Rates, refunds, and the rules that protect everyone.

3.2 Minimum Wage Compliance

The Babysitter acknowledges that:

• Elite Traders Lounge uses experience-based, fixed rates (Level 1–5) as set out in Appendix C: Rates & Minimum Wage Check — there is no negotiation of rate; the level determines the price.
• Every Level's fixed rate is set above the current National Minimum Wage — R30.23 per hour, effective 1 March 2026 (Government Gazette No. 54075, published 3 February 2026, a 5.0% increase on the 2025 rate) — or the applicable rate at the time of service.
• If the National Minimum Wage is ever updated above a Level's fixed rate, that rate is automatically corrected up to the compliant minimum until Appendix C is revised.
• The Family and Babysitter select the appropriate level (1–5) and booking type as described in Appendix C before booking confirmation; the rate is applied automatically. The babysitter’s rate and the platform fee for each rate are shown in Appendix C.

Appendix C · Rates & Minimum Wage Check

Every Level has one fixed, published rate — there is no negotiation. At a glance, for each Level: the babysitter’s rate, which is 100% hers, the platform fee, which the Family pays on top, and the Family’s total per hour. See Section 5.3.

If the National Minimum Wage is ever raised above a Level's fixed rate, the booking system automatically corrects that rate up to the legal minimum.

The yearly R499 Family registration & verification fee and every rate above are fair, fixed prices published upfront — a flat annual fee, never a subscription, non-refundable once verification has begun, and a rate card that never changes mid-booking.

Overnight & Special Needs Care — How Matching Works

Level 4 (Specialist Overnight) and Level 5 (Special Needs) are opt-in tiers — a Babysitter's dashboard shows an "Overnight availability" and a "Special needs / medical-adjacent care" toggle, but neither can be switched on until Elite Traders Lounge has reviewed and approved that Babysitter's qualification for the tier. Sitters are never auto-enrolled or auto-assigned into either.

• Level 4 qualification: 5+ years of experience, current First Aid/CPR, plus either 20+ completed overnight bookings on the platform or documented prior night-nanny/night-nurse experience, verified through references.
• Level 5 qualification: everything required for Level 4, plus a recognised special-needs/disability caregiving certificate (SETA-accredited or auxiliary nursing) or verified professional experience with a specific diagnosed need, confirmed through a reference check.
• Enhanced re-screening for Level 5: Police Clearance and Child Protection Register checks are renewed every 6 months for this tier only (every other tier renews annually), given the higher vulnerability of the children typically in this kind of care.
• Booking-time disclosure: a Family booking a Level 5 Babysitter must describe the child's specific care need (mobility, medical, behavioural, etc.) at booking time, so the matched Babysitter can confirm they're actually equipped for that situation before accepting.
• Matching: the booking system only offers Level 4 Babysitters for overnight-specialist requests, and only Level 5 Babysitters for special-needs requests — mirroring the same opt-in filtering already used for hotel/Airbnb partner bookings.

Full-Day Flat Rate Options

As an alternative to hourly billing, Families booking a Day booking (Levels 1–3 only) may instead select the flat full-day rate for a 7-hour day. Multi-day bookings are billed in 7-hour blocks (2 days = 14 hours, and so on). Level 4 (overnight-only) and Level 5 (special needs) do not offer a full-day flat option — both are hourly-only, day or overnight.

Minimum Booking Hours

• Level 1 & 2 day bookings: minimum 5 consecutive hours.
• Level 3 & 5 day bookings: minimum 4 consecutive hours.
• Full-day flat rate bookings (Levels 1–3 only): billed in 7-hour blocks (1 day = 7 hours, 2 days = 14 hours, etc).
• Overnight bookings (Level 3, 4 & 5): minimum 10 consecutive hours, billed at the applicable overnight rate for the babysitter's level.

Bookings submitted below the applicable minimum are rejected by the booking system and must be resubmitted at or above the minimum duration.

Minimum Booking Notice

• Family and hotel/Airbnb partner bookings should be submitted at least 4 to 6 hours before the requested start time, so Elite Traders Lounge has a realistic window to match and confirm a verified Babysitter.
• Same-day requests submitted with less notice are still accepted and matched on a best-effort basis — Elite Traders Lounge will try, but availability this close to the requested time is not guaranteed, and a booking may need to be declined if no verified Babysitter can be reached in time.
• Booking further ahead, especially for evenings, weekends, and hotel/Airbnb guest requests, gives the best chance of securing your preferred Babysitter.

5.3 Platform Fee

The babysitter’s rate is 100% hers. Nothing is taken off it. Elite Traders Lounge’s platform fee is a fixed rand amount per hour, paid by the Family on top of the babysitter’s rate. It is shown as its own line in the quote before the Family pays. The amounts for every Level are in the Appendix C rate table. Babysitters pay no registration fee and no platform fee.

Every booking is paid once, upfront, at the Family’s total (the babysitter’s rate plus the platform fee), and all payments are processed securely through Paystack. The babysitter’s full rate is paid out to the bank account she registered, once the booking is complete and both the Family and the babysitter have confirmed it on the platform. Babysitters are independent contractors: they are not employed by Elite Traders Lounge and are not paid a wage by it.

Payouts are released after a short confirmation window following the booking, and are not released while a dispute or card chargeback is open on that booking — see Dispute Resolution and Card Chargebacks below. Off-platform or cash payments fall outside the contract and outside every protection described on this page.

