While many South African families rely on domestic employees to look after our families, less than half have the security of a formal work contract. Now there’s an app offering the perfect HR solution.
According to recent reports, only 20% of domestic workers are registered with the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF), even though it is required by law. Many domestic workers earn less than R20 an hour – which is below the national minimum wage. Without a formal contract or job specification, this crucial sector of the workforce is open to exploitation, unfair dismissal and underpayment.
Enter the MiVoice offering
Fortunately, there is a fully mobile HR solution that can formalise domestic employee’s conditions of employment. MiVoice is the world’s first fully mobile solution built to manage the employment of domestic workers, leaving both parties legally compliant.
10 reasons why the free MiVoice app can ensure a mutually-beneficial working relationship
1. Oh-so-easy sign-in
MiVoice’s GPS-enabled sign-in and sign-out feature is invaluable when pay day rolls around. It also lets you raise an early alarm if someone you rely on doesn’t arrive as expected.
2. Keep Covid-compliant
It is now law for all employers, even domestic, to screen workers for Covid-19 symptoms on arrival at work. The app ensures you’re Covid-compliant, with screening questions built into the app’s sign-in feature.
3. Protection under the law
Falling foul of the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) is the last thing you need in your busy life. Yet if you don’t have a formal contract with your domestic employees, signed proof of leave requests, and detailed records stretching back for three years, you risk having to explain this to the CCMA. MiVoice provides compliant app-generated employment contracts, pay slips and leave requests, all safely stored for future reference.
4. Get smart with task management
No more scrawling notes on scraps of paper and taping them to the fridge. With MiVoice’s daily task lists, you can plan tasks in advance and clearly communicate what you expect. Employees check off tasks as they do them. It’s possible to leave comments where needed. They can alert you if anything is preventing a task’s completion.
5. Leave calculations
No more forgetting who’s on leave when or scrambling to find a fill-in at short notice. MiVoice’s leave application feature lets your employees formally request leave in advance, covering you legally and making future-planning that much easier. This ensures your employees get the full quota of leave they’re entitled to.
6. Take the hassle out of month-end
Pay day is a breeze. MiVoice knows exactly when and for how long your employees worked. It automatically calculates and generates compliant pay slips for each employee, based on their specific remuneration package and structure.
7. Safe, effortless payments
The app seamlessly deposits the wages into your employees’ MiVoice wallets, keeping appropriate records of course. All MiVoice’s systems are protected by the same security measures already audited by its sponsoring bank and as required under its Third-Party Payment Processor license; so you can rest assured that your employees’ wages are in secure hands.
8. Easy, secure, zero-cost wallet
Use of the MiVoice wallet costs employers a minimal R49 per month per employee. The employer subsidises the bank fees. Domestic employees can use their MiVoice wallet to make five free transfers per employer to their bank account, free payments to any account, and withdraw cash from selected major retailers (charges are levied for this by retailers).
It also offers charge-free airtime, data and electricity purchases as well as digital vouchers for everywhere from Boxer to Wimpy. They can use themselves or send via text message to a child or caregiver back home.
9. Help when they need it most
With a quick tap of a button, your child-minder and domestic employees get immediate medical and security help when they need it. MiVoice instantly connects with Response24’s control room which coordinates ambulance and armed response dispatch if required.
Less critical situations like a child-minder running out of fuel on the school run can also be handled through the emergency function, connecting your staff to a chatroom of contacts for quick and easy problem resolution.
10. Keeping employees covered
A MiVoice subscription includes commuter accident insurance that pays out R10 000 to your employee’s beneficiaries in the event of accidental death. Accidents leading to a hospital stay pay out R250 daily for up to 20 days to both employee and employer. This can cover expenses like transport costs for family visits, or temporary help while a carer is out of action.
Available from App Store or Google Play
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