Domestic Workers' Wages

The Domestic Workers' Act

Minimum Wages for Domestic Workers have been raised just above 7 %, as of December 2009, according to the Department of Labour regarding the Domestic Workers' Act.

What is the Domestic Workers' Act all about?

The Act sets out minimum wages for domestics and specifies working conditions such as hours of work, overtime pay, salary increases, deductions, annual and sick leave.

This legislation also lists the urban areas (classified as A Areas) where one minimum wage applies. A second minimum wage applies to domestic workers in non-urban areas (B Areas).

To whom does the Domestic Workers Act apply?

To the estimated 1 to 1.5 million workers in the country who work as domestics, gardeners, childminders (including drivers of children) and those who look after the sick, aged or disabled in private homes. The legislation also covers domestic workers who work as independent contractors.

What is the Minimum Wage for Domestic Workers?

Domestic workers working in designated urban areas for more than 27 hours per week should receive R1 442.86 per month, at an hourly rate of R7.40, while those working in designated non-urban areas should receive R1 191.78 per month, at an hourly rate of R6.11.

Domestic workers working in designated urban areas for 27 hours or less per week should receive an hourly rate of R8.74, while those in designated non-urban areas should receive an hourly rate of R7.22 per hour.

The minimum wages given are applicable from 1 December 2009.

Hours of Work, Leave and Dismissal

According to the legislation, domestic workers should work no more than 45 hours a week, and should not work more than nine hours a day if they work a five-day week, or more than eight hours a day if they work for more than five days a week.

Domestic worker should work no more than 15 hours a week overtime, and no more than three hours on any one day. They should also receive double pay on Sundays or public holidays.

Employers whose domestics live on the property may deduct 10% of their salary for accommodation, providing the accommodation complies with the minimum standards laid down in the legislation.

An employer wishing to dismiss a worker must give a week of notice if the domestic has been employed for six months or lessl and four weeks' notice if he or she has worked for more than six months.

Domestics are also entitled to severance pay of one week for each year of service, as well as four months' unpaid maternity leave.

All employers must register their employees for the Unemployment Insurance Fund, and are advised to sign an employment contract with their domestic worker.

Is there a union for domestic workers?

Yes, there is - the South African Domestic Workers' Union, which has around 4 500 members. The union is affiliated to the country's biggest labour federation, the Congress of South African Trade Unions

Can domestic workers receive training to upgrade their skills?

Yes. This year a massive training project, the Domestic Workers Skills Development Project, was launched. Financed by the Department of Labour's National Skills Fund to the tune of R120-million, the project aims to train 27 000 domestic workers around the country over the next three years. Trainees will receive formal recognition for their skills.

The training is being overseen by the Services Sector Education and Training Authority (Seta), which has set up a discrete chamber for domestic services, based in Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape.

Visit the Services Sector Education and Training Authority website for more information, or contact their office on (041) 582-4000.

• With thanks to southafrica.info