On 4 May 2018, SERI launched a new resource guide for domestic workers, entitled Domestic Workers' Rights: A Legal and Practical Guide in Braamfontein, Johannesburg. The launch was attended by approximately 35 people, including civil society representatives, members of domestic workers' unions and journalists. Domestic work is one of the largest sources of employment for black women in South Africa, however Domestic Workers' Rights: A Legal and Practical Guide workers remain one of the most vulnerable occupational groups due to being positioned at the intersection of three lines along which inequality is generated: race, gender and class. Many domestic workers continue to be subjected to exploitative working conditions and disrespectful treatment. Despite the implementation of labour laws and the collective efforts of domestic workers to assert their rights, domestic workers’ employment rights are not always realised.
SERI developed this user-friendly resource guide to create awareness of the rights of domestic workers and the obligations of employers in terms of the domestic employment relationship. It explains what the law says about domestic workers and gives practical advice on how domestic workers can engage with their employers.
The guide is a resource for domestic workers; community-based paralegals and advice officers who work with doemestic workers. Employers of domestic workers will also find the information in the guide useful.
- Download Domestic Workers' Rights: A Legal and Practical Guide (June 2018) here.
- Read an op-ed on employers' obligations toward their domestic workers here.
SERI also launched a series of short, mobile-friendly information sheets on the rights of domestic workers in English and Zulu. These information sheets cover topics like wages, leave, the Unempolyment Insurance Fund (UIF), employment contracts, the end of employment and the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA).
- Download the information sheet on wages here (English) and here (IsiZulu).
- Download the information sheet on leave here (English) and here (IsiZulu).
- Download the information sheet on the UIF here (English) and here (IsiZulu).
- Download the information sheet on ending the employment relationship here (English) and here (IsiZulu).
- Download the information sheet on employment contracts here (English) and here (IsiZulu).
- Download the information sheet on the CCMA here (English) and here (IsiZulu).