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Domestic Worker Payslip Template (South Africa)

If you employ a domestic worker, nanny, gardener or housekeeper, you are an employer in the eyes of the law — and the law requires you to hand over written pay information every single payday. This page gives you a free, printable payslip template that meets the requirements of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act and Sectoral Determination 7, plus a worked example at the 2026 national minimum wage so you can fill it in with confidence.

Last reviewed June 2026 · wage figures from 1 March 2026

Yes, a payslip is a legal requirement — even for one household employee

Section 33 of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA) obliges every employer to give the employee written information about their pay with each payment. There is no exemption for private households: if someone works in your home and you pay them, they must receive a payslip on every payday, whether they work one morning a week or full time.

Sectoral Determination 7, which sets the conditions of employment for the domestic worker sector, reinforces this. Wages must be paid in cash, by cheque or into a bank account, and where cash or a cheque is handed over it must be in a sealed envelope, accompanied by the pay details. The payslip becomes the worker's property — it is her proof of income for loans, rentals, UIF claims and visa or credit applications, which is one more reason to take it seriously.

What the payslip must show

The BCEA spells out exactly what the written pay information must contain. Every payslip must show:

• The employer's name and address (that is you, at your home address or another agreed address)
• The worker's name and occupation (for example "domestic worker" or "child minder")
• The period for which the payment is made (e.g. 1–30 June 2026)
• The remuneration in money — the gross pay before anything is taken off
• The amount and purpose of every deduction (UIF, an agreed loan repayment, and so on)
• The actual amount paid to the worker — the net pay
• Where relevant to how the pay is calculated: the rate of pay and the overtime rate, the number of ordinary and overtime hours worked, and any hours worked on a Sunday or public holiday

Worked example at the 2026 minimum wage

From 1 March 2026 the national minimum wage is R30.23 per ordinary hour worked, up from R28.79 — and it applies in full to domestic workers. Here is what a payslip looks like for a full-time worker doing 8 hours a day, Monday to Friday (40 hours a week), paid monthly using the widely used payroll convention of 4.333 weeks per month:

Because the worker earns more than 24 hours a month of work, UIF is compulsory: you deduct 1% of her remuneration from her pay and add a matching 1% from your own pocket when you pay the Fund. Only the worker's 1% appears as a deduction on the payslip — your 1% is your cost, not hers.

How to use the template

The template below is plain text on purpose — copy it into a document, fill in the placeholders in square brackets, print two copies, and keep one signed copy for your records. Fill it in fresh every payday rather than photocopying an old one; the hours and deductions lines are exactly where most disputes start, so they must reflect the actual period.

Overtime, if you ever ask for it, must be agreed and is paid at 1.5 times the normal wage, with work on a public holiday paid at double the normal daily wage — show those hours on their own lines. If you pay a bonus or 13th cheque, record it on the payslip as a separate earnings line in the month you pay it. And remember that any deduction beyond UIF generally needs the worker's written permission — a deduction for accommodation you provide is capped at 10% of the wage, and only if the room is weatherproof, lockable and has toilet and bath facilities. You may not deduct for things like work clothes, equipment, training or meals.

Record-keeping: keep every payslip for three years

Issuing the payslip is half the duty; keeping the evidence is the other half. Under Sectoral Determination 7 you must keep copies of the pay records for three years. A simple folder (paper or a phone photo per month) of signed payslips protects you completely if a wage dispute, CCMA referral or Department of Employment and Labour inspection ever happens — without records, it is your word against the worker's, and inspectors will side with the documented version.

Two related registrations belong in the same folder: your UIF employer reference (registration is compulsory once the worker works more than 24 hours a month for you) and your Compensation Fund (COIDA) registration — domestic workers have been covered for workplace injuries since the Constitutional Court's Mahlangu judgment of November 2020 struck down their exclusion, so household employers must register and contribute. If you adjust the wage each March when the minimum wage changes, document it properly with a salary increase letter and file it alongside the payslips.

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