In terms of the sectoral determination an employer may not require or permit a domestic worker to work:
The aforementioned hours of work exclude an unpaid lunch break / meal interval. A meal interval of one continuous hour is required where a domestic worker works continuously for more than five hours.[i]
The determination of when the meal interval is granted should be agreed to in the contract of employment.
A meal interval does not have to be granted immediately after the completion of five hours of work and it may be granted either before or after five hours of continuous work and the timing may be made subject to the discretion of the employer in the contract of employment (click to see contract of employment).
Employers and their domestic workers are entitled to contractually agree to reduce meal intervals to not less than 30 minutes or dispense with a meal interval where the domestic worker works for fewer than 6 hours on a day. This must also be agreed to in a contract of employment.
If the domestic worker is required to be available to work during a meal interval, he/she must be paid. This may arise, for example, where a domestic worker is required to look after children during a lunch break.[ii]
Furthermore, employers are required to pay domestic workers for any
portion of a meal interval that exceeds 75 minutes (saving where a domestic
worker resides at the premises). This may arise, for example, if a meal
interval is extended through no fault of the domestic worker.[iii]
[i] See section 15 of Sectoral Determination 7
[ii] See section 15(3)(a) of Sectoral Determination 7
[iii] See section 15(3)(b) of Sectoral Determination 7
