Who are Domestic Workers?
A domestic worker or domestic servant is a person who works within a residence and performs a variety of household services for an individual,
from providing cleaning and household maintenance, cooking, laundry, and ironing, or caring for children and elderly dependents, and other household errands.
Domestic Workers Registration In South Africa
Registration of Domestic Worker
From 19 November 2020, Domestic Workers in private households are covered under the Compensation Act and their employers must register with the Compensation Fund.
If you do not register your Domestic Worker with the Compensation Fund you may face the following practical difficulties:
- If your Domestic Worker gets injured on duty, the treating doctor or hospital will believe they cannot claim from the Compensation Fund and will demand payment from you. This could amount to hundreds of thousands of rands.
- If you do pay medical costs on behalf of your injured Domestic Worker, you won’t be able to claim back payment from the Compensation Fund;
- If you get caught out, you can be assessed retrospectively and the relatively small amounts that you would have paid every year (but didn’t) will accumulate and attract interest – leaving you liable for far more than you can handle;
So, not only is it legally binding on you, as an employer, to be registered with the Compensation Fund but it meets a real need of both employer and injured employee.
Please therefore sign up for our New Business Registration service and we will register you as an employer of a domestic worker in a private household.”
What is the minimum wage for domestic workers in South Africa?
From 1 March 2023, the Department of Labour set the new minimum wage for full-time domestic workers at R25. 42 per hour.
Employing someone for more than 24 hours a month is considered full-time. If your domestic worker works 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, they should be paid at least R4,067.20 a month.
What are the rules for domestic workers in South Africa?
Domestic workers 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.