This page is for people in Western Australia (WA) who employ someone to provide domestic services in a private home (someone’s house or private residence). On this page, people who do this are called household employers.

Domestic services means things such as:

• support and care for a person with a disability
• support and care for an elderly person
• cleaning
• child care
• driving, gardening and/ or cooking

This information is only for household employers who employ someone directly to provide domestic services. Directly means that a person (or more than one person) employs the worker. This information is not relevant to businesses or organisations that employ workers to work in people’s homes.

Quick links to support worker publications:

• Employment entitlements for support workers – a guide for household employers
• Easy read version - Employment entitlements for support workers – a guide for household employers

Household employers have a range of employment obligations.

The specific obligations of household employers vary depending on the type of work the employee is doing. Information for specific types of work is provided below. However, all employees of household employers are:

• entitled to the minimum conditions of employment, which include minimum wages, leave entitlements, public holidays, and reasonable hours of work;
• able to be covered by a WA award, if there is a WA award that applies to the type of work the employee is doing – see the information for specific work types below; and
• able to make a claim for unfair dismissal.

Household employers also have employment record keeping and pay slip obligations. Visit the Employment records - employer obligations and the Pay slip information pages for more details.

In addition, household employers need to comply with:

• State long service leave obligations which apply to most WA employers, including household employers. More information is available on the Long service leave page.
• Obligations under national employment laws. Although household employers in WA are covered by the state industrial relations system, some parts of the national Fair Work Act 2009 still apply, specifically:
  • parental leave provisions
  • notice periods for termination
  • unlawful termination provisions

Stay informed

The best way to keep informed about state employment laws is to subscribe to the Wageline News email newsletter or follow Wageline on social media.

Household employers can also contact Wageline via email at household.employers@dmirs.wa.gov.au or call Wageline on 1300 655 2266 if they have specific questions about their employment obligations.

Employee or independent contractor?

Some workers may be independent contractors rather than employees. An independent contractor is a worker running their own business, and is not an employee. If a person is an independent contractor then employment laws do not apply to that person and the information on this page is not relevant.

Visit the Employee or independent contractor page for more information about the differences between an employment arrangement and a contracting arrangement.

Different types of domestic work

The specific obligations of household employers vary depending on the type of work the employee is doing.

2022 changes to state employment laws

On 20 June 2022 state employment laws changed. Previously, domestic employees who were employed by household employers in WA were excluded from the definition of ‘employee’ in the Industrial Relations Act 1979 (IR Act) and, by extension, the definition of ‘employee’ in the Minimum Conditions of Employment Act 1993 (MCE Act). Minimum employment entitlements have now been extended to domestic employees employed by household employers. This change was introduced by the Industrial Relations Legislation Amendment Act 2021 and commenced on 20 June 2022.