A domestic worker, like any other employee, must be dismissed fairly in terms of the Labour Relations Act.  That means that the reason for dismissal must fall under one of the following three broad categories:

• operational requirements (i.e. a retrenchment).
• misconduct; or
• incapacity.

Different procedures are required for different types of dismissal and confusing or conflating the procedures when dismissing a domestic worker may result in problems.

Domestic workers who are dismissed may be entitled to UIF Unemployment Benefits (click to see Chapter 7) and should be advised of this.