This Women’s Day, SERI launches a new resource guide entitled, Employing a Domestic Worker: a Legal and Practical Guide. This user-friendly guide has been written for employers of domestic workers in South Africa. The guide informs employers of domestic workers of their rights and obligations in the employment relationship, provides practical advice towards creating a healthy working environment and supports them to improve their employment practices. This guide follows the Domestic Workers’ Rights: A Legal and Practical Guide, a guide developed for domestic workers, published in June 2018.
Domestic workers are an essential part of how many families and households operate. The child and home-care they provide contributes to the national economy by enabling others to carry out their own jobs. However, many employers are unaware of the laws which regulate this employment relationship.
The guide provides legal advice and guidelines on the different phases of the employment relationship, namely:
- “Beginning the domestic employment relationship”, which outlines the interview process, details the terms of employment from the Basic Conditions of Employment Act like working hours, overtime and leave, and the requirements of the written particulars of employment;
- “Managing the domestic employment relationship”, which provides guidance on how to maintain a mutually beneficial relationship; and finally,
- “Ending the domestic employment relationship”, which provides information on the rights and responsibilities of both parties at the end of the employment relationship under the law.
The guide also includes a section on “Creating a fair workplace” which discusses fair wages, social protections, pensions, and other benefits followed by a frequently asked questions section. This guide was produced by the Socio-Economic Rights Institute of South Africa (SERI) and Izwi Domestic Workers Alliance (Izwi). It was written by Kelebogile Khunou (SERI researcher) and Amy Tekié (Izwi co-founder).