The Minister of Employment and Labour has extended the Main Collective Agreement of the Bargaining Council for the Fast Food, Restaurant, Catering and Allied Trades to employers who never signed it. Government Gazette No. 55542 carries Notice 4196 of 2026. It takes effect on Monday 26 October 2026 and runs to 31 August 2028. Hotel operations sit largely outside the registered scope. The contract caterers who supply them sit largely inside it.
The instrument
Notice 4196 is a declaration under section 32(2) of the Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995, signed by Minister Nomakhosazana Meth. Publication fell on Friday 16 October 2026. The notice gives effect from the second Monday after publication, which is 26 October 2026.
Where the agreement reaches
Annexure 1 sets the scope by province and magisterial district: the Western Cape, Eastern Cape, Northern Cape, Free State and KwaZulu-Natal; North West apart from Brits and Rustenburg; Mpumalanga apart from Witbank; Limpopo apart from Warmbaths; and in Gauteng the districts of Heidelberg, Nigel, Vereeniging, Vanderbijlpark, Oberholzer, Meyerton and Carletonville.
The sector definition covers restaurants, tearooms, coffee shops, pubs, taverns, roadhouses, cafes, food outlets, convenience stores, contract caterers, franchisors and retail bakeries.
The hotel carve-out
Annexure 1 excludes casino and hotel industry activity, and activity ancillary and incidental to the primary business, where the hotel or casino manages and operates it solely and exclusively. That activity must also form an integral part of the hotel business at the premises where it is undertaken.
Sports and recreation club catering falls outside, as do filling station convenience operations apart from separately registered restaurants, and food outlets run as part of a supermarket.
A hotel that concessions food and beverage to a third party, or holds a restaurant as a separately registered entity, does not reach the exclusion on the face of the wording. The annexure turns on who manages the activity and whether it is integral to the hotel.
The wage schedule
Clause 5 sets the hourly rate by classification. Chef, manager and sous chef carry R57.65. Entry classifications, which cover the general assistant, the baker and cook and the light forklift driver, carry R32.92. The schedule rises to R61.69 and R35.22 from 1 June 2027.
A prescribed rate below the national minimum wage adjusts to the statutory figure of R30.23. A small employer may reduce prescribed wages by not more than 10 per cent.
The monthly remittance
Clause 21(1) sets a council expense levy of R7.00 per employee per month, deducted from wages. Clause 21(2) sets a dispute-resolution levy of R5.00 on the same basis. The employer matches both, which puts R24.00 per employee per month into council funds and splits it evenly.
Clause 21(2)(b) sets a further amount per establishment. That figure is illegible in the gazetted scan. Annexure 1 prints R30.00 per establishment a month.
Clause 21(C) makes membership of the Momentum Funds At Work Umbrella Provident Fund compulsory for every employee other than casuals under 65, at 5 per cent deducted and 5 per cent added. FEDHASA lists a funeral scheme contribution among the obligations.
Bonus, uniform and registration
Clause 9 sets the annual bonus at one week of wages after 12 consecutive months of service and two weeks after 24 months. Clause 7 requires the employer to supply and maintain uniforms free of charge, and caps any employee deposit at R25.39. Clause 19(1) requires registration with the council within 30 days of falling within scope. Clause 24(2) requires the agreement displayed at the workplace.
Where the association figures part from the gazette
FEDHASA publishes a wage range from R30.23 to R57.23 an hour. Clause 5 runs from R32.92 to R57.65. R30.23 is the national minimum wage figure, carried as a proviso.
FEDHASA publishes levies of R16 per employee and R25 per establishment. Clause 21 gives R24.00 and Annexure 1 prints R30.00.
FEDHASA publishes a minimum annual bonus of two weeks' salary, where clause 9 gives one week after 12 months. FEDHASA publishes a uniform cleaning allowance of R17.50 a week. No R17.50 figure appears in the notice, and clause 7 caps an employee deposit at R25.39.
The challenge, and what stands on Monday
FEDHASA is coordinating an urgent application to the Labour Court on whether the statutory requirements for the extension were met. Its notice of 19 October 2026 asked affected employers to join by 17:00 on Tuesday 20 October 2026 and to contribute towards costs. The association states that the Labour Court granted an interdict on 2 March 2021 after the earlier extension. The notice names no case number and no hearing date.
The notice fixes 26 October 2026 as the commencement date. For hotel owners and asset managers the exposure sits in the supply chain before the payroll. A contract caterer or a restaurant concession inside the listed districts is a non-party employer bound from that Monday.
Read the management clause in every food and beverage contract before that date. The exclusion turns on who manages the operation and whether the activity is integral to the hotel at those premises.