COVID-19:Why you should grant domestic workers paid leave

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing your domestic workers to take leave vs providing hand sanitiser, seems only fair.

As many of us know, President Cyril Ramaphosa took to the podium on Sunday 15 March to address what the country should be doing to combat the deadly coronavirus (COVID-19). Ramaphosa’s address included travel bans, the discontinuation of gatherings of more than 100 people, hygiene precautions and the closure of schools.

However, nowhere did the president mention anything about the safety of workers — including that of domestic workers.

On Monday 16 March, the Manzomthombo Senior Secondary School in Mfuleni, Cape Town, advised parents to not send their children to school. This after the mother of a pupil at the school and one of the pupils allegedly tested positive for COVID-19.

Elina Lehloesa, 49, from Mfuleni, told the Cape Times that the school sent a letter to parents on Monday. However, Lehloesa said that she received a WhatsApp on Friday from her church, the Tyrannus Apostolic Church, which had been informed by a staff member of the Mfuleni clinic that one of the Manzomthombo pupils’ parents works for a German family who had travelled overseas.

This then begs the question of why certain families are still getting their domestic workers in to clean their house after they’ve travelled, knowing full well the transmission rates of COVID-19.

SweepSouth prepping domestic workers 

Online cleaning service SweepSouth announced that it had proactively started preparing domestic workers who find work using its platform, about the illness.

According to Business Report, SweepSouth chief executive and co-founder Aisha Pandor said they had started informing SweepStars on the symptoms to watch out for regarding COVID-19 and what actions they needed to take should they feel ill, or encounter anyone showing any symptoms.

“In light of how rapidly COVID-19 has spread in other countries following the announcement of their first cases, we want to make sure that our SweepStars are following the advice guidelines set up by the national department of health and the World Health Organisation (WHO),” she said.

While some of us have the “luxury” of working from home through use of the internet and a laptop, domestic workers in South Africa are not able to do that as their business involves physically being at their place of work.

It is therefore a concern as to how they would maintain an income, protect themselves from the COVID-19 and avoid infecting their employees.

Pandor said while SweepStars did not provide deep-cleaning services, SweepSouth had also updated its training to ensure that SweepStars were aware of how to effectively clean domestic and work environments in light of the COVID-19.

DA asks citizens to protect their domestic workers in light of COVID-19

DA MP Phumzile van Damme has asked citizens to prioritise the health and safety of their domestic workers.

Van Damme said the crowded spaces public transport commuters find themselves in on their way to and from work, pose a threat and make them more susceptible to contracting the virus. She asked citizens to consider giving their domestic workers paid leave until the virus dies down.

“Oh, and you can clean your own house. You can’t risk a life just because you don’t want to clean or do your own garden,” she said.

According to government guidelines on self-isolation, safe activities include cleaning out a closet or reading a book, though you should take care when going to the library. Good ideas include not having non-essential staff in your home, and not subjecting such staff to mass transit.

It’s just now law yet 

According to Health-e News, the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act (COIDA) states that workers are entitled to claim compensation under specific circumstances.

“Workers who are injured on duty or obtain an occupational disease can claim compensation for temporary or permanent disablement. If workers die as a result of an injury on duty, their dependants will also be entitled to claim compensation. Employers that register their employees are protected against civil claims in this regard,” reads the Act.

Labour law specialist Natasha Moni said the Act does not cover domestic workers and gardeners.

“So, for instance, if you have a family that went to Italy to ski, and you came back with the COVID-19 virus, chances are you’ve affected the people around you in your home and in your workspace,” she explained.

“What is the recourse if they catch COVID-19 and they need money for medication, hospitalisation and recovery? Well, they are going to have to look towards family, and some employers say, ‘But I pay UIF,  why can’t the Compensation Fund pay them back the money that is spent or paid in money for medication?’ It’s just not law yet.”

According to Moni, it is a matter that is currently with the Constitutional Court, but there’s hope for domestic workers as the  Occupational Health and Safety Act comes to their defence.

“The Occupational Health and Safety Act does say that every employer must make the environment safe. But if you have a domestic worker or gardener order that does not fall within COIDA, then we use the Occupational Health and Safety Act to ensure that you made the environment safe for this employee,” she said.

Making the environment safe for every employee includes the employer taking precautionary measures by providing hand sanitiser and teaching workers protocols, such as sneezing into one’s elbow or into a tissue, to prevent the spread of the virus.

Source: The South African; https://bit.ly/33qHCXB