Old Mutual has increased its minimum pay to R16,000 a month as companies in the sector battle to attract and retain talented staff.
The group, which was the first insurer to reveal its minimum pay in 2023, said skills retention in the sector has become a challenge.
In its 2024 annual report published on Tuesday — its AGM is scheduled for May 30 — the financial services group said a key feature of its “responsible business strategy entails our fair and responsible pay commitment.”
“In 2023, just under 90% of our fair pay spend benefited previously disadvantaged groups of employees and this trend continued in 2024 with around 95% going to previously disadvantaged groups and just under 60% being awarded to female employees,” it said.
“This reinforces our core remuneration principles of supporting competitive pay and enabling a dignified life for employees ... we have now elected to increase the minimum to R192,000 per annum for full-time, non-commission earning individuals in SA from April 1 2025.”
The minimum pay applies to all permanent employees, excluding those on a commission-based remuneration structure.
Old Mutual said its total guaranteed pay is market-related, informed by robust and regular remuneration benchmarking in each operating market.
“It is targeted at the market median, unless there is a specific market imperative based on skills scarcity or criticality to offer guaranteed remuneration at a higher relative level,” it added.
“All paylines have been increased to reflect the various market dynamics impacting remuneration. We continue to ensure that all employees in SA on a total guaranteed pay package are remunerated fairly, with no employee earning below the minimum of their respective payline.”
The group has also put in place an inclusive parental leave policy whereby primary caregivers are eligible for four months fully paid leave, while secondary caregivers are eligible for one month of paid leave.
“We extend bereavement leave throughout the pregnancy for the birthing parent in the case of miscarriage.”
Old Mutual said that since 2019, the average guaranteed pay increase awarded to the bargaining unit level employees in SA has exceeded that of the management level employees.
In the year under review, outgoing CEO Iain Williamson was paid R38.5m, including total guaranteed pay of R10.8m. CFO Casper Troskie was paid R21.6m, including total guaranteed of R6.3m.
The group reported good progress in the execution of its strategy, with all metrics above threshold.
“This was achieved through the implementation of the Personal Finance Savings pilot, tools to improve digital enablement and on track delivery of our bank build milestones; completed industry testing, go-live on production systems and meeting all licence conditions while remaining within budget,” it said.
“The two-pot system was successfully implemented, with over 90% of claims processed digitally,” it added, referring to changes in retirement funding legislation enabling workers access to a portion of their savings before retirement.
“We remained focused on delivering efficiencies, achieving our cost-to-income ratio target despite significant investment in enhancing our capability.”
Following Old Mutual’s 2023 disclosure of its minimum annual salary — then pegged at R15,000 a month — Santam, SA’s largest short-term insurer, followed suit and set its minimum wage at R15,000 a month.
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