Kaya News Reporter
A hike of inflation plus one percentage point has been proposed for the national minimum wage.
In a bid to equalise the earning potential for domestic workers, the National Minimum Wage Commission has proposed the hike.
This would mean hourly wages for domestic workers increase to R23.10 at the current rate of inflation.
The current rate is R19.09 per hour for domestic workers which is considerably lower than the going rate for other minimum wage workers.
Last year the minimum wage was increased by 4.5% to R21,69 an hour.
The proposal comes after the commission highlighted pay equity and better working conditions for domestic workers.
While the proposal has been welcomed by government, business feels the hike could lead to more job losses.
Given the current economic climate in the country during the pandemic, business feels the hike will add further strain to operational costs.
This could mean some employers reducing the hours of domestic workers or retrenching workers altogether.
If approved the proposed minimum wage hike will mean domestic workers will earn over R20/hour for the first time.
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