Start with a written contract
Sectoral Determination 7 requires you to give your domestic worker written particulars of employment: who the parties are, the workplace, start date, ordinary hours, the wage and overtime rate, how and when payment happens, deductions, leave and the notice period needed to end the job. A proper contract does all of that in one signed document — and it protects you as much as it protects your worker, because most disputes start with 'we never agreed to that'.
Our free domestic worker contract template covers every required term, references the national minimum wage and UIF correctly, and is ready to print and sign. There are versions for full-time, part-time and live-in arrangements.
Register for UIF — it is compulsory
If your worker is with you for more than 24 hours a month, registering for the Unemployment Insurance Fund is not optional. The contribution is 2% of the wage: you pay 1% and may deduct the other 1% from your worker's pay. Registration is done online through uFiling or with the UI-8 and UI-19 forms at a labour centre, and it gives your worker access to unemployment, illness, maternity and dependants' benefits.
Our UIF registration guide walks you through the whole process in an afternoon, including what to do when a worker has more than one employer.
Pay at least the national minimum wage
From 1 March 2026 the national minimum wage is R30.23 per ordinary hour worked, up from R28.79 — and it applies in full to domestic workers. Paying less is unlawful no matter what is written in a contract. You must also give a payslip showing wages, hours worked (including overtime, Sunday and public holiday hours) and any deductions, and keep those records for three years.
Use our wage tables to see what the hourly rate means per day, week and month for your worker's actual hours, plus what overtime at 1.5 times and Sunday work at double the rate adds up to.
Leave, hours and overtime
A domestic worker may work at most 45 ordinary hours a week — 9 hours a day on a five-day week, or 8 hours a day on a six-day week — with overtime by agreement only, capped at 15 hours a week and 12 hours on any day. Annual leave is at least three weeks per year. Sick leave runs on a 36-month cycle equal to six weeks' pay, family responsibility leave is five days a year for qualifying workers, and maternity leave is four consecutive months (unpaid, but claimable from UIF).
Our leave guide explains each entitlement with worked examples, including how leave accrues for part-time workers at one day per 17 days worked.
Ending employment fairly
You cannot simply tell a domestic worker not to come back. Notice must be in writing: one week if they have worked for you for six months or less, four weeks if longer. A dismissal also needs a fair reason and a fair process — and if your worker believes it was unfair, they can refer the dispute to the CCMA within 30 days. If you retrench, severance pay of one week's wages per completed year of service applies.
Our guide to ending employment covers warnings, hearings, retrenchment and resignation, with letter templates for each step. If you want backup for a possible CCMA matter, read our plain-English look at legal cover for household employers first.
Hiring with confidence
Good employment starts before day one: a clear job description, honest reference checks, agreed hours and wages in writing, and the admin done early. That includes registering with the Compensation Fund — since the Constitutional Court's Mahlangu ruling, domestic workers are covered by COIDA for injuries and diseases at work, and each employer must register their own worker.
The hiring guide takes you from advert to signed contract, including what you may and may not ask in an interview and how live-in arrangements affect pay (an accommodation deduction is capped at 10% of the wage, and only if the room meets set standards).
Built on the actual law, in plain English
Everything here is grounded in the rules that actually govern domestic employment in South Africa: Sectoral Determination 7 for the domestic worker sector, the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, the National Minimum Wage Act and COIDA as extended to domestic workers by the Constitutional Court. We translate them into practical steps and check the rand amounts against official announcements each time rates change. We are not a law firm and this is general information, not legal advice — read more about how we work and source our facts.