Pretoria – The Department of Labour is to undertake a series of hearings to allow employees in the domestic workers sector to have a say in the determination of their new wage structure and other conditions of employment.
This comes ahead of the three-year sectoral determination governing the minimum wages for domestic workers - which comes to an end this year.
The public hearings began on Monday in Mpumalanga, Ermelo, at the Ella de Bruin Hall and will continue on June 7 at the Roshnee Civil Hall, Bilal Street in Vereeniging, Gauteng and in Nelspruit, Mpumalanga, at the department’s offices at 29 Brown Street.
The hearings are expected to conclude on June 29, in both Durban and Richards Bay in KwaZulu-Natal and Knysna, Vredendal in the Western Cape.
All public hearings are scheduled to start at 12:00.
According to the department, the hearings are aimed at protecting and improving the lives of vulnerable workers in the country.
The upcoming public hearings also dovetail on the consultative process that was initiated by the Department of Labour under the aegis of Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant last year.
To date, Minister OIiphant has engaged with the domestic workers in consultative forums or “Izimbizo” on their plight in Khayelitsha in the Western Cape; Ethekwini in KwaZulu-Natal and in Mdantsane, Eastern Cape.
The minister had promised domestic workers that they will have an opportunity wherein they will have a say in their wage determination. She also called on employers and domestic workers to register for UIF.
The domestic worker sector includes people working in private households, independent contractors who are doing contract work, people employed by employment services, a person doing gardening in a private home, people who look after children, sick or old people and people with disabilities in a private home and a person driving for a household.
Recent figures by the Department of Labour have shown that there were some 652 676 domestic workers currently registered for Unemployment Insurance Fund. The department believes this figure represents a drop in the ocean as the number is thought to be higher than it is.
In terms of Sectoral Determination of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA) - Domestic Workers have a right to - annual leave, domestic workers may take paid leave to attend to certain family situations, employers must give domestic workers certain details of their employment in writing and domestic workers may take paid leave to attend to certain family situations. The act does not allow for the employment of children under the age of 15; it gives pregnant domestic workers the right to take maternity leave and allows for deductions from a domestic worker’s pay only under certain conditions.
In addition, the Sectoral Determination on Domestic Workers stipulates rules for sick leave; stipulates the conditions for working on public holidays for domestic workers, terms for sick leave, sets the regulations for temporary employment agencies for domestic workers; stipulates the procedures for termination of an employment contract; regulates working hours and rest periods for domestic workers and prescribes the wages for working on a Sunday.
The minimum wages for domestic workers who work more than 27 hours per week applies as follows:
- Area A (mainly urban) R9.63 hourly, R433.35 weekly (for a 45 hour week) and R 1877.70 monthly (for a 45 hour week)
- Area B (mainly rural) R8.30 hourly, R373.50 weekly(for a 45 hour week) and R1618.37 monthly(for a 45 hour week).
The Domestic Worker’s Sector current sectoral determination is in its last year of implementation. It came into effect on 1 December 2013 and will end on 30 November 2014. – SAnews.gov.za
