Can you cut a domestic worker's hours when you need less help? Short time over the holidays

December often means a quieter house. The family is away, the children are home, or you simply need less help for a few weeks. It is tempting to tell your domestic worker "come only three days" and pay for three days. Whether that is lawful depends on how it is agreed and on a few floors the Sectoral Determination sets for every domestic employer.

Two different things people call "short time"

• A permanent or long-term change: for example going from five days a week to four. This changes the contract and needs agreement.
• A temporary arrangement: for example fewer days for six weeks over the holidays, then back to normal. It also needs agreement, and the agreement should say when normal hours resume.

Neither is the same as annual leave (paid, and a separate right - see annual leave for domestic workers) or unpaid leave your employee asks for, which is the employee's choice.

Why you cannot just reduce the hours

The hours and wage in your contract are terms of employment. As a general rule an employer cannot change a term unilaterally; the employee must agree. Put differently: if you cut hours without agreement and your employee does not accept it, the old terms still apply and the shortfall is money you owe.

• Talk first, explain the reason and offer options (fewer days, shorter days, a few weeks of leave).
• Write down what was agreed: the new days or hours, the new monthly pay, the start date and the date normal hours resume.
• Both sign and each keep a copy. Update the written particulars of employment (see the contract maker) so the record matches what you actually do.

The floors that apply however you agree

1. The minimum wage is per hour worked

From 1 March 2026 the national minimum wage is R30.23 an hour. A shorter week means fewer hours, so a lower monthly total is fine as long as every hour worked is paid at the hourly rate or better.

2. Four hours minimum on any day worked

Clause 2(4) of the Determination says a domestic worker who works less than four hours on any day must be paid for four hours that day. A "short" two-hour morning still costs 4 x R30.23 = R120.92 at the minimum. Plan shorter days around this: three half-days of two hours are better offered as one half-day of four.

3. Days sent home at your request are paid

Clause 8(1)(a) lets you deduct pay for absence from work, but not for absence "on paid leave or at the instance of the employer". If you tell your employee not to come in on days that are normally worked and you have not agreed to change the arrangement, those days are still paid.

4. Pay on the normal pay day, with a payslip

Clauses 5 and 6 still apply: pay on the agreed pay day and give a payslip showing ordinary hours, wage and any deductions. A reduced month needs a correct payslip too - the payslip maker handles it.

Worked example: from five days to four

Your employee works nine hours a day, five days a week (45 hours) at the minimum wage, and you agree to four days for the holiday period.

• Normal week: 45 x R30.23 = R1,360.35, which is R5,894.85 a month (x 13 / 3).
• Four-day week: 36 x R30.23 = R1,088.28, which is R4,715.88 a month at the minimum.
• Difference: about R1,178.97 a month, for one day less of work - and only if your employee has agreed to it.
• If you pay above the minimum the agreed hourly rate carries over; recalculate from that rate, not from R30.23.

Use the calculator below with your own hours and days to see the minimum for the new arrangement:

Calculator by CalcSA - open the minimum wage calculator if it does not load.

What about UIF?

UIF contributions are 1% from you and 1% from your employee on the pay actually paid, so they fall with the pay. Employees who work fewer than 24 hours a month for you fall outside the UIF system altogether - see part-time and char workers. A short-time arrangement that stays well above that does not change your registration.

A simple holiday arrangement letter

Common mistakes

• Announcing the cut on the pay day. Agree it before the month starts.
• Keeping the days but cutting pay. If your employee still works the hours, you owe the pay.
• Counting short days below four hours. Each day worked is at least four hours' pay.
• No end date. A "temporary" cut that never says when it ends tends to become permanent without anyone deciding it.

How HomeHR helps

• The HomeHR contract maker produces the written particulars of employment, so a changed arrangement can be re-signed and filed.
• The payslip maker shows the reduced hours and pay correctly.
• Our hours, leave and contract rules post covers ordinary hours, meal breaks and rest periods.

General information, not legal advice. Every figure we use is on the rates page with its source.