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Live-in domestic worker: what you may deduct for the room, and why food is not on the list

27 October 2026 · 5 min read

If your domestic worker lives in, the room has a value, and it is natural to ask whether some of it can come off the wage. It can - but the law sets a hard ceiling, attaches conditions to the room, and closes the door on most other deductions. This guide covers the rule, what else you may and may not take off, and a worked example.

In one line: you may deduct no more than 10% of the wage for a room you supply, and only if it is weatherproof and in good condition, has a window and a door that locks, and has a toilet and a bath or shower where your employee has no other bathroom to use.

The accommodation deduction: the rule

Domestic workers are covered by Sectoral Determination 7 under the Basic Conditions of Employment Act. Its deductions clause (clause 8) starts from a ban: you may not make any deduction from the wage except those it lists. One of the listed exceptions is accommodation:

  • You may deduct not more than 10% of the wage for a room or other accommodation you supply.
  • The room must be weatherproof and generally kept in good condition.
  • It must have at least one window and a door that can be locked.
  • It must have a toilet and a bath or shower, if your employee does not have access to any other bathroom.

Miss any one of the conditions and the deduction is not allowed at all - it is not a sliding scale. A leaking outside room, or one with no lock, earns no deduction even if your employee is happy to live there.

Check before you rely on this: this is our plain-language reading of clause 8(1)(b) of Sectoral Determination 7 (Government Notice R1068 of 2002), taken from consolidated reproductions of the text. We could not load the Government Gazette copy on the day of writing.

Work out the wage first

The 10% is a percentage of the wage, so start there. The calculator below is set to a full-time live-in employee: 9 hours a day, 5 days a week, at the national minimum wage of R30.23 an hour (from 1 March 2026).

Calculator by CalcSA - open the domestic worker cost calculator if it does not load.

That gives a monthly wage of R5,894.85 (9 x 5 x R30.23 x 52 weeks / 12 months).

Then the most you may deduct

Ten percent of that wage is the ceiling for the room:

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

  • Most you may deduct for the room: R589.49 a month.
  • What your employee still receives before UIF: R5,305.36.
  • Your employee's 1% UIF is still worked out on the full R5,894.85 wage, not on the amount after the room.
Unconfirmed: the UIF point above is our reading - the Unemployment Insurance Contributions Act works on remuneration, and the room deduction does not reduce the wage you agreed. Confirm with the UIF or your accountant if your payslip treats it differently.

The deduction is a ceiling, not a target. Many employers charge nothing for the room, and you can agree a lower amount. Whatever you deduct must appear on the payslip as its own line.

Food: not on the list

Sectoral Determination 7 lists the deductions you may make, and food is not among them. Because clause 8 bans every deduction it does not list, you may not take money off the wage for meals you provide - including meals eaten during working hours.

Unconfirmed: the statement that food and meals cannot be deducted is drawn from the closed list in clause 8 and from secondary summaries; we did not find a clause that names food explicitly. If you want your employee to contribute to groceries, take advice first rather than putting it on the payslip.

What else may come off the wage

  • Time absent from work - a proportionate deduction for time your employee was away, other than paid leave or time off at your request.
  • A loan or advance you gave - repaid at no more than one tenth of the wage due on that pay day.
  • Amounts your employee agreed to in writing - for example contributions to a medical, insurance, savings, provident or pension fund, or a registered trade union subscription.
  • UIF - your employee's 1%, which the law requires you to deduct. See UIF for domestic workers.

Breakages, damage, lost items, uniforms and work equipment are not on the list, so they cannot simply be taken off the wage.

If the job ends

A live-in employee loses the job and the home at the same time, and Sectoral Determination 7 has a separate clause for this (accommodation on termination). Reported in plain terms: if you end the employment before the notice period has run, you must still provide the room for one month, or longer if the contract could only have been ended lawfully later. If your employee stays on in the room in that period, you may deduct 10% of what you must pay as the value of the accommodation.

Unconfirmed: the one-month figure comes from secondary summaries of clause 26; read the clause itself before giving notice to a live-in employee. Our guide to ending a domestic worker's job covers notice and final pay.

What to do as the employer

  • Check the room against the three conditions before you deduct anything - and fix it if it falls short.
  • Write the deduction and the room into the employment contract, with the amount in rand.
  • Show the wage, the room deduction and UIF as separate lines on every payslip.
  • Keep the deduction at or below 10% when the wage rises - work it out again each March, when the minimum wage changes.

Common mistakes

  • Deducting for a room that fails a condition, such as no lock or a leaking roof.
  • Charging a fixed amount that drifts above 10% after a cut in hours.
  • Deducting for food, electricity or breakages, none of which is on the list.
  • Paying below the minimum wage and calling the room the difference. The minimum is the hourly rate before any deduction.
Sources
  • Sectoral Determination 7: Domestic Worker Sector (Government Notice R1068 of 2002), clause 8 (deductions) and clause 26 (accommodation on termination), under the Basic Conditions of Employment Act 75 of 1997: consolidated text at Acts Online and SAFLII; Department of Employment and Labour. Not checked against the Gazette copy.
  • Summary of permitted and prohibited deductions: Scorpion Legal Protection (secondary).
  • National Minimum Wage Act 9 of 2018; Government Gazette No. 54075, Notice R7083 - R30.23/hour from 1 March 2026 (summarised by Labour Guide).

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

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