Must-read: Compensation Fund guide for domestic worker employers
If you employ domestic workers, you need to be aware that they are now entitled to compensation should they be injured or contract a disease at work.
South Africans who employ domestic workers must register with the Compensation Fund ‘without delay’.
This will ensure their employees benefit from recent amendments to the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act (COIDA).
These amendments allow domestic workers who are injured at work to claim from the Compensation Fund. The dependents of a domestic worker who died as a result of injuries incurred while on duty will also be able to claim.
The act’s recent amendments follow the Constitutional Court’s landmark finding in Mahlangu and Another v Minister of Labour and Others. Prior to this November 2020 finding, domestic workers were not classified as ‘employees’ when interpreting COIDA and, consequently, neither they nor their dependents could claim from the Compensation Fund in the event of injury or death at work.
Caxton Local Media explains what readers must know:
Each employer will have to submit the forms and documents listed below to RegistrationCF@labour.gov.za or CFCallcentre@labour.gov.za in order to register.
- A completed CF-1E form (application for the registration of the domestic worker employer),
- A copy of the identification document/passport/work permit (employer),
- Proof of the employer’s residential address,
- A copy of the identification document/passport/work permit (employee/s), and
- A copy of the employment contract.
Employers will also have to submit returns of earnings (ROE) every year. This will be done via a Return of Earnings Online Platform that will become available before May.
Employers will be able to submit their ROEs online by firstly registering as a user on the Department of Employment and Labour’s online services platform (www.labour.gov.za, select Online Services, Select ROE Online/cfonline.labour.gov.za). Employers who have existing profiles on the department’s website will not have to re-register.
Employers will need to confirm their domestic workers’ income and other benefits over the past year. This will need to be done between April 1 and May 31 each year. Domestic workers’ annual earnings will be used to calculate how much employers will have to pay the fund per year.
All the registration forms employers need are available for download at the bottom of this article.
The Government Gazette notice also requires all domestic employers to register as users on the CompEasy system. Information to register as a user is available on the Department of Employment and Labour website. For online claim submissions, the Compensation Fund’s CompEasy system can be accessed at https://compeasy.labour.gov.za:44328/fiori.
