South Africa is two weeks away from implementing its new National Minimum Wage, and legal experts are warning households not to try to shortchange domestic workers through creative accounting.
The Department of Labour announced in February that it had approved a 4.4% increase in the National Minimum Wage to R28.79 per hour, up from R27.58 in 2024.
For a person working a 38-hour week, this works out to a minimum salary of R1,094 per week or R4,737 per month.
The minimum salary for a person working a 45-hour week increases to R1,295 per week and R5,610 per month.
The new minimum wage in South Africa is equivalent to R115 per day for a person working for four hours or less.
These new minimum wages apply to all workers in the country, including domestic workers, gardeners, and house cleaners employed by private households.
Various data points show that, despite the legal minimum being set at R115 per day, many domestic workers in the country earn far less.
According to the domestic work platform SweepSouth, the average domestic worker in South Africa earns R36.64 per hour, 27% more than the minimum wage. However, this can vary greatly.
While 54% of domestic workers in South Africa earn above the minimum wage, the group noted that an alarmingly 46% of workers earn less than the minimum wage.
This is something reflected in Stats SA’s data on median salaries in South Africa, where it recorded the mid-point of domestic worker salaries at R2,350 a month, or R14.69 in a 160-hour work month.
The Stats SA data shows that many domestic workers earn almost half of what is set as the national minimum.
Further pointing to the fluctuations in the data, self-reporting salary aggregator MyWage.co.za shows a wide range of salaries, depending on years worked.
Those starting out report earnings just under R2,600 a month—in line with Stat’s SA’s median—while an experienced cleaner working for higher-paying households could see earnings over R7,300 a month.
| Data source | Rate (p/h) | vs NMW |
|---|---|---|
| National Minimum Wage | R28.79 | – |
| SweepSouth (national) | R36.64 | +27% |
| Stats SA (median) | R14.69 | -49% |
| MyWage (self reported) | R16.03 to R45.85 | -44% to +59% |
On a monthly basis, the data shows that wages fall short by some margin, meaning the NMW is not having the real-world impact that it aims for.
| Data source | Rate (p/m) | vs NMW |
|---|---|---|
| National Minimum Wage | R5,610 | – |
| SweepSouth (Full time) | R3,702 | -34% |
| SweepSouth (Part time) | R3,250 | -42% |
| Stats SA (median) | R2,350 | -58% |
| MyWage (self reported) | R2,565 to R7,336 | -54% to +31% |
According to the trade union, the United Association of South Africa (UASA), the real-world impact of the NMW may instead be making life more challenging for domestic workers.
The union said that domestic workers are one of the most vulnerable and isolated employment sectors who, due to their largely informal nature, face risks from increases.
“There are growing concerns that some households may have to dismiss their domestic workers because they cannot comply with the department’s new pay regulations,” union spokesperson Abigail Moyo said.
Moyo said the sector remains under significant financial strain due to the rising costs, economic stagnation, and high inflation hitting private households that employ domestic workers.
These stresses are likely to continue in 2025, with UASA worried that some employers may reduce working hours, opt for part-time help, or discontinue domestic worker services altogether.
“Non-compliance with the National Minimum Wage (NMW) and unfair dismissals also remain pressing issues,” Moyo said.
Financial stress surveys have shown that domestic worker help is one of the first things households cut when looking to reduce expenses.
Moyo urged households to look at cutting back on other expenses instead of cutting domestic help, saying the sector cannot suffer the retrenchment seen during the 2020 pandemic years.
“For domestic workers, the industry is their livelihood, and the continued hardships in an already fragile market do not need additional retrenchment,” she said.
Legal expert Nigel Carman at law firm Fasken said that households who employ domestic workers need to be especially mindful of this minimum wage, particularly how it is calculated.
He said that anyone employing a domestic worker cannot pay less than R115 per day, even if the worker works only four hours or less per day.
In addition, employers cannot alter the calculation of this wage, or try to justify paying less than the legislated amount by factoring in expenses like food, training or clothing.
Employment of domestic workers is regulated by the National Minimum Wage Act, the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, and Sectoral Determination 7 for the Domestic Worker Sector, 2002.
All these laws stipulate that employers cannot dock domestic workers on their pay by claiming that food and other expenses are factored in.
The only exception would be for accommodation, but even this carries very specific calculations. First, wages can only be cut by a maximum of 10% for accommodation.
Second, accommodation only qualifies if the room provided is weatherproof, kept in good condition, has at least one window and a door that can be locked, and has a toilet and bath or shower.
Third, the decision to dock pay cannot be unilateral—it must agreed to by both employer and employee and signed in writing.
It is common for private household employers to include the cost of food as part of a domestic worker’s pay. Carman says this is not allowed.
“The sectoral determination prohibits an employer from receiving any payment directly or indirectly, or withholding any payment from a domestic worker for (specific things),” he said.
These include:
- The employment or training of the domestic worker;
- The supply of work equipment or tools;
- The supply of any work clothing; or
- Any food supplied to the domestic worker while the domestic worker is working or at the workplace
He added that other parts of labour law contained in the BCEA—related to hours of work, overtime, and various forms of leave, among others—are also still applicable.
The BCEA’s current earnings threshold is R254,371, which will likely increase in 2025. This is the limit at which the Act automatically applies.
Employers who pay workers less than this (roughly R21,200 a month)—which would include minimum-wage domestic workers—are legally required to follow these laws.
The laws regulate:
- Ordinary hours of work;
- Overtime;
- Compressed working weeks;
- Averaging of hours of work;
- Meal intervals;
- Daily and weekly rest periods;
- Sunday pay;
- Pay for night work; and
- Pay for work on public holidays.
Domestic workers are also eligible for UIF and should be registered for such. The UIF applies to any worker earning over R1,000 a month, so a minimum-wage domestic worker qualifies.
With UIF, employers must deduct 1% of each employee’s remuneration and match this amount, totalling 2% of the employee’s remuneration. – Businesstech
