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Three calculations every South African household employer needs.

Notice, final pay and the minimum-wage check, worked out with the rules that apply from 1 March 2026. Keep the answers — or save them in a folder that can prove them later.

Notice and final pay

How much notice you owe, and what the last payment has to contain.

Notice you must give4 weeks

That is 28 calendar days. If you tell her today, her last day of employment is 28 days from now — and she must be paid for working or not working through it.

Pay in the final monthR 4 500.00
Notice pay (4 weeks)R 4 153.84
Severance (1 completed year × 1 week)R 1 038.46
Leave not taken (6 days)R 1 246.15
UIF deducted (1%)− R 109.38
Total to herR 10 829.07

Severance is only payable when the employment ends for operational reasons — the family is moving, the work has genuinely gone. It is not payable when she resigns or is dismissed after a fair hearing.

Are you paying the legal minimum?

From 1 March 2026 the national minimum wage for domestic workers is R 30.23 an hour. Enter what you pay and the hours she actually works.

Her real hourly rateR 31.00 / hour
Above the minimum by R 0.77 an hour

The minimum is per ordinary hour. Overtime is 1.5× that rate, a Sunday is double unless she normally works Sundays, and a public holiday she works is paid at double. Deductions for housing or food are only allowed within the limits the sectoral determination sets.

Minimum legal pay for these hoursR 6 046.00
Your current monthly payR 6 200.00
UIF you deduct and matchR 62.00 each side

The answer is only half of it.

Anyone can do a calculation. On a bad day you need the signed contract, the twelve payslips and the leave record that go with it. That is what Ikhaya keeps.