A labour inspector can walk into your business today. No appointment. No advance warning. No opportunity to get your paperwork in order before they arrive.
That is not a hypothetical — it is how the Department of Employment and Labour’s Inspections and Enforcement Services operates. Inspectors conduct both proactive inspections (scheduled sector sweeps and regional campaigns) and reactive inspections (triggered by employee complaints). Either way, when they arrive, the inspection begins immediately.
In February 2026, inspectors visited 99 workplaces in the Overberg region of the Western Cape and found 73% of them non-compliant with the Occupational Health and Safety Act alone. Contravention notices were issued on the day. The same teams operate in every province, every week.
This article covers exactly what a labour inspector checks, what the outcomes of an inspection can be, and what every South African employer needs to have in place before the knock on the door comes.
Who has the authority to inspect your workplace
Only duly appointed labour inspectors, designated in terms of applicable labour legislation, are legally empowered to conduct workplace inspections. This matters because in April 2026, the Department was forced to issue an official statement distancing itself from an individual who had been filmed at a Steers outlet in Berea, Durban, confronting an employer on alleged labour compliance matters and presenting themselves as having inspection authority.
The Department’s Acting Director-General made the position clear: no individual or member of the public has authority to conduct workplace inspections. Activists, organisations, agents, or representatives are not authorised to act as inspectors on the Department’s behalf.
A legitimate labour inspector carries an official departmental identification card and wears a departmental uniform. If someone arrives at your premises claiming to conduct a labour inspection, you have the right to ask for their identification card and verify their details with the Provincial Chief Inspector or nearest Labour Centre before the inspection proceeds. If in doubt, you can contact the Department directly. Anyone presenting themselves as a labour inspector without lawful appointment is committing a criminal offence.
The fraud hotline for reporting inspector misconduct or impersonation is 0860 666 883.
What a labour inspector actually checks
Labour inspectors in South Africa operate under multiple pieces of legislation simultaneously. A single inspection visit can cover all of the following.
The Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA)
The OHSA is the most frequently inspected and most commonly failed obligation in the Department’s inspection data. The February 2026 Overberg inspections found 73% non-compliance with OHSA requirements specifically.
What inspectors check under the OHSA:
Risk assessment documentation. A written hazard identification and risk assessment for your specific workplace is a legal requirement. It must be current, documented, and available on the premises. Verbal assurances that you have assessed the risks are not compliance.
Asbestos inventory. Premises constructed before 1990 frequently contain asbestos. If your building has or may have asbestos-containing materials, you are required to have a survey and maintain a management plan. This obligation falls on the occupier of the premises, not only the owner.
Trained first aiders. Every workplace must have a sufficient number of employees holding valid first aid certificates appropriate to the workplace hazards and headcount. The required ratio and first aid level depend on the nature of the workplace.
Employee facilities.Where the nature of the work requires it — in warehouses, kitchens, construction sites, factories, and agricultural settings specifically — employers must provide adequate eating areas, change rooms, and storage for personal belongings.
Personal Protective Equipment. All PPE required for the specific hazards of your workplace must be provided to employees at no cost. Inspectors check that it exists, that it is appropriate for the hazard, that it is in good condition, and that employees are actually using it.
Electrical and gas certificates of compliance. All electrical and gas installations must be certified by an accredited person. Expired or absent certificates are a contravention regardless of whether the installation is functioning correctly.
Equipment service records. Machinery, pressure vessels, lifting equipment, and other regulated plant must be serviced at specified intervals by a competent person. Service records must be maintained on site.
Employee OHS training records. Every employee must be trained on the hazards specific to their work and the safe work procedures in place. Training must be documented. Verbal induction does not constitute compliance.
The Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA)
BCEA inspections run alongside OHS checks in the same visit. The February 2026 Overberg inspections found BCEA violations in 16% of workplaces — lower than OHS, but with immediate financial consequences for employers found non-compliant.
What inspectors check under the BCEA:
National Minimum Wage compliance.Every employee must be paid at least the National Minimum Wage — R30.23 per hour for most employees from 1 March 2026 (up from R28.79). Inspectors check payslips and compare against actual rates paid.
Sunday and public holiday rates. Employees who work on Sundays must receive at least 1.5 times their normal rate. Employees who work on public holidays must receive double their normal rate, plus a substitute day off. Failure to pay these rates is a contravention regardless of what the employment contract says.
Employment contracts. Every employee must have a written record of their employment conditions. Inspectors ask to see contracts. If employees are working without written contracts, that is a BCEA contravention.
Payslips. Every employee must receive a payslip for every pay period. Payslips must include specific information prescribed by the Act. A handwritten note of what was paid is not a compliant payslip.
Leave records. Annual leave, sick leave, and family responsibility leave must be granted and recorded in accordance with the BCEA. Inspectors check leave records against what employees have actually received.
Working hours. The BCEA sets maximum ordinary hours of work, overtime limits, and rest period requirements. Inspectors check time records against these limits.
The Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF)
UIF compliance is verified in the same inspection visit. Every employer who employs one or more employees for more than 24 hours per month is required to be registered with the UIF and to make monthly contributions — 1% from the employer and 1% deducted from the employee’s salary, paid over to the Fund by the 7th of the following month.
What inspectors check under UIF:
- Employer registration with the Fund
- Monthly contribution submissions (UI-19 declarations)
- Actual payment of contributions — deducting from an employee’s salary but not paying over to the Fund is both a UIF violation and a breach of trust
The Compensation Fund (COIDA)
Inspectors also verify COIDA compliance — specifically, whether the employer has a current Letter of Good Standing (LOGS) from the Compensation Fund. The LOGS confirms that the employer has filed their Return of Earnings and paid the assessed levy for the current year.
An expired LOGS does not mean the inspector issues a COIDA-specific notice — COIDA enforcement sits with the Compensation Fund rather than the labour inspectorate. But an expired LOGS discovered during an inspection creates a connected risk: if a workplace injury occurs during the same period that the LOGS was expired, the employer is personally liable for the full cost of compensation and treatment rather than being covered by the Fund.
What happens after an inspection
If you are compliant
The inspector records the visit and confirms compliance. No further action. In proactive inspection campaigns, this typically means the premises are recorded as compliant and are unlikely to be revisited in the near term.
If you are non-compliant — contravention notice
The inspector issues a written contravention notice specifying each violation, the legal provision breached, and a remediation period. Remediation periods typically range from 7 to 60 days depending on the nature and severity of the contravention.
You are legally required to remediate within the specified period. The inspector may conduct a follow-up visit to verify compliance.
If you fail to remediate — prohibition notice or prosecution
If you do not comply within the remediation period, the inspector can issue a prohibition notice — effectively stopping the specific work activity or closing the area of the workplace where the contravention exists until it is resolved. A prohibition notice on a production line, a kitchen, or a construction site can halt operations entirely.
Where the non-compliance is serious, persistent, or has caused injury, the matter is referred for prosecution. Under the OHSA, an employer convicted of an offence faces a fine of up to R100,000, imprisonment of up to two years, or both. Under the BCEA, failure to pay the National Minimum Wage carries similar criminal penalties and the Department can pursue claims on behalf of affected employees.
If an employee complaint triggered the inspection
Reactive inspections — triggered by a complaint from an employee or former employee — follow the same process but typically focus on the specific issue raised. Complaints about unpaid wages, unsafe conditions, or unfair dismissal each trigger a different inspection pathway. Importantly, the inspector is not limited to the specific complaint — if they find additional contraventions during the visit, those are also recorded and actioned.
How to know if an inspection is likely
The Department runs ongoing provincial campaigns throughout the year. The “Taking Services to the People” campaign, the September 2024 national hospitality sweep, and the Overberg inspections in February 2026 are all examples of proactive sector and regional targeting. The Department publicly announces its focus areas — hospitality, construction, retail, agriculture — but does not give individual businesses advance notice of when their specific premises will be visited.
The practical implication: if your industry has been publicly identified as a focus area, inspections in your sector are happening. The Overberg inspections covered Finance, Hospitality, Iron & Steel, Wholesale & Retail, and Manufacturing — all in a single regional campaign. No employer in those sectors received individual notice.
Reactive inspections can happen at any time and are driven by employee complaints. The most common complaint triggers are: non-payment or underpayment of wages, unsafe working conditions, refusal to pay UIF contributions, and unfair dismissal.
Your pre-inspection checklist
The following items are what inspectors check. If you cannot produce all of them immediately, you have a compliance gap that a contravention notice will find.
OHS documentation: Written risk assessment (current), asbestos survey or confirmation of absence, first aider certificates, PPE procurement records, electrical and gas compliance certificates, equipment service records, employee OHS training records.
BCEA records: Signed employment contracts for every employee, payslip records for the past 12 months, leave records, time and attendance records.
UIF: UIF employer registration certificate, UI-19 submission records for the past 12 months, proof of contribution payments.
COIDA:Current Letter of Good Standing from the Compensation Fund. The LOGS renewal date is set when you file your Return of Earnings — if it has lapsed, it needs to be renewed before the next ROE window closes in June.
Run your compliance check now
ClearComply’s free compliance check at clearcomply.co.za/check covers your COIDA, UIF, and CIPC status in one place — the obligations most commonly checked in conjunction with OHS inspections. If your Letter of Good Standing has lapsed or your CIPC registration has a compliance gap, the Fix-It report shows you exactly what to file.
For more detail on OHS inspection findings and what 73% of South African workplaces got wrong in 2026, see our OHS compliance analysis. For the full UIF employer compliance guide, see our UIF guide for employers.
Sources: Department of Employment and Labour media statement, 18 February 2026 — “Workplaces in Overberg fail OHS compliance test dismally.” Department of Employment and Labour media statement, 8 April 2026 — “Department of Employment and Labour unequivocally distances itself from unlawful and unauthorised acts masquerading as Labour inspections.” All enforcement data cited directly from official government publications.