Compare job offers: salary and working hours (South Africa)

Put both packages on the same annual basis

Start with the guaranteed annual cash salary, including fixed payments the employer confirms. Check whether a monthly figure is paid twelve times or on another schedule, and whether a package figure already includes employer pension contributions or other benefits.

List discretionary bonuses, commission and equity separately, with their conditions, timing and any clawback. Do not count a maximum bonus toward recurring costs, and leave a one-off signing bonus out of the ongoing annual comparison.

Calculate both salaries with the same assumptions

If both jobs are in the same country and your circumstances stay the same, use the same tax year and personal settings for both. The difference then comes from salary alone. If an offer changes your region, country or insurance, change that setting for that offer only and note it.

Compare annual net first, then divide by twelve for a monthly planning figure. Payroll timing and the final tax bill can differ from it. The model calculates salary only, so check the tax treatment of benefits, relocation payments and equity separately.

Subtract the costs each job causes

Work out commuting, parking, extra meals, childcare and other costs that differ between the offers. Count a reimbursement only if the contract provides it, and do not subtract a cost that is already deducted from pay. The example subtracts commuting only, so its result is not your full household surplus.

Keep one-off costs such as moving, equipment or a period of paying for two homes apart from recurring costs. Subtract them once from the first year. Leave them out of the ongoing comparison, or the move will distort every later year.

Make the time commitment visible

Compare contract hours, expected overtime, commuting and on-call time. Remote days can cut both travel cost and travel time, but plan with the attendance pattern the contract states.

The example shows two hourly figures. Net per paid hour divides net pay after commuting by the contract hours; net per hour including commute adds the travel time to those hours. With 52 weeks the pay is spread over every week of the year, so enter the weeks you actually work after paid leave and public holidays. Neither figure is a statutory hourly wage.

Value benefits by their written terms

Check employer pension payments, insurance, paid leave, training and flexibility in the written offer. Ask when you become eligible, whether you pay part of the cost, and what happens if you leave. What a benefit would cost you elsewhere is not automatically its value to you.

Do not add employer contributions to spendable net pay, and do not count a benefit both as cash and as a cost you avoid. List benefits without a reliable cash value separately. More leave or flexibility can decide the choice; write it down as a preference instead of converting it into an invented amount.

Separate the financial result from the final choice

Compare the first year and a normal year, then repeat the comparison without variable pay. Check probation, notice period, location, workload and progression with the employer; any of them can make the better-paid offer the worse choice.

Use the difference to ask for something specific, such as a higher guaranteed salary, travel support or agreed remote days. Keep both calculator scenarios with your notes on the assumptions, so you can see what changed if the employer revises the offer.

Before accepting either offer

• Separate guaranteed annual pay from one-off and uncertain payments.
• Calculate both offers with the same settings, or note each difference.
• Compare recurring costs, working and travel time, and first-year moving costs.
• Get benefit eligibility and the working arrangement in writing.

Sources and model coverage

What the estimate covers

The calculator estimates employment income using its supported country rules and selected inputs. Benefits, collective agreements and personal circumstances that are not modelled are excluded. Official rules determine your actual liability.

• Resident salary estimate with age rebates, UIF and employer SDL. Assumes an SDL-liable employer. COIDA, disability and out-of-pocket medical relief are excluded.

Official sources

The calculation uses the country model and the stated personal settings. The budget figures are illustrative; official sources explain rules and earnings measures, rather than certify each example.

• www.statssa.gov.za
• South African Revenue Service · Personal income tax
• South African Revenue Service · UIF