Compliance with legal requirements
Seeking to protect the rights of workers, the Government is looking to enforce greater compliance with the various regulations relating to the people we employ in our own homes: our domestic workers, gardeners, nannies, carers, au pairs, and others.
It is important to note that various requirements apply when your employee works for at least 24 hours a month. So, you need to comply if you have an au pair who is with your children every afternoon, or if you have a carer for your elderly parent every day, or if you employ a char, say, once a week.
These are the requirements of your relationship with your employee:
• You need to put in place an employment contract
• Make sure that you pay at least the minimum wage stipulated for South African workers
• Provide a payslip to your employee every month
• You must register the worker with the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) and make monthly payments to the Fund
• You should register the employee with the Compensation Commissioner in terms of the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act
• It’s also advisable to start a pension fund for your employee, especially if the person is likely to work for you for an extended period
If you do not comply with these requirements, you could find yourself facing fines or having to deal with a legal dispute that may end up at the CCMA or in the Labour Court.
While all of this may be part of our legislation, the fact is that probably “…over 90% of the employers in a domestic setting are not compliant at all,” says local labour lawyer and labour spokesperson for the Government of National Unity, Michael Bagraim. The reasons for this non-compliance are that, firstly, there are additional costs for the employer and, secondly, it is an onerous task to go through the registration processes and to comply with the legal requirements. In addition, Michael points out that, “There is also a perception that domestic workers don’t want to be registered, since many are collecting SASSA grants or receive other pension benefits which would preclude the benefit being paid if they are registered as employees.” The picture is further complicated by the fact that many domestic employees are foreigners or illegal workers, and do not want to be identified by the authorities.
“Unfortunately, domestic work is not seen as a profession,” Michael continues. “And so domestic workers are often not thought of as having a professional role, and thus not needing many of the protections available to other workers.”
While you should give some thought to taking the steps necessary to comply with the legislation, you should also discuss the issues with the employee and take guidance from them as regards their feelings about registration – but bear in mind that you could find yourself at the wrong end of the law for your failure to comply.
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