Domestic workers urged to report employers not complying with minimum wage

THE Department of Employment and Labour has called on domestic workers who continue to be paid below the national minimum wage (NMW) to report violations to the department.

Caroline Kwetepane, the department’s deputy director of advocacy and stakeholder relations, said three years since the introduction of the NMW, some employers are still exploiting and violating the law by underpaying domestic workers.

“In addition to being underpaid, domestic workers are still not given contracts of employment, handed payslips, registered for injuries on duty, and registered for Unemployment Insurance Fund benefits nor extended leave benefits, among other violations,” she said.

Kwetepane made the comments at the department’s domestic worker seminar held in Tshwane.

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The NMW Act of 2018 came into effect on January 1, 2019. The introduction of the policy intervention was in line with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) conventions to improve the living standards of vulnerable domestic workers.

When it was introduced in 2019, the NMW was fixed at a level of R20 per hour, which has increased since then.

Employment and Labour Minister Thulas Nxesi announced that the NMW has been reviewed and adjusted from R21.69 (2021) to R23.19 for each ordinary hour worked for the year 2022, with effect from 1 March 2022.

“It is also illegal and an unfair labour practice for an employer to unilaterally alter hours of work or other conditions of employment in implementing the NMW. The NMW is the amount payable for ordinary hours of work and does not include payment of allowances, such as transport, tools, food or accommodation; payments in kind (board or lodging); tips; bonuses and gifts,” Kwetepane said.