Domestic worker pay and compliance checker

This checker works out what a household owes a domestic worker and whether the household is doing the things the law requires of it as an employer. A home that employs a domestic worker, a gardener, a nanny or a carer is an employer in exactly the sense that a company is. The Basic Conditions of Employment Act, the National Minimum Wage Act, the Unemployment Insurance Act, the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act and the Labour Relations Act all apply. Most households do not know the half of it, and most domestic workers have no easy way to check.

You enter the days worked a week, the hours worked a day, what is paid a month in money, whether the worker lives on the property, and whether the worker is registered for UIF and the household for COIDA. The checker returns the hours a week, the minimum wage for them by the month, the UIF contributions each side pays, the notice period, and a list of what is wrong.

What this calculator works out and who it is for

It is for domestic workers who want to know whether they are being paid and treated lawfully, and for the households that employ them and want to get it right. It is also for the families who inherit a long-standing arrangement with a worker and have no idea whether anyone ever registered her for UIF.

The wage part is simple arithmetic on the national minimum wage, which domestic workers have been on in full since the lower domestic rate was phased out. The compliance part is a checklist: UIF registration and contributions, Compensation Fund registration, written particulars of employment, a payslip, a record of hours, and the leave and notice entitlements that follow from the Act. The checker names what is missing and what the consequence is.

A domestic worker in this sense is anyone employed in a private household: a housekeeper, cleaner, cook, nanny, au pair employed rather than placed, gardener, driver for the household, or carer for a child, an elderly person or a disabled person who lives there. Workers placed by an agency that remains their employer are in a different position, but a household that pays the worker directly is the employer.

How the calculation works

The checker multiplies the days a week by the hours a day to get ordinary hours a week. It multiplies those hours by the national minimum wage rate from the rate table to get the weekly minimum, and converts that to a month by multiplying by 52 and dividing by 12. That is the minimum monthly wage for those hours, in money. If you enter what is actually paid, it reports the shortfall or the margin above the minimum.

It then works out UIF. Both the worker and the household contribute one per cent of the wage, each, up to the contribution ceiling. The checker shows both figures. The worker's one per cent is deducted from the wage; the household's one per cent is paid on top and is not a deduction. Both are paid over to the Fund by the household.

It reads the notice period from the rate table: a domestic worker employed for more than six months is entitled to four weeks' notice.

It then runs the compliance checks. If the hours exceed 45 a week, or the daily hours exceed nine on a five-day week or eight on a six-day week, it says the excess is overtime that must be agreed and paid at one and a half times, and that the wage figure does not include it. If the worker lives in, it reminds you that accommodation and meals cannot be counted towards the minimum wage. If the worker is not registered for UIF, it explains what that costs her and what it exposes the household to. If the household is not registered with the Compensation Fund, it says the same for injuries at work.

The law behind the numbers

The National Minimum Wage Act 9 of 2018 applies to domestic workers. When the Act took effect in 2019, domestic workers were on a lower rate set at a percentage of the national minimum, and that rate was raised each year until it reached parity; since then they have been on the full national minimum wage. The rate in the checker is the one in force from 1 March 2026. Section 5 of the Act excludes payment in kind, including board and accommodation, from the wage unless a sectoral determination says otherwise. The old Sectoral Determination 7 for domestic workers allowed a capped deduction for accommodation that met set standards; whether that survives the national minimum wage is contested, and the safe course for a household is to pay the full minimum in money and treat accommodation as a benefit above it.

The Basic Conditions of Employment Act 75 of 1997 applies, together with Sectoral Determination 7, which sets rules for domestic work that differ from the general ones in places. Ordinary hours are capped at 45 a week and nine a day for a five-day week or eight a day for six days. Overtime is by agreement, limited by the sectoral determination to 15 hours a week and to 12 hours on any day including overtime, and paid at one and a half times. A worker who works less than four hours on a day must be paid for four. Sunday work and public holidays attract the premiums in sections 16 and 18. Written particulars of employment are required when the worker starts, and the sectoral determination requires a written pay statement on each pay day, which the employer keeps for three years. That duty comes from the sectoral determination itself, so it applies even to a household that employs only one person, which the general payslip rule in section 33 of the Act would otherwise exempt. Keeping a record of the hours worked is also the only way to prove what was paid for. Annual leave is 21 consecutive days a year on full pay, or one day for every 17 days worked; sick leave is 30 days in a three-year cycle for a five-day worker; family responsibility leave is five days a year under the sectoral determination, after four months' service, for a worker who works at least four days a week; and parental leave applies as it does to everyone else.

Notice is governed by section 37. Everyone gets one week in the first six months. After six months, a domestic worker is entitled to four weeks' notice, where other employees get two weeks until a year's service. A worker who lives on the premises and is dismissed is entitled to accommodation for a month or until the contract lawfully ends, whichever is longer, and after that cannot simply be put out: removing someone from where they live requires a court order under the Prevention of Illegal Eviction from and Unlawful Occupation of Land Act.

