Concerns are growing that many domestic workers still cannot safely report injuries at work, despite new laws designed to protect them.
Domestic workers were officially brought under the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act (Coida) in 2023. This change extended protection to people employed in private households, including domestic workers, part-time and seasonal workers, and contractors doing similar work to regular employees. They are now among those who can claim compensation if they are injured on duty or fall ill because of their work.
However, labour experts and unions say that, in reality, many of these workers still struggle to raise the alarm – especially those working in private homes, often alone, where oversight is very limited.
Gloria Kente, secretary-general of the SA Domestic Service and Allied Workers Union (Sadsawu), said they were still battling to see the new protections applied on the ground.
“We’re pushing the department of [employment and] labour to do the inspections to make sure employers are paying into the Coida fund so that when the workers get injured, they can claim the money,” she said.
“We’ve been fighting this for a long time. That is why we are marching over the weekend because we’re not being heard.”
Kente said there was little sign that employers in private households were following the new rules.
“There’s no compliance; there’s no implementation,” she said.
She said union members would be visiting labour department offices in Cape Town and Pietermaritzburg to hand over a memorandum on the matter, demanding that authorities step up inspections and enforcement in homes where domestic workers are employed.
Her criticism comes as the National Employers’ Association of SA (Neasa) has been urging businesses to check that they are fully up to date with their duties under Coida. Neasa has reminded employers that all staff now covered by Coida must be correctly listed in return-of-earnings submissions, and that the definition of who qualifies for protection has been “significantly broadened”.
According to Neasa, Coida now includes domestic workers, fixed-term, part-time and seasonal employees. Contractors doing tasks similar to those of regular workers are also covered.
The amendments to Coida, parts of which were gazetted by President Cyril Ramaphosa in January, have wide practical effects. Under the new rules:
- Domestic workers, part-time and seasonal workers, and qualifying contractors are included under Coida protections.
- Domestic workers have a chance to claim compensation for work-related injuries and illnesses dating as far back as 1994.
- Injured workers now have up to three years from the date of an accident to submit a claim to the Compensation Fund – up from the previous 12 months.
- Work-related injuries now include incidents that occur during training activities and while travelling in employer-provided transport.
- Coida now formally recognises clinical, vocational and social rehabilitation, including psychological care, assistive devices and structured programmes to help workers return to work.
Neasa has also pointed out that Coida’s definition of an accident has been expanded to include injuries sustained during work-related training activities, as well as injuries during travel to or from work where employer-provided transport is used. Under the new regulation, the period for lodging a claim with the fund has been extended from 12 months to three years from the date of the accident.
Other changes include the introduction of a formal rehabilitation and reintegration framework.
“Coida now recognises clinical, vocational, and social rehabilitation – covering physical and psychological recovery, assistive devices, and structured support to return to work," it said.
Neasa said employers were expected to participate in the process and may be required to implement return-to-work programmes for employees with work-related injuries or occupational diseases. From 1 April, further changes mean employers face higher penalties and greater liability for workers who are injured or fall ill due to work-related activities.
On paper, then, protection has improved. But union and labour experts say the biggest problem is still implementation – especially for domestic workers scattered across millions of private homes.
Labour and unemployment expert Plaatjie Mashego said the department of labour continued to struggle to turn policies into reality. He told Sowetan that, for some domestic workers, reporting abuse or injuries remained very difficult.
“The policies are well and good, make no mistake, but it is up until there’s some form of a clear direction on how it’s going to be implemented,” he said.
“Are we going to have a central office where people who have complaints can call so that they have a dedicated line? We have a serious problem with the department of labour with some of the old implementations having not been taken on.”
Mashego said a lack of inspectors had long hampered the department.
Due to the lack of inspectors, Mashego said the department was struggling with the employment of foreigners without documentation.
“They [the department] have not done their job.
“It has created a very serious concern regarding a series of developments. At the level of implementation, do we have the capacity? How do you begin to come with inspectors in each home unless there is a complaint that has come forward?”
Trade union federation Cosatu shares the concern that rights written into law are not always known or used by workers on the ground.
Cosatu spokesperson Zanele Sabela said that often domestic workers did not know they could claim.
“The regulation empowers inspectors to check if employers are following the law, but the property owners can still deny them entry; they still have that right,” she said.
She said employers could also challenge a statement made by a worker that they were injured at work, which could further discourage claims.
The department of labour has previously admitted that non-compliance is not limited to domestic work. It told Sowetan that, in relation to Coida and the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF), there was “non-compliance in various sectors, such as wholesale and retail as well as food and beverages”.
This followed a blitz that revealed under-declarations, underpayments of contributions, and failures to submit returns of earnings. The department said that between April and December last year, it carried out more than 5,000 blitz inspections in Gauteng alone.
Under the new regulations, workers who are injured or fall ill as a result of their working conditions should receive stronger support so that they can return to work. Employers have greater responsibility to provide rehabilitation, including help with physical and psychological recovery, assistive devices where needed, and structured support so that injured workers can resume their duties.
The amendment focuses on who is covered, how benefits are calculated, how compliance is enforced, and what employers are expected to do when employees are injured or fall ill.
But until more inspectors are hired, more households are brought into the system, and more domestic workers know their rights, unions like Sadsawu say the promise of Coida will remain out of reach for many of the people it was meant to protect.
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