From UIF and SDL to POPIA, payroll reconciliations and leave cycles, there are plenty of terms HR teams need to know to keep the admin sorted and stay on top of compliance. Then there are the HR software terms: employee self-service, time tracking, onboarding, performance management, document management and more.
This HR glossary breaks down the terms you’re most likely to come across, in plain English.
Note: Employment and tax requirements can change. Always check the latest guidance from the relevant South African authority before making compliance decisions.
Top 20 Regulatory Compliance Terms
Understand the key laws, regulations and compliance terms that shape HR in South Africa.
1. Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA): The Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA) sets minimum employment conditions in South Africa. It covers areas such as working hours, leave, employment contracts, deductions, pay slips and termination. For HR teams, the BCEA is one of the key pieces of legislation to understand when managing day-to-day employee matters.
2. Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act (COIDA): The Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act (COIDA) provides for compensation when employees are injured, disabled or become ill because of their work, as well as in cases of death resulting from occupational injuries or diseases. Employers have obligations relating to registering with the Compensation Fund and reporting qualifying workplace accidents and diseases.
3. Employment Equity Act (EEA): The Employment Equity Act (EEA) aims to promote equal opportunity and fair treatment in employment and eliminate unfair discrimination. Since the Employment Equity Amendment Act came into operation on 1 January 2025, the definition of a designated employer has changed. Generally, employers with 50 or more employees are designated employers, while certain organs of state remain covered regardless of employee numbers.
4. Employment Equity Plan: An Employment Equity Plan sets out an employer’s objectives and measures for achieving employment equity. Designated employers are required to prepare and implement an Employment Equity Plan. The Department of Employment and Labour states that designated employers must align their plans with the applicable five-year sector numerical targets.
5. Labour Relations Act (LRA): The Labour Relations Act (LRA) regulates labour relations in South Africa. It covers matters including collective bargaining, trade unions, strikes and lockouts, unfair dismissal and unfair labour practices.
6. National Minimum Wage (NMW): The National Minimum Wage (NMW) sets the minimum amount that workers must receive for ordinary hours worked, subject to the applicable rules and exclusions. From 1 March 2026, the national minimum wage is R30.23 per ordinary hour worked. Farm workers and domestic workers are also covered at R30.23 per hour, while workers on the Expanded Public Works Programme have a separate rate.
7. Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE): Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE) is the system through which employers deduct employees’ tax from remuneration and pay it to the South African Revenue Service (SARS). PAYE is generally handled as part of the employer’s monthly payroll and tax process.
8. Skills Development Levy (SDL): The Skills Development Levy (SDL) is a levy used to fund skills development and training in South Africa. Employers who meet the applicable requirements generally pay SDL at 1% of remuneration. An employer is generally liable when its total payroll exceeds R500,000 over the relevant 12-month period.
9. Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF): The Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) provides short-term financial relief to eligible workers in situations such as unemployment, illness, maternity or adoption leave, and to certain dependants of deceased contributors. The standard contribution is 2% of applicable remuneration in total, made up of a 1% employee contribution and a 1% employer contribution, subject to the applicable contribution ceiling and rules.
10. Compensation Fund: The Compensation Fund (CF) provides compensation for qualifying occupational injuries and diseases. Employers are required to register with the Compensation Fund and meet the relevant reporting and payment obligations.
11. POPIA: The Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (POPIA) regulates the processing of personal information by public and private bodies. For HR teams, this is particularly relevant because employee records can contain personal information such as identity numbers, contact details, employment history and financial information.
12. Data subject: A data subject is the person to whom personal information relates. In HR, an employee, job applicant or former employee can be a data subject when a company processes their personal information.
13. Responsible party: Under POPIA, a responsible party is the organisation or person that determines the purpose and means of processing personal information. For example, a company deciding why and how it collects employee information will generally be acting as the responsible party for that processing.
14. Information Officer: An Information Officer has responsibilities relating to compliance with POPIA and access-to-information requirements. Among other responsibilities, an Information Officer helps ensure that the organisation complies with the conditions for lawful processing of personal information.
15. Operator: A POPIA operator is a person or organisation that processes personal information on behalf of a responsible party under a contract or mandate. This can be relevant when an organisation uses a third-party technology provider to process employee information.
16. Personal information: Personal information is information relating to an identifiable living person or, in certain circumstances, an identifiable juristic person. For HR, this can include an employee’s ID number, address, phone number, email address, employment history and financial information.
17. EMP201: An EMP201 is the monthly employer declaration submitted to SARS. It is used to declare amounts relating to PAYE, SDL, UIF and, where applicable, the Employment Tax Incentive (ETI). The EMP201 and payment are generally due within seven days after the end of the month.
18. EMP501: An EMP501 is the Employer Reconciliation Declaration used to reconcile an employer’s payroll-related tax information with SARS. The reconciliation includes information such as PAYE, SDL and UIF, as well as employee tax certificates.
19. IRP5: An IRP5 is an employee tax certificate issued by an employer. It records remuneration and employees’ tax information for the relevant tax period and is used by employees when completing their personal tax returns.
20. CCMA: The Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) is a statutory body established under the Labour Relations Act.nIt helps resolve certain workplace disputes through processes such as conciliation and arbitration.
Key HR Management Terms
Learn everyday HR terms from leave and performance to employee relations and workforce management.