The Unemployment Insurance Act 63 of 2001 and the Unemployment Insurance Contributions Act 4 of 2002 have applied to domestic workers and their employers since 1 April 2003. The household must register as an employer with the Fund, register the worker, deduct one per cent of her wage, add one per cent of its own, and pay both over monthly. A worker who has not been registered cannot claim unemployment, illness, maternity or parental benefits when she needs them, and the household remains liable for all the arrear contributions with penalties and interest. Registration is free and can be done online.

The Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act 130 of 1993 excluded domestic workers in private households until the Constitutional Court struck that exclusion down in Mahlangu v Minister of Labour on 19 November 2020, with retrospective effect to 27 April 1994. The Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Amendment Act 10 of 2022 then wrote domestic workers into the Act. A household must register with the Compensation Fund and pay the annual assessment; a worker injured at work claims from the Fund for medical costs and lost earnings. An unregistered household is exposed to the claim itself and to penalties.

The Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995 applies as well. A domestic worker may not be unfairly dismissed, may refer a dismissal dispute to the CCMA within 30 days at no cost, and may join a union.

Worked example

Precious works for the Naidoo household five days a week, eight hours a day, and is paid R4 200 a month. She does not live in. Nobody has registered her for UIF, and the household has never heard of the Compensation Fund.

The checker finds 40 hours a week. At R30.23 an hour, the weekly minimum is R1 209.20 and the monthly minimum is R5 239.87. Precious is underpaid by R1 039.87 a month. Over a year that is nearly R12 500 owed to her. UIF on the minimum wage is R52.40 a month from her and R52.40 from the household. Her notice period is four weeks, because she has worked there for more than six months.

The warnings are direct. The wage is below the national minimum and the shortfall is owed for every month it was paid. The worker is not registered for UIF; registration is compulsory, and until it is done she cannot claim benefits and the household is liable for the arrears. The household is not registered with the Compensation Fund; domestic workers are covered by COIDA, and if Precious is injured at work the household bears the cost itself.

Change the hours to three days a week, six hours a day, and the picture changes. Eighteen hours a week gives a monthly minimum of R2 357.94, and R4 200 is well above it. The hours drive the wage, which is why the checker asks for them rather than for a monthly figure alone.

What the calculator does not include

It does not calculate overtime, Sunday or public holiday pay. The overtime calculator and the Sunday and public holiday pay calculator on this site do that for domestic workers as for anyone else.

It does not calculate leave pay, sick leave or notice pay in rands. The leave payout and notice period calculators handle those.

It does not model the old sectoral determination's accommodation deduction. The checker takes the view that the cash wage must meet the minimum.

It does not calculate the Compensation Fund assessment, which depends on the Fund's tariff for domestic employers and the annual earnings declared.

It does not deal with workers placed by an agency that remains their employer, or with au pairs on cultural exchange arrangements that are not employment.

It does not deal with the position of foreign nationals without work authorisation. They are employees for the purposes of the BCEA and the LRA and are entitled to the minimum wage and to fair treatment; the household's position under immigration law is a separate matter.

When to get advice

A household that is behind can usually put things right itself: register with the UIF and the Compensation Fund online, raise the wage to the minimum, pay the arrears, write out particulars of employment, start issuing a payslip and keeping an hours record. None of that needs a lawyer.

A worker who is underpaid should raise it in writing first, with the checker's arithmetic. If that fails, a labour inspector can issue a compliance order at no cost, and a referral to the CCMA under section 73A for the unpaid wages is free. Get advice if the household disputes the hours and there is no record, if the worker is dismissed for raising the issue, which is automatically unfair, if a live-in worker is being told to leave the property, or if the worker is injured and the household is not registered with the Fund. Community advice offices, the CCMA's own advice line and the Department of Employment and Labour's labour centres all help domestic workers for free.

Frequently asked questions

What is the minimum wage for a domestic worker? The national minimum wage, which is R30.23 an hour from 1 March 2026. There is no longer a separate lower rate for domestic workers. The monthly figure depends on the hours: for 40 hours a week it is R5 239.87, and for 45 hours a week it is about R5 895.

Does the room and food count as part of the wage? No. The national minimum wage must be paid in money. The old sectoral determination allowed a capped deduction for accommodation that met set standards, but that is contested since the national minimum wage and the safe course is to treat accommodation as a benefit above the cash minimum.

Do I have to register my domestic worker for UIF? Yes. It has been compulsory since 2003. Both of you contribute one per cent of the wage, you pay both over, and registration is free.

Is a household really covered by COIDA? Yes. Since the Constitutional Court's judgment in Mahlangu in 2020 and the Amendment Act of 2022, domestic workers are covered and households must register with the Compensation Fund.

How much notice must I give a domestic worker? One week in the first six months. After six months, four weeks. A worker who lives in is entitled to the accommodation for at least a month after notice, and cannot be removed without a court order after that.

Can I pay a domestic worker per day? Yes, as long as each day's pay is at least the minimum hourly rate for the hours worked, and at least four hours' pay for any day worked. You still need to register for UIF, give a payslip and keep an hours record.

Does my domestic worker get leave? Yes. Twenty-one consecutive days of annual leave a year, 30 days of sick leave in a three-year cycle for a five-day worker, five days of family responsibility leave a year after four months' service (for a worker who works at least four days a week), and parental leave on the same basis as any other employee.