South African minimum wages for domestic workers are set to increase by 8% from November 1, the Department of Labour announced on Monday.
In effect this will mean that a full-time domestic worker in a predominantly urban area must now take home a minimum of R864 and their rural counter-part should take home more R702 per month.
It is one year since the Minister of Labour Membathisi Mdladlana launched the Domestic Worker Sectoral Determination, an intervention that determines basic working conditions and minimum wages for domestic workers.
The Sectoral Determination — which was launched as part of Mdladlana’s programme to protect the most vulnerable of workers — not only set a minimum wage, but also made provision for annual increases to the wage.
In predominantly urban areas, the wage was initially set at R4,51 per hour for domestic workers working 27 ordinary hours or less per week — from November it will be at least R4,87 per hour — and the minimum of R4,10 for those working more than 27 hours will be adjusted to at least R4,42.
In the rural areas of the country, workers working 27 hours or under will receive an increase to a minimum R3,95 per hour, while the remainder will go up to R3,59.
Should the year-on-year Consumer Price Index (X) inflation be greater than 10% on October 31, 2003, the Department of Labour will adjust the 8% wage increase upwards.
All domestic workers, including gardeners, are entitled to the November wage increase, notwithstanding any other wage adjustment that may have taken place during the rest of the year. – Sapa