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Domestic Worker Minimum Wage in South Africa (2026)

From 1 March 2026, every domestic worker in South Africa — housekeeper, nanny, gardener, cook or carer in a private home — must earn at least R30.23 for each ordinary hour worked. This page turns that hourly rate into the daily, weekly and monthly figures households actually budget with, and explains the rules employers most often get wrong: the four-hour minimum and why food or accommodation can't be counted as part of the wage.

Last reviewed June 2026 · wage figures from 1 March 2026

The rate right now: R30.23 an hour

The Minister of Employment and Labour gazetted the 2026 adjustment to the National Minimum Wage (NMW) in Government Gazette 54075 on 3 February 2026, lifting the rate from R28.79 to R30.23 per ordinary hour with effect from 1 March 2026. Domestic workers earn the full NMW — there is no longer a separate, lower domestic rate.

The minimum applies whether your worker comes in one morning a week or lives in full time, and regardless of what you call the role. Char, helper, au pair employed directly by you, gardener, driver for the household — if they work in your private home, the NMW Act and Sectoral Determination 7 (the domestic worker sector rules) apply. The minimum wage overrides anything to the contrary in a contract: you cannot agree a lower rate, even if the worker signs for it. Remember that UIF contributions (1% from you, 1% from the worker) come on top of the wage, not out of the minimum — see overtime, Sunday and public holiday rates for what extra hours cost.

The four-hour rule: minimum pay per day

Under section 9A of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA), a worker who works less than four hours on any day must be paid for four hours. At R30.23 an hour, the true daily minimum is therefore R120.92 — even if your domestic worker only does a two-hour clean.

This rule exists because travel to a short shift costs the worker the same as travel to a full day. If you only need a couple of hours of help, it usually makes sense to consolidate the work into fewer, longer days rather than paying four hours for two hours' work several times a week.

Minimum pay per day and per week

The table below converts R30.23/hour into daily and weekly minimums for the most common arrangements. Sectoral Determination 7 caps ordinary hours at 45 per week — up to 9 hours a day for someone working 5 days or fewer per week, and up to 8 hours a day for someone working 6 days. Anything beyond that is overtime at higher rates.

Monthly minimums

Most households pay monthly. To convert correctly, multiply the weekly figure by 52 and divide by 12 (a month is 4.33 weeks, not 4 — using 4 short-changes the worker by about a week's pay per year). The full-time benchmark: a 45-hour week (9 hours, 5 days) works out to R1 360.35 a week, or roughly R5 895 a month.

Wage history: how we got to R30.23

When the NMW launched in 2019, domestic workers were lawfully paid below it — 75% of the NMW in 2020 and 88% in 2021. The Constitutional-era anomaly ended on 1 March 2022, when domestic workers were equalised to 100% of the NMW at R23.19, a 21.5% jump in one year. Since then the domestic rate has simply been the national rate.

If you employed the same worker through this period and only ever gave 'inflation' increases, it is worth checking you actually kept pace — the legal floor rose more than 90% between 2021 and 2026.

Food and accommodation do not count toward the minimum

Section 5 of the NMW Act is strict about what counts as the 'wage' when checking compliance: only money paid for ordinary hours worked. Expressly excluded are any payment in kind (including board and accommodation), any allowance to enable the worker to work (transport, food, equipment, accommodation allowances), and gratuities such as bonuses, tips or gifts.

Practically: if your live-in housekeeper gets a room, meals and R4 500 a month for a 45-hour week, you are below the minimum — the room and meals cannot be used to top the R4 500 up to the legal floor. Sectoral Determination 7 does allow a deduction of up to 10% of the wage for accommodation, but only with the worker's written agreement and only for a room that meets the determination's standards. The safest, cleanest approach is to pay the full minimum in money and treat housing and meals as a genuine benefit on top — which is also how to think about pay competitively; see what households actually pay.

How the annual increase works

The National Minimum Wage Commission reviews the NMW every year against inflation and economic conditions and recommends an adjustment; the Minister then publishes the new rate in the Government Gazette, typically in early February, effective 1 March. The 2026 increase of 5% followed this pattern exactly (gazetted 3 February, effective 1 March).

Build this into your household budget: every March your worker's pay must rise to at least the new floor, automatically and without negotiation. A simple habit is to diarise mid-February to check the gazette announcement, adjust the March salary, and confirm the new figure to your worker in writing.

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