Domestic Worker Pay Calculator South Africa
Calculate pay, UIF contributions, PAYE and leave entitlement for domestic workers under Sectoral Determination 7. Minimum wage R30.23/hr. Employer cost included.
R30.23 an hour from 1 March 2026, the national minimum wage, with no lower rate for domestic work. A full-time worker on 45 hours a week earns at least R5,894.85 a month, and a day under four hours is paid as four hours (R120.92). A worker on 24 hours or more a month must be registered for UIF: 1% from their pay, 1% from you. The calculator adds overtime and Sunday pay, the 10% accommodation deduction, UIF and PAYE.
Domestic workers in South Africa are protected under Sectoral Determination 7, which sets working hours, overtime rates, leave entitlements and accommodation-deduction rules specific to this employment category, alongside the National Minimum Wage Act (which sets the R30.23/hr wage floor), the UIF Act and the Income Tax Act. Whether you are an employer calculating your monthly obligations or a domestic worker verifying your correct pay, this domestic worker pay calculator for South Africa applies all four to give you a full breakdown of gross pay, deductions and take-home pay.
Domestic Worker Details
Annual leave is the days worked in three weeks (SD7 clause 19) and sick leave the days worked in six weeks per 36 months (clause 20). A leave day is paid at the weekly pay for ordinary hours divided by the days worked a week; overtime and Sunday pay are left out.
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How to Use This Calculator
Enter hourly rate and hours
Enter the hourly rate (minimum R30.23/hr from 1 March 2026), or switch to the monthly salary, then the ordinary hours and the days worked each week.
Add overtime and Sunday hours
Enter any overtime hours (1.5×) and Sunday hours (2× if Sunday is not an ordinary working day).
UIF is calculated at 1%
Employee UIF is 1% of gross earnings, capped at earnings of R17,712/month. The employer also contributes 1%.
PAYE calculated if applicable
If monthly earnings exceed R8,250, the tax threshold for a worker under 65 (higher from age 65), estimated PAYE is shown.
Accommodation deduction applied
Tick the box if the employer provides accommodation to see the deduction of 10% of the pay for ordinary hours. The deduction comes off a wage that must already be at least R30.23 an hour, because the room itself never counts towards the minimum wage.
How domestic worker pay is calculated in South Africa
South Africa's domestic workers, including cleaners and housekeepers, gardeners, drivers employed by the household, and people who care for children, the aged, the sick, the frail or the disabled (SD7 clause 31), are protected by Sectoral Determination 7 (SD7), issued under the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA). SD7 sets maximum working hours, overtime rates, leave entitlements and other conditions specific to household workers. The minimum wage itself is set separately, under the National Minimum Wage Act. Alongside SD7, the UIF Act and the Income Tax Act govern deductions and employer obligations.
Many household employers (even well-intentioned ones) unknowingly underpay, over-deduct or fail to register their workers for UIF. This calculator is designed to give you the correct numbers in seconds, so you can pay your domestic worker legally and fairly.
The minimum wage for domestic workers (2026)
The minimum wage for domestic workers is R30.23 per hour as of 1 March 2026, the national minimum wage, reviewed annually under the National Minimum Wage Act, with no lower rate for domestic work. For a full-time worker doing 45 ordinary hours per week, this works out to:
Hourly rate = R30.23 per hour (national minimum wage, March 2026)
Weekly pay = R30.23 × 45 hours = R1,360.35
Weeks per month = 13 ÷ 3 (SD7 clause 4)
Monthly gross = R1,360.35 × 13 ÷ 3 = R5,894.85
/* UIF employee deduction (1%, capped at R17,712 gross) */
Employee UIF = R5,894.85 × 1% = R58.95
Net take-home = R5,894.85 − R58.95 = R5,835.90
How much must you pay a domestic worker per day?
If you employ a domestic worker part-time, once a week or on a casual basis, the R30.23/hr rate isn't the whole answer. Under SD7 clause 2(4), a domestic worker who works less than four hours on a day must be paid for 4 hours that day, and BCEA Section 9A says the same for workers earning less than R269,600.90 a year. At the 2026 minimum wage, that sets a daily payment floor of R120.92 (R30.23 × 4), even if your domestic worker only comes in for an hour or two.
This rule exists specifically to stop employers underpaying casual and short-shift workers by paying only for the hours actually worked. It is a floor, not a replacement for the R30.23/hr rate: if a worker's actual hours on a longer day already earn more than R120.92, you pay the higher amount. Payment in kind, such as meals or a room, never counts towards the minimum wage: the National Minimum Wage Act counts only the money paid for ordinary hours (section 5).
UIF for domestic workers: what employers must do
Domestic workers have been covered by UIF since 1 April 2003, when the Unemployment Insurance Act of 2001 and the Unemployment Insurance Contributions Act of 2002 began to apply to them. Despite this, a significant number of domestic workers remain unregistered, leaving them without a safety net when they lose employment, fall ill or go on maternity leave.
As an employer, your obligations are:
- Register as an employer on the uFiling system at ufiling.labour.gov.za
- Register your domestic worker as an employee
- Deduct 1% of gross wages from the worker's pay each month
- Add your own 1% employer contribution
- Pay the combined 2% to the UIF within seven days after the end of each month, and send the monthly declaration before the 7th
- Once your household registers with SARS for PAYE, pay the UIF on the monthly EMP201 to SARS instead (UICA s8(1))
The UIF contribution is capped at earnings of R17,712 per month, so the maximum combined monthly contribution is R354.24 (R177.12 each). Most domestic workers earn well below this cap.
