The minimum wage for domestic workers has been increased by seven percent, the labour department said on Tuesday.

The hike applied to both urban and rural areas, employment standards executive manager Virgil Seafield said in a statement.

"Starting on December 1, minimum wages of domestic workers employed for more than 27 hours a week in area A will rise from R6.88 per hour to R7.40. Put another way, their wages will go up from R1340.95 to R1442.86 per month,'' he said.

The increase was based on the consumer price index (CPI) of 6.6 percent, plus one percent for area A, which is mainly cities and big towns.

The wages for area B, in more rural areas, will rise from R5.63 per hour to R6.11 or from R1097.40 to R1191.78 per month. This increase was based on CPI plus two percent.

Domestic workers who work for less than 27 hours in a month had their minimum wages increased from R8.12 to R8.74 per hour for area A, and from R6.65 to R7.22 for area B.

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