DEPARMENT OF LABOUR
CONTRACT OF
EMPLOYMENT
(DOMESTIC WORKER)
Entered into
between:
___________________________________
(herein after
referred to as the employer)
Address of employer:
..
..
..
..
and
_____________________________________
(herein after
referred to as the employee)
1.
Commencement
This
contract will begin on
..and continue until terminated as set out in
clause 4.
2.
Place of Work
3.
Job description
Job
Title
...
(e.g. Domestic worker,
child minder, garderner, etc)
Duties
DEPARTMENT OF LABOUR
DEPARTMENT OF LABOUR
4. Termination of employment (See
Guideline 2 and 3)
Either party can terminate this agreement with four weeks written notice. In the
Case where an employee is illiterate notice may be
given by that employee
verbally.
5.
Wage (See Guidelines 4 and 5)
5.1
The employees wage shall be paid in cash on
the last
working day of every week/month and shall be: R
.
5.2
The employee shall be entitled to the
following
allowances/payment in kind:
5.2.1 A weekly/monthly transport allowance of R
.
5.2.2 Meals
per week/month to the value of R
5.2.3 Accommodation
per week/month to the value of R
________
5.3 The
total value of the above remuneration shall be R
.
(The total of clauses 5.1 to 5.2.3)
(Modify or delete
clauses 5.2.1 to 5.2.3 as needed)
5.2.1
The
employer shall review the employees salary/wage once a year.
6. Hour of work (See Guideline 6)
6.1
Normal working hours will be from
a.m. to
p.m. on
Mondays
to Fridays and from
.a.m. to
p.m. on Saturdays.
6.2
Overtime will only be worked if agreed upon between the parties from
time to
time.
6.3 The employee will be paid for overtime at the
rate of one and a half times his/her
total
wage as set out in clause 5.3.
7.
Meal Intervals (See Guideline7)
The employee agrees to a
lunch break of one hour/30 minutes (delete the one that
is that not applicable). Lunchtime will
be taken from
.to
.
daily.
DEPARTMENT OF LABOUR
DEPARTMENT OF LABOUR
8.
Sunday work (See Guideline 8)
Any work on Sundays will be
by agreement between the parties from time to time.
If
the employee works on a Sunday he/she shall be paid double the wage for
each
hour worked.
9. Public
Holidays (See Guideline 9)
The employee will be entitled to all official
public holidays on full pay.
If an employee does not work
on a public holiday he/she shall receive normal
payment for that day.
If the employee works on a public
holiday he/she shall be paid double.
10.
Annual
Leave (See Guideline 10)
10.1 The employee is entitled to
days paid leave after every 12
months of
continuous service. Such leave is to be taken at times
convenient to the employer
and the employer may require the employee to take his/her leave at such times as
coincide with that of the employer.
11. Sick leave (See Guidelines 11)
11.1
During every sick leave cycle of 36 months the employee will be entitled
to an
amount of paid sick leave
equal to the number of days the employee would nor=
mally work during a period
of six weeks.
11.2 During the first six months of
employment the employee will entitled to one days
paid sick leave for every 26
days worked.
11.3 The employee is to notify the
employer as soon as possible in case of his/her
absence from work through
illness.
12. Maternity leave (See Guideline 12)
(Tick the applicable clauses in the space provided).
12.1 The employee will be entitled to
days maternity leave
without pay; or
12.2 The
employee will be entitled to
.days maternity leave
on
pay.
13 Family
responsibility leave (See Guideline 13)
The employee will be
entitled to three days family responsibility leave during
each leave cycle.
DEPARTMENT OF LABOUR
DEPARTMENT OF LABOUR
14. Deductions from
remuneration (See Guideline 14)
The
employer may not deduct any monies from the employees wage unless the
employee
has agreed to this in writing on each occasion.
15. Accommodation
(Tick
the applicable boxes)
15.1 The employee will be provided
with accommodation for as long as
the employee is in the
service of the employer, and which shall
form part of his/her
remuneration package.