1. HRIS: An HRIS (Human Resources Information System) is software used to store and manage employee information and automate HR processes. Instead of keeping employee information across spreadsheets, email threads and filing cabinets, an HRIS brings key HR data into one system.
2. HR software: HR software is technology used to manage HR processes such as employee records, leave, time tracking, payroll, recruitment, performance and documents.
3. Employee self-service: Employee self-service (ESS) allows employees to manage certain HR tasks themselves. For example, employees may be able to request leave, access documents, update personal information or view payslips without having to email HR for every request.
4. Employee portal: An employee portal is a central online space where employees can access HR information, documents, leave and other workplace tools.
5. Time tracking: Time tracking records the hours employees work. Depending on the organisation, employees may clock in and out, record hours manually or use other tracking methods.
6. Attendance management: Attendance management is the process of tracking when employees are working, absent or on leave. It can help HR and managers keep an eye on attendance patterns, working hours and absences.
7. Shift management: Shift management involves planning, assigning and managing employee shifts. This is particularly useful for businesses with teams working different schedules, locations or shifts.
8. Leave management: Leave management is the process of requesting, approving, tracking and reporting employee leave. A digital leave system can help keep everyone’s leave balances and approvals in one place.
9. Payroll management: Payroll management covers the process of calculating, reviewing and paying employee remuneration, together with the relevant deductions and payroll information. In South Africa, payroll also connects closely with obligations such as PAYE, UIF and SDL.
10. Payroll integration: A payroll integration connects HR information with a payroll system so that relevant employee changes can flow between systems. For example, changes to an employee’s information, remuneration, time or approved expenses may need to reach payroll.
11. Document management: Document management is the process of storing, organising, accessing and managing company and employee documents digitally. For HR teams, this can include contracts, policies, payslips, IDs and other employee records.
12. Digital signature: A digital signature allows a document to be signed electronically rather than printed, signed and scanned. HR teams commonly use digital signatures for employment documents, policies and other agreements.
13. Onboarding: Onboarding is the process of helping a new employee join the organisation and get set up for their role. It can include collecting personal information, signing documents, assigning tasks and sharing company information.
14. Off-boarding: Off-boarding is the process of managing an employee’s exit from the organisation. It can include final documentation, returning company equipment, removing access and completing exit processes.
15. Recruitment: Recruitment is the process of attracting, assessing and hiring candidates for open roles. HR recruitment software can help teams manage candidates, job applications, interview stages and hiring documentation.
16. Applicant Tracking System (ATS): An Applicant Tracking System (ATS) is software used to manage the recruitment process and candidate pipeline. It can help HR teams keep track of applicants from application through to hiring.
17. Performance management: Performance management is the ongoing process of setting expectations, reviewing performance, giving feedback and supporting employee development.
18. Performance review: A performance review is a structured assessment of an employee’s performance over a defined period. Reviews can be used to discuss achievements, development areas, objectives and next steps.
19. Objectives and Key Results (OKRs): Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) are a framework for setting goals and measuring progress against specific outcomes.
20. 360-degree feedback: 360-degree feedback collects feedback about an employee from multiple perspectives, which can include managers, peers and direct reports.
21. Employee engagement: Employee engagement refers to how connected and involved employees are with their work and organisation.
22. Employee survey: An employee survey is a structured questionnaire used to collect feedback from employees. HR teams may use surveys to understand engagement, workplace experiences or reactions to specific initiatives.
23. HR analytics: HR analytics involves using employee and HR data to identify trends and support decision-making. Examples include analysing headcount, absence, turnover, working hours or employee costs.
24. HR reporting: HR reporting is the process of turning HR data into reports that help managers and HR teams understand what is happening across the workforce.
25. HR automation: HR automation uses technology to automate repetitive HR tasks and workflows. For example, an organisation can automate parts of onboarding, document collection, approvals or employee notifications.
26. Workflow: An HR workflow is a sequence of tasks and actions that moves a process from start to finish. For example, an onboarding workflow could assign tasks to HR, IT, the manager and the new employee.
27. HR integration: An HR integration connects HR software with another business system so that information can move between platforms. This can help reduce duplicate data entry and keep systems in sync.
Factorial for South African businesses
Factorial is expanding its presence in South Africa and the wider Southern African market, helping businesses move away from fragmented HR systems and manual admin. In June 2026, Factorial partnered with South African HR and labour technology provider LabourGenie.net to bring its cloud-based HR solutions to organisations across Southern Africa. The partnership focuses on helping businesses manage HR administration, employee experiences and workforce processes as compliance requirements become increasingly complex.
For South African HR teams, that means having core processes such as time tracking, leave, employee documents, payroll and workforce management connected in one platform. Factorial’s South African offering also provides tools for tracking working hours and managing absences, with payroll and HR processes that can be integrated with existing systems.
Factorial can help teams build more consistent HR processes around the requirements they already need to manage — from maintaining accurate employee records and managing working hours to keeping payroll information organised and controlling access to sensitive employee data. Its payroll permissions, for example, allow organisations to restrict access to sensitive information such as salaries, bonuses and payroll data to authorised users.
This glossary is for general information and does not constitute legal or tax advice. South African employment, tax and data protection requirements can change, so check the latest guidance from the relevant authority for your specific situation.
