Domestic Worker UIF and COIDA Registration: What Every South African Household Must Know
If you pay someone to clean, garden, cook, drive or care for children in your home, you’re legally an employer under South African law, even if it’s just one person, a few hours a week. You’re required to register for UIF if they work more than 24 hours a month, and for COIDA regardless of hours. New COIDA enforcement powers that took effect in January 2026 allow inspectors to conduct unannounced home inspections and issue administrative fines directly, without needing a criminal case first. The domestic worker minimum wage is R30.23 an hour as of March 2026.
Most households that employ domestic help have heard of one of these obligations, if any, and assume the other doesn’t apply to them or doesn’t exist. It’s worth getting this right: enforcement has genuinely increased over the past year, and the two systems work differently enough that being registered for one doesn’t mean you’re covered for the other.
Yes, You’re an Employer
South African law treats you as an employer the moment you pay someone to work in or around your home on a regular basis, whether that’s a full-time live-in housekeeper or a gardener who comes once a week. This covers cleaners, nannies, au pairs, gardeners, household drivers, cooks, and caregivers for children, the elderly or people who are frail. It doesn’t matter whether you pay in cash or by transfer, or whether you think of it as “casual” or informal work, the law doesn’t distinguish.
UIF: The 24-Hour Rule
UIF registration is required once your domestic worker works more than 24 hours a month for you. Below that threshold, UIF isn’t required for that specific worker, though the other obligations below still apply.
The contribution is 2% of the worker’s monthly wage in total, split evenly: 1% from you as the employer, and 1% deducted from the worker’s pay. This is paid to the Department of Employment and Labour by the 7th of each month. A few examples of what that looks like in practice:
| Worker’s Monthly Wage | Total UIF Contribution |
|---|---|
| R3,500 | R70 (R35 from you, R35 from her wage) |
| R6,000 | R120 (R60 from you, R60 from her wage) |
| R12,000 | R240 (R120 from you, R120 from her wage) |
This registration is what makes your worker eligible to claim UIF benefits later, unemployment, illness, or maternity benefits, in the same way an ordinary employee can. For the full picture of how those benefits work from the worker’s side, see our UIF status check guide.
COIDA: No Hours Threshold
COIDA (the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act) is a separate requirement from UIF, and it applies regardless of how many hours your worker does. If you pay someone to work in or around your home at all, you’re required to register with the Compensation Fund. This followed the Constitutional Court’s 2020 ruling in Mahlangu v Minister of Labour, which found that excluding domestic workers from COIDA protection was unconstitutional.
COIDA covers your worker for injuries or illness related to their work in your home, slipping while cleaning, burns while cooking or ironing, injuries from garden equipment, and similar. Registration must happen within 7 days of your domestic worker starting. In practice, the Compensation Fund generally treats late registration as a regularisation rather than a criminal matter, provided no injury claim has already been made, but that’s a reason to register as soon as possible, not a reason to delay.
Once registered, you also need to submit an annual Return of Earnings (ROE), based on what your worker earned that year including overtime and bonuses. The deadline for the 2025 earnings period was 30 June 2026, expect the next ROE cycle to follow a similar annual pattern.
What Actually Changed Recently
Two separate developments have raised the stakes for household employers over the past year, and it’s worth being precise about what each one actually covers:
- New COIDA enforcement powers (commenced January 2026): inspectors from the Department of Employment and Labour can now conduct unannounced inspections at private homes and issue administrative fines directly, without first needing a criminal prosecution. Failing to report a workplace injury within 7 days can result in you personally covering the full cost of your worker’s compensation.
- The Employment Services Amendment Bill (gazetted May 2026): this introduces a R100,000 fine, rising to as much as R1 million or jail time for repeat offences, specifically for employing undocumented foreign workers. This applies to households too if a domestic worker is in the country illegally, but it is not a general penalty for simply being unregistered for UIF or COIDA. Don’t confuse the two, general non-compliance carries its own COIDA-related penalties, described above, not this specific fine.
Minimum Wage and Your Written Contract
Domestic workers are now on full parity with South Africa’s general National Minimum Wage, which rose to R30.23 per hour from 1 March 2026 under Government Gazette No. 54075, up from R28.79 previously. This applies whether your worker is full-time, part-time, live-in or live-out.
You’re also required to have a written employment contract in place, covering hours, leave and notice periods, under Sectoral Determination 7 and the Basic Conditions of Employment Act. This is a legal requirement on its own, separate from UIF and COIDA registration.
How to Register
- For UIF: register yourself and your worker through ufiling.labour.gov.za, or at your nearest Department of Employment and Labour office
- For COIDA: register through the Compensation Fund Online Portal, or complete a paper form at your nearest provincial Department of Employment and Labour office
Both registrations require your own ID, your worker’s ID, and their wage details. If you’re not confident doing this yourself, several private compliance services exist that handle registration, payroll and annual returns on your behalf for a fee, though registering directly through the government portals costs nothing beyond your own time.
Frequently Asked Questions
My gardener only comes once a week. Do I still need to register?
For UIF, only if their total hours across the month exceed 24. For COIDA, yes, there’s no hours threshold, any regular paid work in or around your home requires registration regardless of how few hours it involves.
Can I be fined R100,000 for not registering my domestic worker?
Not for that specifically. The R100,000 fine under the Employment Services Amendment Bill targets employers of undocumented foreign workers. General UIF or COIDA non-compliance carries separate penalties, including new administrative fines and potential personal liability for injury costs under COIDA.
What happens if my domestic worker is injured and I’m not registered for COIDA?
You could be held personally liable for the full cost of their compensation, medical expenses and rehabilitation, rather than the Compensation Fund covering it. This is exactly the risk COIDA registration is designed to protect you from as the employer, not just your worker.
Is UIF the same as COIDA?
No, they’re separate funds covering different things. UIF covers unemployment, illness and maternity benefits. COIDA covers workplace injury and occupational disease. You may need to register for both.
If you’re the domestic worker yourself and want to understand your own UIF benefits, see our UIF status check guide. For more employer and worker guides, browse our Labour & Employment section.