Festive season spending could prove less daunting for domestic workers as Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant announced minimum wage increases with effect from yesterday.

On Wednesday, Oliphant said minimum wages for domestic workers in urban areas would go up from R7.72 an hour to R8.34 an hour.

This means an increase from R1506.35 a month to R1625.70 a month. This is applicable to domestic workers who work more than 27 hours a week.

The Basic Conditions of Employment Act empowers the minister to set minimum wages for workers in various sectors.

Domestic workers in non-urban areas who work 27 hours a week or less would receive a minimum hourly rate of R8.33 or R974.49 a month.

Oliphant has appealed to employers to be fair to domestic workers.

"We would like to appeal to those who pay their workers well not to lower the wages. The sectoral determination is really about [the] absolute minimum that workers must earn and not the maximum," she said.

Johan Botes, director in the employment practice at Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr, said the wage increases would be a welcome relief for this vulnerable sector of the economy. The statutory minimum wage should not be seen as the benchmark, but rather the absolute minimum wage to be paid to domestic workers.

The department warned employers who ignored the sector determination, saying it intended to be vigilant. It encouraged employees to report non-compliance at their nearest labour centres. - Additional reporting I-Net Bridge