15.2 The accommodation may only be
accupied by the worker, unless
prior
arrangement with the employer.
15.3 Prior permission should be
obtained for visitors who wish to stay
the
night. However where members of the
employees direct
family
are visiting, such permission will not be necessary.
16. Clothing
(Delete this clause if not applicable)
sets
of uniforms will be supplied to the employee by the employer and
will
remain the property of the employer.
DEPARTMENT OF
LABOUR
DEPARTMENT OF LABOUR
17. Other conditions of
employment or benefits>
DEPARTMENT OF LABOUR
DEPARTMENT OF LABOUR
18. General
Any
changes to this agreement will only be valid if they are in writing and have
been
agreed and signed by both parties.
THUS DONE AND SIGNED AT
ON THIS
DAY OF
..
199
..
..
EMPLOYER EMPLOYEE
Witnesses:
....
DEPARTMENT OF LABOUR
DEPARTMENT OF LABOUR
GUIDELINES
1.
Notice period and termination
of employment
In terms of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, any party to an employment contract
must
give to the other written notice of termination as follows:
§
One
week, if employed for four weeks or less.
§
Four
weeks if employed for more than four weeks.
2.
Procedure for termination of
employment:
Whilst the contract of employment makes provision for termination of
employment, it must be understood that the services of an employee may not be terminated
unless a valid and fair reason exists and fair procedure is followed. I f an employee is dismissed without a valid
reason or without a fair procedure, the employee may approach the CCMA for
assistance.
Pro-rata
leave and severance pay might be payable.
In
the event of a domestic worker being unable to return to work due to
disability, the employer must investigate the nature of the disability and
ascertain whether or not it is
Permanent or temporary. The employer must try to accommodate the employee as far as
possible for example, amending or adapting their duties to suit the
disability. However, in the event of it
not being possible for the employer to adapt the domestic workers duties and/or
to find alternatives, then such employer may terminate the services of the
domestic worker.
The Labour Relations Act, 66 of 1995 sets out the
procedures to be followed at the termination of services in the Code of Good
Practice, in Schedule 8.
3. Wage/Remuneration/Payment
There is no prescribe minimum rate or
remuneration. Additional payments (such
as for overtime or work on Sundays or Public Holidays) are calculated from the
total remuneration as indicated in clause 5.3 of the contract. The total remuneration is the total of the
money received by the employee and the payment in kind (i.e. the value of food
and accommodation etc). Payment in kind
may not be less than R100.
4. Transport allowances, bonuses, increases
These are not regulated by Basic Conditions of Employment Act and are therefore open to negotiation between the parties.
DEPARTMENT OF LABOUR
DEPARTMENT OF LABOUR
5. Hours of work
5.1
Normal hours (excluding
overtime)
A domestic worker may not be made to:
§
work
more than 45 hours a week;
§
work
more than nine hours per day for a five day work week;
§
work
more than eight hours day for a six day work week; and
5.2
Overtime
A domestic worker may not work more than three hours
of overtime per day or 10 hours per week;
Overtime must be paid at 1.5 times the employees normal
wage or an employee may agree to receive paid time off.
5.3 Daily and weekly rest periods
5.3.1 A daily rest period of 12
consecutive hours and a weekly rest period of 36
consecutive hours, which
must include Sunday, unless otherwise agreeed, must be
allowed.
5.3.2 The daily rest period may by
agreement be reduced to 10 hours for an employee
who
live on the premises whose meal interval lasts for at least three hours.
5.3.3 The weekly rest period may by
agreement be extended to 60 consecutive hours
every two weeks or be
reduced to eight hours in any week if the rest period in the
following
week is extended equivalently.
6.
Meal intervals
A domestic worker is entitled to a one-hour break for a meal after not more
than five hours work. Such interval may
be reduced to 30 minutes, by agreement between the parties. If required or permitted to work during this
period, remuneration must be paid.
7.
