What you must pay your domestic

Minimum wage requirements are divided into two sections comprising those who work 27 hours or less per week and those who work more than 27 hours per week.

Domestic workers working more than 27 hours per week must be paid a minimum of R13.05 per hour; R587.40 per week or R2 545.22 per month.

Domestic workers working less than 27 hours or less per week must be paid a minimum of R15.28 per hour; R412.60 per week or R1 787.80 per month.

The above rates are applicable from January 1 to November 30 next year, at which point the department will publish new minimum wage requirements.

Domestic workers may not be made to work more than 45 hours per week and may not work more than nine hours per day for a fiveday week or more than eight hours per day for a six-day week.

They are not allowed to work more than 15 hours overtime per week. For overtime, they must be paid 1.5 times their normal hourly wage.

Domestic workers are entitled to a one-hour break for a meal after not more than five hours work.

Work on Sundays is voluntary and domestic workers cannot be forced to work on this day. If he or she agrees to do this work, payment must be double the daily wage.

Annual leave may not be less than three weeks per year for fulltime domestic workers or one day for every 17 days work.

Pregnant domestic workers are entitled to a minimum of four consecutive months’ maternity leave, however employers are not obliged to pay the domestic worker for the time taken off work due to pregnancy.

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