A maid cleans a window. A maid cleans a window.
A clean sheet. That was the scorecard in Bishopscourt yesterday as labour inspectors trolled through the expensive neighbourhood to assess whether residents were complying with domestic worker labour laws.
In fact residents of Bishopscourt proved to be treating their domestic workers very well – some even paying their employees’ children’s university fees.
During the first day of blitz inspections, the Western Cape’s Chief Director, Teboho Thejane, said they had not found any people not complying with labour laws, although the Department of Labour says the domestic worker sector is “under siege”.
Yesterday a number of inspectors were in the suburb focusing on compliance with Basic Conditions of Employment Act, the Labour Relations Act and the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF).
While Thejane was about to inspect his fourth house for the day, he said: “So far all the houses we’ve been to have been complying with labour laws and all of them are paying above minimum wage. That was very important for us to check because that’s one of the more recent changes in the law.
“All of the people we interviewed were very happy with their working conditions and were also enjoying good benefits.
“Quite a few employers pay the domestic worker’s children’s school fees and in one case the employer was even paying a child’s university fees.”
The inspectors did a check of 20 houses in Bishopscourt yesterday and will visit employers in Pinelands, Constantia, Somerset West and Vredenburg this week.
Thejane added: “We are checking that people have contracts in place and we are speaking to both the employer and employee about the working conditions, which is very important because we need to know that both parties understand the legislation.
“The domestic sector is one of the most vulnerable sectors after the security and hospitality industries so we need to do these checks to look out for workers.”
Thejane said they were doing the blitz following the latest review of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act.
The minimum wage increased in December.
For those working more than 27 hours a week, the minimum wage increased from R1 442.86 to R1 506.35 a month.
“These blitz inspections come just after the implementation of annual increases and these visits serve as follow-ups to check whether employers are adhering to the determination,” Thejane said.
During the inspections, employers found in contravention of the labour laws will be issued with relevant notices to rectify any identified non-compliance issues.
If non-compliance persists beyond the prescribed time, compliance orders will be issued, Thejane added.
Follow-up inspections have been set down for the week of February 21. - Zara Nicholson