All domestic workers are entitled to be paid according to the National Minimum Wage
Advocate Caroline Kwetepane from the Department of Employment and Labour’s Inspection and Enforcement Services told the seminar that all domestic workers are covered by the National Minimum Wage Act.
Advocate Kwetepane was addressing the Domestic Workers Sector Advocacy Seminar today, September 17, 2022, at Salt River, in the Western Cape Province.
“With effect from 01 March 2022 your wages were increased from R19.09 (2021) to R23,19 for each ordinary hour worked for the year 2022. This means that your employer cannot pay you less than this rate. If you work less than four hours, your employer must pay you as if you worked for four hours.
The NMW does not include payment of allowances such as transport, tools, food or accommodation payments in kind like boarding or lodging, tips, bonuses and gifts. This is unless such a payment is specified in the Sectoral Determination. The employer may only deduct up to 10% for food and accommodation in terms of the Sectoral Determination 07,” Kwetepane said.
She told the gathering that in addition, domestic workers are entitled to annual leave (3 weeks), sick leave (1 day for every 26 days worked), maternity leave (4 months), and (5 days), family responsibility leave.
The Department encourages employees to report non-complying employers to the nearest labour Centre, however, they can choose to approach the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) but not both. “If the employer is a first offender, the value of the underpayment to the employee is doubled and for second offence, the value of the underpayment is tripled,” Advocate Caroline Kwetepane told the seminar.
The Deputy Director: Compensation Fund, Lerato Ramasobane, told the seminar that domestic workers are now covered by the Fund and that they have to be registered by their employers so they can benefit.
“Your employer must report an accident with the Compensation Fund within seven days of occurring. The Compensation Fund covers you for occupational injuries and diseases. It pays the medical service provider reasonably, however, for permanent disablement above 31 percent, the worker will receive monthly pension, other benefits include chronic medication, assistive devices, commutation, constant attendance allowance and bursaries & vocational training” she said.
In concluding presentations, Commissioner Andrew van Diemen from the CCMA reiterated the call for workers to report employers who are not complying with the national minimum wage. “We are ready to resolve your dispute as quick as possible,” he said.
In response to the above presentations, the South African Domestic and Allied Workers Union (SADSAWU) called on the Department to provide more inspectors for the sector and to force employers to register them for the UIF and CF. They also requested the Department to provide them with more information on COIDA and NMW in their own languages.
Today’s seminar follows similar ones held in KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, and Limpopo and Gauteng provinces. The seminars are targeted at the workers, employers, employer organisations and trade unions.
Enquiries:
Advocate Caroline Kwetepane
Cell: 071 675 0105
E-mail: carolinemaphari.kwetepane@labour.gov.za
