The minimum wages in the Domestic Worker Sector will increase with effect from 1 December 2016. The extent of the increase depends on the location of the employer, as well as whether the employee works for more than 27 hours per week (for example the minimum rate for a domestic who works for more than 27 hours per week in any of our cities and most towns, is R12,42 per hour; for a domestic worker who works 27 hours or less per week, the rate is R14,54 per hour).

Narrowing of wage gap
Employees in urban areas have been entitled to a higher minimum wage than those in rural areas since the inception of the Sectoral Determination. An interesting aspect of this year’s increase, is the difference in the percentage increase between employees in urban areas (who get a 8,6% increase) and employees in the rural areas (who get a 10,6% increase). As a consequence there is a slight narrowing of the wage gap.

Effect of National Minimum Wage
Some confusion has arisen around the intended implementation of a new ‘National Minimum Wage’. An advisory panel has proposed that all workers across the country should earn at least R20 per hour. How will that affect the domestic workers? Considering that the proprosed National Minimum Wage is higher than the minimum for domestic workers, it has been proposed that domestic workers initially only be entitled 75% of the proposed National Minimum Wage, but that there should be an ‘adjustment period’ of 3 years. One must bear in mind that these are only recommendations which still need to be thrashed out in the National Economic Development and Labour Counsel (NEDLAC).

For now it is important to be aware of the various hourly, weekly and monthly rates for the Domestic Worker Sector that come into effect on 1 December 2016
(For more information Click here).