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How to Employ a Domestic Worker in South Africa: The Complete Checklist

The moment someone cleans your house, watches your children or tends your garden for pay, you become an employer in the eyes of South African law — even if they only come in once a week. That brings real obligations: a lawful wage, a written contract, UIF, Compensation Fund registration and proper records. This checklist walks you through each step in order, with the current 2026 figures, and links to the detailed guide for each one.

Last reviewed June 2026 · wage figures from 1 March 2026

Before you hire: interview properly and check references

Get the hiring decision right before you worry about paperwork. You are bringing someone into your home, often around your children and valuables, so a structured interview and at least two reference calls are not optional extras. Our guide to domestic worker interview questions gives you 25+ questions grouped by topic, a reference-check call script, and a clear list of questions the Employment Equity Act forbids you from asking.

If a candidate hands you a reference letter, phone the person who wrote it and confirm the dates, duties and reason for leaving. A two-minute call filters out forged letters, which are common.

Step 1 — Agree pay, hours and duties at or above the minimum wage

From 1 March 2026 the national minimum wage is R30.23 per hour, and it applies in full to domestic workers. There is no lower 'domestic rate' any more. On a full 45-hour week that works out to about R1,264.85 per week, or roughly R5,894 per month. One important rule catches many employers out: you must pay for at least 4 hours on any day the worker works, even if she only works two.

Under Sectoral Determination 7, ordinary hours are capped at 45 per week — 9 hours a day on a five-day week or 8 hours a day on a six-day week. Overtime is voluntary, paid at 1.5 times the normal wage, and limited to 15 hours a week (and 12 hours in total on any day). Work on Sundays and public holidays is voluntary too, and must be paid at double the daily wage (1.5 times if she ordinarily works Sundays).

Agree the duties precisely — cleaning, laundry, ironing, cooking, childminding, garden work — because vague duties are the single biggest source of disputes later. If you provide live-in accommodation, you may deduct at most 10% of the wage for it, and only if the room is weatherproof, has a lockable door and window, and access to a toilet and bath or shower.

Step 2 — Sign a written employment contract

Sectoral Determination 7 obliges you to give a domestic worker written particulars of employment when she starts: her name and a description of the work, the place of work, working hours, the wage and how it is calculated, leave entitlements, deductions and the notice period. The simplest way to cover all of this is one signed contract.

Use our free domestic worker contract template — it is drafted to comply with Sectoral Determination 7, the Basic Conditions of Employment Act and the 2026 minimum wage, with placeholders you fill in and both parties sign. Keep a signed copy each, and review the terms whenever the wage or duties change.

Step 3 — Register for UIF

If your domestic worker works for you for more than 24 hours a month, UIF registration is compulsory. The contribution is 2% of her wage each month: you pay 1% as the employer and deduct 1% from her pay. Registering protects her — she can claim unemployment, illness and maternity benefits — and protects you from arrears and disputes later.

You can register online at ufiling.labour.gov.za, or complete forms UI-8D (employer registration for domestic employers) and UI-19 (employee details) and submit them by email or at a labour centre. You will receive a UIF reference number, after which you declare and pay monthly. Full walkthrough: how to register a domestic worker for UIF.

Step 4 — Register with the Compensation Fund (COIDA)

Since the Constitutional Court's 2020 ruling in Mahlangu v Minister of Labour, domestic workers in private households are covered by the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act (COIDA). Every household that employs a domestic worker must register as an employer with the Compensation Fund — this is separate from UIF.

Register on the Compensation Fund portal at cfportal.labour.gov.za using your tax reference number, then submit a short Return of Earnings (ROE) each year stating what you paid your worker. The cost is modest: the domestic-work assessment rate is around R0.39 per R100 of annual earnings — roughly R195 a year for a worker earning R50,000 — with a minimum assessment of R130. The 2026 filing window ran from 1 April to 31 May, and late returns attract a 10% penalty. In exchange, your worker is covered for medical costs, lost income and disability if she is injured at work — and you are protected from being sued personally for those costs. Details: COIDA for domestic workers.

Step 5 — Payslips, leave and record-keeping

Every payday you must give a payslip showing the employer's and worker's details, the period, hours worked (including overtime), the rate, deductions such as UIF, and the net amount paid. Keep copies for three years. Cash is fine — a payslip plus a signature or EFT reference is your proof of payment. Use our domestic worker payslip template to make this a two-minute job.

Leave is where informal arrangements most often fall short of the law, so diarise it from day one.

When the employment ends

Either side may end the contract on written notice: one week if she has worked for you for six months or less, four weeks if longer. You may pay her in lieu of notice instead. Dismissal still has to be fair — for misconduct or poor performance, follow a fair process before terminating; if you are retrenching because your circumstances changed (you are emigrating, downsizing or moving), severance pay of at least one week's pay per completed year of service is due.

On termination you are legally required to give a certificate of service, and a good reference letter is the most valuable thing you can leave a worker with. Both are covered, with printable templates, in our guide to writing a domestic worker reference letter and certificate of service.

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