Maternity leave for a domestic worker: your duties and the UIF benefit

When your domestic worker tells you about a pregnancy, the practical questions arrive fast: how long will the employee be away, do you still pay a wage, and what does UIF cover? This guide answers those in plain terms, with one worked example.

The leave: what the law gives your employee

Section 25 of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA) applies to domestic workers, as it does to every employee. In plain terms:

• Your employee is entitled to at least four consecutive months of maternity leave.
• The leave may start up to four weeks before the expected birth, or earlier or later if a doctor or midwife certifies that this is needed for health.
• Your employee may not work for six weeks after the birth, unless a doctor or midwife certifies that the employee is fit to do so.
• The Act does not require you to pay a wage during the leave. Your contract may offer more, and you are free to be more generous.
• You may not dismiss your employee because of pregnancy or for taking this leave.

Work out the leave dates

Try an expected birth date below. The calculator shows when the leave can start, when it ends, and the six weeks after the birth when your employee may not work.

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

For a due date of 1 March 2027 and leave starting four weeks earlier, leave runs from 1 February 2027 to 31 May 2027 and your employee returns on 1 June 2027, with no work before 12 April 2027.

The money: UIF maternity benefit

While on maternity leave, your employee can claim a benefit from the Unemployment Insurance Fund. The key points:

• It only works if you have registered your employee with UIF and paid the contributions. Domestic workers who work 24 hours or more a month are covered.
• The benefit is a flat 66% of earnings, calculated on monthly earnings up to a ceiling of R17,712.
• It is paid for up to 121 days, roughly 17 weeks.
• The employee, not you, applies to UIF, and you must supply the employee's UIF details and employment records so the claim can be processed.

A worked example at the minimum wage

Take an employee on the national minimum wage of R30.23 an hour (from 1 March 2026), working 195 hours a month. Gross wage: 195 x R30.23 = R5,894.85. This is well below the ceiling, so all of it counts.

• Monthly benefit at 66%: R5,894.85 x 0.66 = about R3,890.60 a month.
• Over the full 121 days (about four months): roughly R15,500 in total.

Change the pay or choose "maternity leave" in the calculator to see your own figures:

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

What to do as the employer

• Check that your employee is registered with UIF and that every month's contribution (1% from you and 1% from the employee) has been paid. A gap can hold up the claim.
• Agree the leave dates in writing, using the dates calculated above, and note whether any of the leave will be paid by you.
• Show the last wage and UIF deduction on the payslip, and keep copies of every payslip. The Act expects you to keep records for three years.
• Agree how and when your employee returns. If you hire temporary cover, say clearly that it is temporary.

Common mistakes

• Dismissing or replacing the employee because of the pregnancy. This is automatically unfair.
• Assuming the leave is paid by you. It is unpaid by law, and UIF steps in only if contributions were paid.
• Never having registered the employee. No registration or payments means no UIF benefit, and the employer may also be liable for the unpaid contributions.
• Letting the employee work in the first six weeks without a medical certificate.

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