Overtime and Sunday pay under SD7
Domestic workers may not work more than 45 ordinary hours per week or 9 hours per day (for a 5-day week). Any hours beyond these limits are overtime, which must be paid at 1.5 times the normal rate. The maximum permitted overtime is 15 hours per week under SD7 (higher than the BCEA's 10-hour cap for other employees), with total hours including overtime capped at 12 in any single day. Use our Overtime Calculator to work out overtime pay under the BCEA rules that cover other employees.
Work performed on a Sunday attracts double pay, 2 times the normal rate, if the worker does not ordinarily work on Sundays. If Sunday is part of the worker's normal working week (for example, a live-in worker who regularly works Sundays), the rate is 1.5 times instead (SD7 clause 17, matching BCEA Section 16). If Sunday pay works out at less than the daily wage, the daily wage is paid. The calculator prices Sunday hours at 2 times the hourly rate and does not apply this daily-wage floor, so check a short Sunday shift against the daily wage yourself. A public holiday on a day the worker would normally work is paid at least double the daily wage if worked, or the daily wage if not; on a day the worker would not normally work, pay is the daily wage plus the hourly rate for each hour worked (SD7 clause 18).
Leave entitlements under Sectoral Determination 7
SD7 provides domestic workers with the following leave entitlements. The calculator above counts the annual and sick leave days from the days worked a week. For how leave works for other employees under the BCEA, see our guide to leave day entitlements in South Africa.
| Leave Type | Entitlement | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Annual leave | Three weeks (21 consecutive days) per 12 months | The days worked in three weeks: 15 working days on a 5-day week, 18 on a 6-day week; by agreement, 1 day per 17 days worked; full pay during leave |
| Sick leave | The days worked in six weeks, per 3-year cycle | 30 days on a 5-day week (about 10 a year), 36 on a 6-day week; the employer may require a medical certificate for more than two consecutive days, or after more than two absences in eight weeks |
| Family responsibility | 5 days per year | Birth or illness of the worker's child, or the death of a spouse or life partner, parent, adoptive parent, grandparent, child, adopted child, grandchild or sibling (clause 21). Applies to a worker employed longer than four months who works at least four days a week |
| Maternity leave | At least four consecutive months | Unpaid by the employer; a worker registered for UIF claims maternity benefits. The BCEA's parental leave rules changed in October 2025: see the maternity and parental leave guide |
| Public holidays | All 12 SA public holidays | A holiday on a normal working day is paid at the daily wage if not worked, and at least double the daily wage if worked; a holiday worked on a day not normally worked is paid at the daily wage plus the hourly wage for each hour worked |
Accommodation deductions: the 10% rule
If you provide your domestic worker with accommodation (such as a garden flat or room on your property), you may deduct up to 10% of the wage, the pay for ordinary hours, for it. This deduction is strictly regulated:
- The accommodation must be weatherproof and in good condition, with a window, a lockable door and a toilet and a bath or shower if there is no other bathroom
- The maximum deduction is 10% of the wage for ordinary hours, whatever the market value of the accommodation; overtime and Sunday pay are not part of it
- Utilities, water, electricity and meals are not on SD7's closed list of permitted deductions, and you may not charge for food supplied while the worker is working
- SD7 sets no other condition on the room; municipal building and health by-laws are a separate matter, not part of the deduction rule
For a domestic worker earning R6,500 a month for ordinary hours, the most you may deduct is R650 a month, and the R6,500 must already meet the minimum wage before the deduction comes off.
Does my domestic worker pay income tax?
The good news for most household employers: the vast majority of domestic workers in South Africa earn below the income tax threshold and therefore pay no PAYE. SARS's 2026/2027 tax thresholds are R99,000 a year for a worker under 65 (R8,250 a month), R153,250 from age 65 to 74 and R171,300 from 75. A full-time domestic worker at minimum wage earns R5,894.85 a month, comfortably below the threshold.
However, higher-paid domestic workers, such as senior childminders, housekeepers with specialised skills or long-serving workers whose pay has been increased significantly above minimum wage, may earn above the threshold. In those cases, the employer is responsible for:
- Registering as an employer with SARS once a worker is liable for income tax
- Calculating PAYE using SARS 2026/2027 brackets (18%–45%)
- Deducting PAYE monthly and paying it within seven days after the end of the month, on the EMP201 return SARS expects by the 7th
- Issuing an IRP5 to the worker at year-end
Step-by-step manual calculation example
Here is a worked example for a domestic worker paid above minimum wage: R45/hr, 45 hours per week, 2 hours of overtime per week, with no accommodation deduction.
| Item | Calculation | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Regular monthly pay | R45 × 45hrs × (13÷3) | R8,775.00 |
| Overtime monthly pay | R45 × 1.5 × 2hrs × (13÷3) | R585.00 |
| Gross monthly pay | Regular + Overtime | R9,360.00 |
| Employee UIF (1%) | R9,360 × 1% | − R93.60 |
| PAYE (annualised: R9,360 × 12 = R112,320) | ((R112,320 × 18%) − R17,820) ÷ 12 | − R199.80 |
| Worker's net take-home | R9,066.60 | |
| Employer UIF (1%) | R9,360 × 1% | + R93.60 |
| Total employer cost | R9,453.60 |