Sunday work
Work on Sundays is voluntary and a domestic worker
can therefore not be forced to work on a Sunday.
If the employee works on a Sunday he/she shall be
paid double the daily wage.
If the employee ordinarily works on a Sunday he/she
shall be paid one and one-half time the wage for every hour worked. Paid time off in return for working on a Sunday
may be agreed upon.
DEPARTMENT OF LABOUR
DEPARTMENT OF LABOUR
8.
Public Holidays
The days mentioned in the Public Holidays Act must be granted but the parties can agree to further public holidays. Work on a public holiday is entirely voluntary and a domestic worker may not be forced to work on such public holiday.
The official public holidays are:
New Years Day Youth Day
Human Rights Day National Womans Day
Good Friday Heritage Day
Family Day Day of Reconciliation
Freedom Day Christmas Day
Workers Day Day of Goodwill
Any other day declared an official public holiday from time to time should also be granted.
These days can be exchanged for any other day by agreement.
If the employee works on a public holiday he/she shall be paid double the normal days wage.
9.
Annual Leave
Annual leave may not be less than 21 consecutive days for full-time workers or by agreement, one day for every 17 days worked or one hour for every 17 hours worked.
The leave must be granted not later than six months
after completion of the period of 12 consecutive months of employment. The leave may not be granted concurrent with
any period of sick leave, nor with a period of notice of termination of the
contract of employment.
DEPARTMENT OF LABOUR
DEPARTMENT OF LABOUR
10.
Sick leave
During every sick leave cycle of 36 months an
employee is entitled to an amount of paid sick leave equal to the number of
days the employee would normally work during a period of six weeks.
During the first six months of employment, an
employee is entitled to one days paid sick leave for every 26 days worked.
The employer is not required to pay an employee if
the employee has been absent from work for more than two consecutive days or on
more than two occasions during an eight week period and, on request by the
employer, does not produce a medical certificate stating that the employee was
unable to work for the duration of the employees absence on account of
sickness or injury.
11.
Maternity leave
The employee is entitled to at least four
consecutive months, maternity leave.
The employer is not obliged to pay the domestic worker for the period
for which she is off work due to her pregnancy. However the parties may agree that the domestic worker will
receive part of or her entire salary/wage for the time that she is off due to
pregnancy.
12.
Family responsibility leave
Employees employed for longer than four months and for at least four days a week are entitled to take three days, paid family responsibility leave during each leave cycle when the employees child is born, or when the employees child is sick or in the event of the death of the employees spouse or life partner or parent, adoptive parent, grandparent, child, adopted child, grandchild or sibling.
13.
Deduction from the
remuneration
The Basic Conditions of Employment Act prohibits an
employer from deducting any monies form the workers wages without his/her
written permission.
DEPARTMENT OF LABOUR
DEPARTMENT OF LABOUR
14.
Other issues
There are certain other issues which are not regulated by the Basic Conditions of Employment Act such as probationary periods, right of entry to the employers premises, afternoons off, weekends off and pension schemes, medical aid schemes, training/school fees, funeral benefits and savings account, however the aforementioned may be negotiated between the parties and included in the contract of employment.
15.
Prohibition of Employment
The Basic Conditions of Employment Act prohibits employment of any person under the age of 15 and it is therefore important for an employer to verify the age of the domestic worker by requesting a copy of the identity document or birth certificate.
16.
Other conditions of
employment
There is no provision, which prevents any other conditions of employment being included in a contract of employment but any provision, which sets conditions, which are less favorable than those set by the Act, would be invalid.
These guidelines are not meant to be a complete summary of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act and/or legal advice. Should there be any doubt as to rights and/or obligations in terms of the Act or terms of any clause of the suggested Contract of Employment, such queries can be directed to the local office of the Department of Labour, (Labour Relations) who will gladly assist.
DEPARTMENT OF LABOUR
VEREENIGING
TEL. (016) 422-1061-5
DEPARTMENT OF LABOUR