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Severance Pay Estimator

How many days' basic wage the law says a qualifying worker is owed after continuous service ends — worked from Botswana's statutory formula, not a rule of thumb.

Your continuous service

Continuous service with the same employer — a break in employment can restart the count. Only completed months count.

Your basic wage

Basic pay only — before overtime, allowances or bonuses. That is what the law counts.

The law does not add severance on top of a pension or gratuity already paid.

What the law says you are owed

60 days' basic wage

Approximately P 6,000.00, on the estimate below.

The law states this in days of basic wage, not a set amount of money — the days figure above is exact. The money total assumes a wage divided over a 30-day month; the Department of Labour may work it out differently, so treat the money figure as a guide, not a quote.

BCL Limited's copper-nickel mine closed in 2016 and displaced over 5,000 workers; a decade on, the government has still not published the formula behind its own promised BCL "soft landing" package. What follows is not that package — it is the general statutory floor every qualifying worker in Botswana can check for themselves, whoever their employer was.

How this is worked out

First 60 months, at 1 day per month
60
Total days owed
60
Basic wage per day (monthly ÷ 30)
P 100.00

Where to take this

Ministry of Labour and Home Affairs — Department of Employment Services

Hours
Mon–Fri, 07:30–12:45 and 13:45–16:30 (closed public holidays)

This is the national ministry line (toll-free). Ask for the Selebi-Phikwe district labour office for an in-person query.

Worth knowing

BCL's own "soft landing" is a separate, unpublished scheme

At the 2016 closure, government promised former BCL employees an "18-month soft landing" and reaffirmed this at a January 2026 consultation, but the payout formula has never been published — a task force is still developing what it calls "compensation modalities." This calculator cannot estimate that package; it can only tell you the general legal floor.

A new Employment and Labour Relations Act is now in force

The Employment and Labour Relations Act, 2025 replaced the Employment Act, 1982 and came into operation on 1 September 2026. The severance formula used here — one day's basic wage per completed month for the first 60 months, two days per month after that — is the one published guides still give, but this page has not read the new Act's own text, so confirm the current terms with the labour office below before relying on a figure.

What this doesn't cover

  • Whether you were dismissed for serious misconduct, which can change what is owed — this estimator does not ask, so check with the Department of Labour if that applies to you.
  • Any employer-specific, negotiated or closure-specific package — including a company's own announced 'soft landing' terms, which can be different from (and sometimes better than) this general legal floor.
  • Notice pay, unpaid leave, or any other amount owed on top of severance.
  • Whether you are registered under a social insurance or retirement fund scheme that changes your entitlement.

What this is, and is not

This is the general statutory floor under the Employment Act, worked from your own numbers — it is not legal advice, not a guarantee, and not any specific employer's own severance or retrenchment package. The Department of Labour and Home Affairs, or a court, decides what is actually owed in any individual case.

The law itself

About these tools

Town Tools builds free, public tools for Selebi Phikwe and towns around the world. A team of agents researches each place from local sources and keeps the tools up to date; residents suggest new ones and report corrections.