SD7 Sets the Minimum Requirements
Sectoral Determination 7 requires employers to provide written particulars of employment to every domestic worker at the start of employment. These particulars form the employment contract and must contain specific information. A contract that does not include the required information is not compliant, even if signed by both parties.
Required Contract Provisions
Identification: Employer's full name and address, employee's full name, occupation or job description, place of work, commencement date.
Working Hours: Number of ordinary hours per day and per week, days of the week to be worked, start and end times. These must comply with the SD7 maximum of 45 hours per week and 9 hours per day (5-day week) or 8 hours per day (6-day week). Any arrangement exceeding these limits is unlawful regardless of what the contract says.
Remuneration: Wage rate (hourly, daily, weekly or monthly), method and frequency of payment, overtime rate if applicable, any allowances or benefits. The wage stated must be at least R30.23 per hour from 1 March 2026. A lower rate is unenforceable even if signed.
Leave: Annual leave (minimum 15 working days per cycle), sick leave (6 weeks per 36-month cycle), family responsibility leave (5 days per annual cycle under SD7), maternity leave (4 consecutive months).
Notice Period: Minimum one week if employed six weeks or less; minimum four weeks if employed longer than six months.
Deductions: Any authorised deductions must be specified — including accommodation deductions for live-in workers, with the percentage and the agreed amount stated.
The Contract Cannot Override Minimum Statutory Entitlements
An important legal principle in South African employment law is that a contract of employment cannot give an employee less than their minimum statutory entitlements. If a contract states that the domestic worker is entitled to only 10 days of annual leave per year (less than the 15-day SD7 minimum), that contractual provision is unenforceable — the worker retains their full 15-day statutory entitlement regardless of what the contract says. If a contract states that the worker agrees to be paid below the minimum wage, that provision is equally unenforceable. The statutory floor created by SD7 and other legislation is a floor that contracts cannot go below.
What Happens When There Is No Written Contract
When there is no written contract of employment, the terms of employment are implied by law. This means that all of the minimum entitlements under Sectoral Determination 7 and the BCEA apply automatically — the worker is entitled to everything they would have been entitled to under a properly drafted contract, even without a written document. The absence of a written contract does not reduce a domestic worker's entitlements — it simply removes the employer's ability to rely on any terms that are more favourable to them than the statutory minimums.
Ready-Made Compliant Templates
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