December is when most employers ask the same question: do I pay my domestic worker for the public holidays, and what if I need them to work? The rules are short, but they change depending on whether the holiday falls on a day your employee normally works.
The December 2026 and January 2027 dates
- Wednesday 16 December 2026: Day of Reconciliation.
- Friday 25 December 2026: Christmas Day.
- Saturday 26 December 2026: Day of Goodwill. It falls on a Saturday, and the Monday is only added when a holiday falls on a Sunday, so there is no extra day off on 28 December.
- Friday 1 January 2027: New Year's Day.
The rule for domestic workers
Domestic workers are covered by Sectoral Determination 7. Clause 18 deals with public holidays, in four situations:
- You may not require work on a public holiday unless your employee has agreed to it. Put the agreement in the employment contract or in writing.
- Holiday on a day your employee normally works, and they stay home: you pay the normal daily wage.
- Holiday on a day your employee normally works, and they work: you pay at least double the daily wage.
- Holiday on a day your employee does not normally work, and they work: you pay the daily wage plus the hourly wage for each hour worked.
- When to pay: on the normal pay day.
A worked example at the minimum wage
Your employee works Monday to Friday, 45 hours a week, on the national minimum wage of R30.23 an hour, about R5,894.85 a month. Christmas Day is a Friday and a normal working day:
- Weekly wage: R5,894.85 x 3 / 13 = R1,360.35
- Daily wage: R1,360.35 / 5 = R272.07
- Stays home: the day is paid at R272.07, which is already inside the monthly salary. Nothing extra is due.
- Works a nine-hour day, by agreement: the day must pay at least double, R544.14. That is R272.07 in the salary plus R272.07 on top.
Now the Day of Goodwill, a Saturday that your employee does not normally work. If they work 6 hours by agreement, you owe the daily wage plus 6 x R30.23: R272.07 + R181.38 = R453.45 for that day, on top of the monthly salary.
Put in your own employee's salary and hours. The calculator starts at the Christmas Day example (a nine-hour working day on a holiday):
Calculator by CalcSA - open the overtime and public holiday calculator if it does not load. It covers the working-day case; for a day off, add the hourly wage for each hour worked to one daily wage.
Part-time employees
- If your employee works only Monday, Wednesday and Friday, the 16 December holiday (a Wednesday) is a normal working day for them: pay the daily wage if they stay home.
- A holiday on a Tuesday or Thursday is not a normal working day for them, so nothing is owed unless they are asked to work and agree.
- The daily wage is what your employee would normally earn for a working day. Use the same figure you use for sick days.
Common mistakes
- Deducting a normal working-day holiday from the monthly salary. The day is paid even when your employee does not work.
- Asking, not agreeing. Saying "I need you on Christmas Day" is not an agreement. Your employee can say no.
- Paying double for a day off. On a day your employee does not normally work, the rule is the daily wage plus the hourly wage for each hour, not double.
- Forgetting the payslip. Show the extra holiday pay as a separate line on the payslip for that month.
For the wider picture, see hours, leave and contract rules, sick and family responsibility leave and what a domestic worker costs.
- Sectoral Determination 7: Domestic Worker Sector (Notice R1068, 15 August 2002), clause 18 Public holidays: copy of clause 18; Labour Guide summary.
- Public holiday dates and the Sunday-to-Monday rule (Public Holidays Act 36 of 1994): South African Government, public holidays.
- National Minimum Wage Act 9 of 2018; Government Gazette No. 54075, Notice R7083 - R30.23/hour from 1 March 2026 (summarised by Labour Guide).
- Weekly wage x 3 / 13 as in the CalcSA overtime calculator, which follows section 35 of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act 75 of 1997.
General information, not legal advice. Every figure we use is on the rates page with its source.