Some home truths

We have a domestic worker.

I am a Madam.

Although it's not mandatory, it is advisable for the more fortunate households to give employment to someone in this country with a 40% unemployment rate.

As of the end of November 2005, the minimum wage for domestic workers putting in more than 27-hours a week in urban areas is R997.04 (£92.83/€136.2) a month. The figures are R706.63 (£65.8/€96.5) a month for those working less than 27-hours a week.

A loaf of bread costs around R7 (£0.65/€0.97) and 2 litres of milk is R10 (£0.93/€1.37). The rent of our modest, furnished, 3-bed house is R9000 (£839.3/€1230) per month and the insurance of our two cars is R11500 (£1072/€1573) per year. As you can see, something is terribly wrong with these figures.

When we moved to our house, the rental agent introduced us to Joyce. She's a 42-year old mum of 3, married to a community builder. The family lives in the local informal settlement. Joyce works for our landlord's daughter once a week, and she's also worked in our house before we moved here. We were told she is a good worker and very trustworthy. When asked about the salary, the rental agent said we should discuss it directly with Joyce. As a guideline, she said R100 per a six hour day would be OK, although on a low side of the scale. (This also depends on if you give your domestic helper other benefits). As low as R70 per day is not unheard of.

When Joyce came to our house the first time, we asked her what kind of salary she would like to get. She told us the figure she would be happy with. The salary she wanted was slightly more than we had expected. After seeing what she had done during the day, we didn't think it was a fair amount. At the end of the day, when she went home, we asked her if she'd mind a 25% salary increase. We've paid that since then. She started working for us on Saturdays, as that was her only free day during the week.

There is a tradition of a 13th month salary, or a Christmas bonus, here in South Africa. I wanted to be sure I didn't do anything wrong, so I asked our friends for their opinion. "Should I pay or not, and if yes, then how much?" I was told that I need not pay, as Joyce worked for us only once per week. Her starting in November, and not the beginning of the year, would have had no effect on the amount paid. To be absolutely sure we didn't do anything wrong, Heikki and I ended up giving her a small bag of baked Italian Christmas delicacies, as well as a 4.5 week's salary as a Christmas bonus.

A week ago Joyce told us she'd had a salary argument with the Madam she worked for on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Joyce had quit after the Madam had refused to increase her salary. Good for Joyce! And it's good for us, too. Joyce now works for us on Mondays and Fridays. She is an excellent worker. We've talked about her continuing to work for us after we move from this house. Hopefully she can then work for us on other days, too. Especially if I go to work myself.

Today we talked about the salary payment details. She asked if we could pay her once a month, instead of after each day, like we have done up to now. The salary will be used for her children's schooling at the end of the month - That's 3 children, R700 each per month.

As I was walking her to the gate today, I asked her about her paid holidays. She didn't understand me. She just asked me to pay for the days she had worked. As we were reaching the gate I didn't pursue the matter. We must have a better chat about it next week. Surely she's been entitled to paid holidays before coming to work with us?