Labour guides · South Africa

Domestic work in a South African household

Domestic workers are on the national minimum wage. HousePay uses that floor, the weekly hours, UIF, and BCEA leave when it drafts a payslip for work done in South Africa.

Figures loaded on 8 October 2026.

The wage

From 1 March 2025

R28.79 an hour.

From 1 March 2026

R30.23 an hour. Gazette 54075. A day of four hours or less is paid as four hours, so the shortest paid day at that rate is R120.92.

The household sets the wage. A higher agreed amount is stored as that household's wage. Pay below the floor for the hours in the terms blocks the issue of the payslip. The person, the attendance, and the rest of the household stay available. Raising the wage to the floor lets that payslip be issued.

Hours and premiums

Ordinary time is at most 45 hours a week. A contract set above that is blocked. Overtime is at most 10 hours a week, and a week above that cap is warned. Overtime is paid at 1.5 times. A Sunday outside the normal pattern, and a public holiday, are paid at 2 times.

The payslip keeps ordinary hours, overtime, Sunday hours, and public-holiday hours in separate lines, each with its rate, so the employee can see how the gross was built.

UIF

UIF is 1% from the worker and 1% from the household once the worker does 24 hours in the month for that household. Below 24 hours, UIF does not apply for that month. The monthly earnings ceiling is R17,712. Remuneration above the ceiling is counted only up to the ceiling.

The household's 1% is an employer contribution. On the IRP5 record it is shown as household UIF and is not given an income code.

Leave

Leave follows the BCEA as loaded in HousePay. Annual leave accrues at one day for every 17 days worked. Sick leave is kept over the 36-month cycle. Family-responsibility leave is 3 days when the worker qualifies.

There is no end-of-service gratuity in this engine. Notice, leave pay, and UIF stay separate, and HousePay does not invent a gratuity amount.

On a South African payslip, the tax-year block shows annual leave accrued from days worked in that tax year, and the annual leave days taken through the end of the period.

Deductions

Food, tools, and work clothing cannot be deducted from a domestic worker's wage. An accommodation deduction needs a written agreement, and it cannot be more than 10% of the wage. A deduction that fails either rule is blocked.

Right to work

HousePay does not infer status from a name. The household records a nationality by choosing the country, and the country code is filled from that choice. A South African national needs no work visa on the record. A foreign national needs a visa or permit that allows the work, under the Immigration Act 13 of 2002. A missing or expired permission blocks the payslip. Permission with no end date can be stored. A date that has passed blocks the issue.

The payslip and the IRP5 record

A payslip shows that month, and the running total for the tax year from 1 March to the end of February, up to and including that payslip. Earlier drafts are left out. Issued payslips remain in the total. The year of assessment is the calendar year in which the tax year ends, so a period that ends on 28 February 2027 belongs to the 2027 assessment.

The IRP5 record is produced on demand for an employee and a year of assessment, at any point in that year, from the issued payslips whose period ends inside the year. Income is source code 3601. The employee's UIF is source code 4141. PAYE is not calculated, and the record says so. It is not a SARS eFiling upload.

For the employer, the running total and the certificate are a year-to-date view without waiting for February. For the employee, the same payslip shows the month and what has accumulated, including leave.

Repairs

A plumber, electrician, appliance company, or handyman is a supplier. The amount is household spend, not a wage, and it does not go through UIF. Personal repairs to the home are not deducted from income tax. More than R50 needs an abridged VAT invoice. More than R5,000 needs a full tax invoice. That line is VAT Act 89 of 1991, section 20. The invoice and the proof of payment are the file HousePay keeps with the job.

Documents the record can hold

• UIF employer registration.
• The signed employment contract, as a PDF on the person.
• The payslip for the period, with the tax-year total.
• The IRP5 record for a year of assessment.
• Proof of wage payment.
• The right-to-work file.

Other countries: United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, United States. The same briefing is in the October labour notes.