Department of Education ordered to compensate KZN lecturer R154,000 for salary underpayment.
Image: Pexels
The Education Labour Relations Council (ELRC) has ordered the Department of Higher Education and Training to pay more than R154,000 in back pay to a lecturer at Coastal KZN TVET College after finding the department failed to correctly adjust his salary following an academic qualification upgrade.
Panellist Clint Enslin ruled in favour of lecturer only identified as NN, who was represented by the teachers’ union National Professional Teachers' Organisation of South Africa (NAPTOSA).
NN, a lecturer at Coastal KZN TVET College, obtained an Advanced Diploma in Technical and Vocational Teaching on 5 July 2022, which qualifies educators for a REQV 14 level under the education sector’s Personal Administrative Measures (PAM).
Despite obtaining the qualification, the department did not move him from REQV 13 to REQV 14, leaving him on an annual salary notch of R309,699 instead of the correct R353,628.
The matter was referred to arbitration after the department allegedly failed to implement the salary adjustment required under PAM provisions.
During arbitration proceedings held in December 2025 and February 2026, both parties agreed on all the key facts.
They confirmed that:
NN’s qualification upgraded his REQV level to REQV 14.
His salary should have been adjusted accordingly.
He remained on the incorrect salary notch for several years.
The department also submitted a spreadsheet calculating the financial difference owed to the lecturer, which both parties accepted as accurate.
Enslin found that the department had breached the provisions of PAM by failing to place the lecturer on the correct salary level after he improved his qualifications.
The arbitrator ruled that NN had been underpaid from July 2022 to January 2026 due to the incorrect notch placement.
The arbitration award directs the department to:
Immediately place NN on the correct salary notch of R353,628 per year, and
Pay him R154,275 in back pay for the period during which he was underpaid.
The department has been ordered to settle the back pay by 31 March 2026.
sinenhlanhla.masilela@iol.co.za
IOL News
Get your news on the go, click here to join the IOL News WhatsApp channel