Domestic Worker Rights in South Africa: Pay, Hours, UIF and COIDA (2026)

Domestic workers in South Africa are covered by Sectoral Determination 7 (SD7), made under the Basic Conditions of Employment Act 75 of 1997, alongside the National Minimum Wage Act, the Unemployment Insurance Act and the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act (COIDA). This guide sets out what an employer must do and what a domestic worker is entitled to, from pay and hours through to UIF, COIDA and ending the employment relationship.

Information last verified on 23 July 2026. This page provides general legal information about South African law and does not constitute legal advice in an individual case.

Pay: Full Minimum Wage Parity

SD7's own wage tables run only through the 2016 to 2017 period and are now superseded. The current rate is the National Minimum Wage: R30.23 for each ordinary hour worked from 1 March 2026, under Government Gazette No. 54075. Domestic workers are on full parity with the general minimum wage rate, the same as farm workers. See National Minimum Wage in South Africa for how the wage is calculated and enforced. SD7's non-wage clauses, covering hours, overtime, leave, notice and written particulars, remain the operative source for those entitlements and are set out below.

Working Hours

SD7 sets the ordinary hours a domestic worker may be required to work:

"An employer may not require or permit a domestic worker to work more than (a) 45 hours in any week; and (b) nine hours on any day if the domestic worker works for five days or less in a week; or (c) eight hours in any day if the domestic worker works on more than five days in any week."

Overtime

Overtime requires the domestic worker's agreement, and is capped:

"An employer may not require or permit a domestic worker (a) to work overtime except in accordance with an agreement concluded by the employer and the domestic worker; (b) to work more than 15 hours' overtime a week; or (c) to work more than 12 hours, including overtime, on any day."

Overtime worked must be paid at one and a half times the domestic worker's wage. An employer and domestic worker may instead agree in writing to time off: either ordinary pay for the overtime hours plus at least 30 minutes' paid time off for each hour of overtime worked, or at least 90 minutes' paid time off for each hour where the overtime is not paid at all.

Sunday and Public Holiday Pay

A domestic worker who works on a Sunday must be paid double their wage for each hour worked, or one and a half times their wage if the Sunday work is part of their ordinary rostered hours (with a floor of at least the worker's daily wage either way). An employer may not require a domestic worker to work on a public holiday except by agreement; if the holiday falls on a day the worker would otherwise have worked, the employer must pay the daily wage whether or not the worker actually works that day, and at least double the daily wage if they do work it.

Leave: Annual, Sick and Family Responsibility

A domestic worker is entitled to at least three weeks of paid annual leave for each 12 month annual leave cycle (or, by agreement, leave accruing daily or hourly at a set rate). Sick leave accrues over a 36 month cycle, and during each cycle a domestic worker is entitled to paid sick leave equal to the number of days they would normally work over six weeks, though during the first six months of employment this is limited to one day of sick leave for every 26 days worked. A medical certificate can only be required after an absence of more than two consecutive days, or more than two occasions in an eight week period, and SD7 allows a broader range of people to certify it than a doctor alone, including a traditional healer or an authorised professional nurse.

Family responsibility leave, five days in each 12 month cycle, is available once a domestic worker has been employed for more than four months and works at least four days a week, to be taken when the worker's child is born or sick, or on the death of the worker's spouse, life partner, parent, grandparent, child or sibling.

Written Particulars of Employment

When a domestic worker starts, the employer must give them, in writing, particulars including the employer's name and address, the worker's name and occupation, the workplace, the start date, ordinary hours and days of work, the wage and how it is paid, the overtime rate, any other cash or in kind payments, deductions, how often wages are paid, leave entitlements, and the notice period required to end the employment. If the worker cannot read the particulars, the employer must have them explained in a language the worker understands.

UIF: The Employer's Registration Duty

An employer of a domestic worker has a specific registration duty to the Unemployment Insurance Fund once the working relationship crosses a stated threshold. As the Department's own guidance puts it:

"Any employee, including a domestic worker, who works for you for more than 24 hours per month must be registered with the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF)."

Registration can be done by phone, by email to the Department, by post, or at the nearest Labour Centre, after which the employer uses uFiling for ongoing monthly declarations. The employer's monthly declaration is made on the UI-19 form; for how the Fund works more broadly, including the five benefit types and how a domestic worker claims, see UIF in South Africa.

COIDA: Cover Is Now Retrospective to 1994

Domestic workers were, for decades, excluded from the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act's definition of "employee," meaning an injury or death on duty in a private household fell outside the no fault compensation system that covers almost every other worker. The Constitutional Court struck that exclusion down in Mahlangu and Another v Minister of Labour and Others [2020] ZACC 24, and its order went further than simply fixing the law going forward:

"The order is to have immediate and retrospective effect from 27 April 1994."

That date is South Africa's constitutional era's starting point, not the date of the 2020 judgment. In practice, this means a domestic worker, or their family in the event of a death, injured or killed on duty at any point since 27 April 1994 may in principle claim Compensation Fund benefits, not only for incidents after the 2020 ruling. Ms Mahlangu's own case arose from her mother's 2012 drowning while on duty at her employer's home, an underlying claim the retrospective order made legally recognisable.

Ending Employment: Notice and the CCMA

Ending a domestic worker's employment does not sit outside the ordinary rules. The Basic Conditions of Employment Act's notice period scale applies to domestic workers the same way it applies to farm workers: once employed for more than six months, a domestic worker is entitled to four weeks' notice, the same tier other employees only reach after a full year. See notice periods in South Africa for the full scale and how payment in lieu of notice works.

Either the employer or the domestic worker can refer an unresolved dispute, such as a claim of unfair dismissal or an unfair labour practice, to the CCMA. A dismissal dispute must be referred within 30 days and an unfair labour practice dispute within 90 days, with condonation available on good cause. See how to refer a dispute to the CCMA for the referral form and process.

Related Reading

For the current minimum wage figure and how it is calculated, see National Minimum Wage in South Africa. For the UIF registration form and the Fund itself, see the UI-19 form and UIF in South Africa. For notice and dispute resolution, see notice periods and how to refer a dispute to the CCMA. For the wider section, see South Africa labour law, and for the full site, South Africa Laws.

This guide is general legal information, not legal advice. For advice on your own situation, consult an attorney, or contact Legal Aid South Africa (0800 110 110) if you cannot afford one.