Overtime, Sundays and Public Holidays: What You Must Pay Your Domestic Worker

Ordinary Working Hours Under SD7

Sectoral Determination 7 and the Basic Conditions of Employment Act set clear limits on working hours and compensation rates. The maximum ordinary working hours for a domestic worker are 45 hours per week — 9 hours per day if employed for 5 days per week, or 8 hours per day if employed for more than 5 days per week. Any hours worked beyond these limits are overtime and must be compensated at the overtime rate.

Overtime Pay Rate

Overtime must be paid at 1.5 times the employee's ordinary hourly rate. At the current minimum wage of R30.23 per hour, the minimum overtime rate is R45.35 per hour. Overtime cannot be agreed away — an employee cannot validly consent to being paid at their ordinary rate for overtime hours worked beyond the SD7 limits.

Sunday Work

If a domestic worker ordinarily works on Sundays, they must be paid at 1.5 times their ordinary rate. If Sunday is not a normal working day for that employee and they are asked to work, they must be paid at double their ordinary hourly rate. Many employers are unaware of this double-rate provision for occasional Sunday work — it is a common source of underpayment claims.

Public Holidays

If a public holiday falls on a day the domestic worker would normally work, they are entitled to their ordinary pay for that day even if they do not work. If they agree to work on a public holiday, they must be paid double their ordinary rate for those hours worked. South Africa has 12 public holidays per year — employers who deduct pay for public holidays or fail to pay the double rate for worked public holidays are in breach of the law.

Keeping It Simple

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