SOUTH AFRICA - IF AN EMPLOYER TELLS THEIR DOMESTIC WORKER TO STAY AT HOME, SHOULD THEY STILL GET PAID?

For most people who rely on piecemeal work, like many domestic workers, the decision to practice social distancing and stay at home is at the risk of not being able to put food on the table, GroundUp reported.

"If employers tell their domestic workers to stay at home, they must still get paid for that," Pinky Mashiane, president of the United Domestic Workers of South Africa (Udwosa), told GroundUp.

After President Cyril Ramaphosa declared the Covid-19 pandemic a national state of disaster, many businesses have heeded the call to minimise their workforce or to allow employees to work from home to try and curb the spread of the virus. But this is not possible for most domestic workers.

"If they stay home and they don't get paid, what are they going to eat?" asked Mashiane.

In the first episode of ...One More Thing, a weekly podcast, News24 senior political journalist Tshidi Madia unpacks all things coronavirus with guest analyst Khaya Sithole.

It would be ideal for domestic workers not to go to work for their own safety and for that of their employers, provided they are still paid, she said.

Mashiane said that this agreement between an employer and their domestic worker needed to be put in writing.

"They need to tell their employers to put it in writing that they will be staying at home for 21 days or a month and that the employers will still pay them."

Health department spokesperson Popo Maja said domestic workers "should be held to the same personal hygiene as their employers". He added that the department was "not in a position to say whe-

Labour department spokesperson Teboho Thejane said: "Because domestic workers are also workers, they are covered by the Labour Relations Act, Basic Conditions of Employment Act."

He said employers who decide to let their workers stay home, still have an obligation to pay them. The department has advised employers to practice social distancing if they feel the working environment isn't safe for workers or themselves.

"A number of leave provisions will be used to assist those that might have to go on leave if they are affected. They can apply for special leave."

Thejane said the department's Crisis Management Committee was in talks about ways workers could be compensated for the period they were unable to work due to the virus outbreak.

"With regards to domestic workers, we need to evaluate the reasons why they are not coming into work. For example, if an employer has communicated that because of the condition, don't come into work. That's a contractual arrangement between the employer and the worker," he said.

via - NEWS24