Thandiwe Nhlapho of ENSafrica Attorneys writes:
Historically, domestic workers were one of the most vulnerable categories of workers in the country.
The South African legal definition of an employee, which was contained in employment and social security legislation, previously excluded non-standard workers from its sphere of application and protection. This exclusion had gender and racial implications, given the fact that by far the majority of approximately one million domestic workers in South Africa are African and female.
The narrow legal definition of an employee has resulted in domestic workers not having access to the labour rights which accrued to most other workers in South Africa.
The legal position has since changed when the Domestic Worker Sectoral Determination 7 was adopted in 2008, as well as amendments to employment and social security legislation.
A domestic worker is now legally defined as an employee who performs domestic work in a home of his or her employer and includes a gardener, a person employed by a household as a driver of a car and a person who takes care of children, the aged, the sick, the frail or the disabled, but excludes a farm worker.
Protections have now been put in place in the form of minimum conditions of employment, fair dismissal, collective labour rights, unemployment insurance and workers’ compensation entitlements which were previously not granted to domestic workers. There are now guaranteed minimum wages. This means that domestic workers are entitled to a certain fixed minimum wage depending on their location of employment and hours worked per week.
Domestic workers in the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality who work for more than 27 hours per week should receive R2 230.70 per month, at an hourly rate of R11.44, while those working 27 hours per week or less should receive R1 566.35 per month, at an hourly rate of R13.39.
The Unemployment Insurance Act 63 of 2001 (UIA), provides for the protection of domestic workers and their dependents against temporary unemployment in the event of termination of employment, illness and maternity if they satisfy the requirements set out in the UIA. These are also known as Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) benefits.
Despite major improvements, there are still areas which require further development, such as providing for unrestricted social security coverage.
Currently, UIF benefits are restricted to workers working more than 24 hours per month. This negatively affects a vast majority of domestic workers who often work for different employers and for short monthly periods.
There are also not sufficient trade unions representing domestic workers. However, there are existing trade unions such as the South African Domestic and Allied Workers Union and the South African Cleaners, Security and Allied Workers’ Union.
Details: ENSafrica 011 555 0980; visit their offices at the Sankopano Centre.
