The Department of Employment and Labour says three years since the introduction of the national minimum wage, employers are still exploiting and violating the law by underpaying domestic workers.
THE DEPARTMENT of Employment and Labour has urged domestic workers to report employers not complying with the national minimum wage (NMW).
The deputy director in advocacy and stakeholder relations Caroline Kwetepane has called on domestic workers who continue to be underpaid below the NMW to report such violations at the department’s offices.
Kwetepane said that three years since the introduction of the NMW, employers were still exploiting and violating the law by underpaying domestic workers.
She said in addition to being underpaid, domestic workers were still not given contracts of employment, not handed payslips, not registered for injuries on duty, not registered for Unemployment Insurance Fund benefits and not granted extended leave benefits among other violations.
President Cyril Ramaphosa signed the National Minimum Wage Act of 2018, which came into effect on January 1, 2019.
Employment and Labour Minister Thulas Nxesi announced earlier this year that the NMW had been reviewed and adjusted from R21.69 (2021) to R23.19 for each ordinary hour worked for the year 2022 with effect from March 1.
In terms of the NMW Act of 2018, the policy framework is binding law of the country.
“It is also illegal and an unfair labour practice for an employer to unilaterally alter hours of work or other conditions of employment in implementing the NMW.
“The NMW is the amount payable for the ordinary hours of work and does not include payment of allowances (such as transport, tools, food or accommodation), payments in kind (board or lodging), tips, bonuses and gifts,” said Kwetepane.
