance Pay Calculator (BCEA) and anybody who knows can answer. No account needed.
Same job, other tools: Notice Period Buyout Calculator – What an employer recovers for the notice days you do not serve · Salary After Tax Calculator – Old regime or new regime, and what each leaves you every month · Last Working Day Calculator – The exact date your notice ends, counted in calendar days · Superannuation Date Calculator – The last day of the month rule that decides a government retirement · Years Left to Retirement – How long is left before you retire, in years, months and days.
On the related tools: UIF Calculator (South Africa) – South African UIF: 1% from the employee and 1% from the employer, to R177.12 a month.