Appendix D · Hotel & Airbnb Partner Rate (not a Family/Babysitter rate)

Nothing in this Appendix D applies to direct Family bookings or to the Level 1–5 rate bands in Appendix C above — these are two entirely separate rate structures. Bookings sourced through a verified hotel, guesthouse, or Airbnb/short-stay host use a dedicated, higher partner rate and are only fulfilled by experienced (Level 2 and above) babysitters who have opted in to hotel/Airbnb work on their dashboard. Full payment is collected upfront via Paystack before a sitter is dispatched, exactly as with every other booking, and Elite Traders Lounge never advances or fronts any part of it.

The Babysitter's 65% share of the partner fee is fixed at every tier and never changes. The remaining 35% splits between Elite Traders Lounge and the referring hotel/host as a referral commission that is tiered by the partner's referral volume and grows automatically as their completed-booking count increases — the exact tier percentages are set out in each partner's signed Partner Agreement (Section 6), sent once their business is verified, so they aren't repeated here.

Once paid, a hotel/Airbnb-sourced booking proceeds through the exact same dispute-hold and payout-release process as every other booking on the platform — there is no separate payment or dispute track for partner bookings. Full detail, including liability structure and FAQ, is in the Hotel & Airbnb Partner Policy and Payment Terms.

Appendix E · Au Pair Placements

Au pair placements are a separate service from Babysitter bookings and use their own fee structure and payment flow — the R499 Family registration fee, hourly rate bands, and dispute-hold process described above apply to Babysitter bookings only and are not affected by anything in this Appendix E.

E.1 Fees (flat, once-off — not a subscription, not an hourly rate)

Elite Traders Lounge does not charge au pair candidates any fee to register, be vetted, or be listed on the platform. The platform's only fee for this service is the family placement fee below.

• Family R1,999 — once-off per placement request, not per year and not per candidate. A family pays this fee once each time they open a new placement search. It covers that entire search (up to 3 platform-relayed interviews, written Q&A, and matching support) regardless of how many candidates are reviewed within it. If a family later opens a separate, new placement request, a new R1,999 fee is calculated for that new request. This fee is not charged again for the free replacement described in E.3 — that stays within the original placement request.

The family placement fee is non-refundable once candidate access and interview relay have opened for that placement request — this mirrors the non-refundable R499 Family registration & verification fee described in the Terms of Service, which is also never refunded once verification work has started. It is collected upfront via Paystack, exactly like every other fee on this platform.

E.2 The au pair's ongoing stipend is a private, off-platform arrangement

Once a family and au pair are matched, the au pair's ongoing monthly stipend is agreed and paid directly between the family and the au pair — Elite Traders Lounge never processes, splits, holds, or facilitates this payment. The R1,999 family placement fee above is the platform's only fee for this service; it does not include, and is never deducted from, the au pair's stipend. Families and au pairs are solely and independently responsible for their own private arrangement, including registering for and paying any UIF contributions, PAYE/tax, or other labour-law obligations that may apply between them under South African law (including the Unemployment Insurance Act and Basic Conditions of Employment Act, as applicable). Elite Traders Lounge is not a party to that arrangement, does not act as either party's employer, agent, or payroll administrator, and provides no advice on the parties' individual UIF, tax, or labour-law obligations — families and au pairs should seek their own independent advice on these obligations before or shortly after a placement begins.

E.3 Free replacement guarantee (2 months)

If a family is not happy with the au pair we placed them with, we will replace that au pair at no additional charge with another verified candidate, provided the request is made within 2 months of the match date. The family chooses the replacement from candidates they already interviewed for that same placement request — no new R1,999 fee applies, and the 2-month window restarts from the date of the new match.

A replacement request is made through the family dashboard. If none of a family's previously interviewed candidates are suitable, please contact us directly so we can discuss next steps for that placement.

E.4 Vetting & interviews

Every au pair candidate goes through the same document-based vetting as Babysitters (identity document, driver's licence where applicable, qualifications, employment history, police clearance, Child Protection Register clearance, and NRSO clearance — plus, for foreign nationals, a foreign police clearance and valid work permit or asylum seeker permit), a signed vetting form, and a 15-minute platform-conducted video interview before being listed as available for placement. Candidates submit and personally pay for their own verification documents; Elite Traders Lounge does not fund, pay for, employ, or hold money on behalf of any candidate. Families may request up to 3 platform-relayed interviews per placement request and may submit written questions relayed through our admin team.

E.5 Disputes

Any dispute relating to an au pair placement or the R1,999 family placement fee follows the same Dispute Resolution process described below. As with every other service on this platform, no funds are transferred or refunded to any party until a dispute is resolved by the platform. This does not apply to the private stipend arrangement described in E.2, which is between the family and au pair directly and outside the platform's payment flow.

6. Cancellation & Overtime Policy

6.1 If the Family cancels (before the booking starts)

How to cancel. If you have a family account, cancel a pending or confirmed booking from your family dashboard. The refund level is worked out automatically from the time left before the booking. If you booked without a family account, or it is a partner booking, email inquiries@etlbabysitters.co.za with your booking reference and the reason. Either way, the refund goes back through Paystack to the card you paid with. It can take up to 10 business days to show, depending on your bank (see How Refunds Are Processed).

6.1.1 Unsafe home, or no children there — no refund to the Family

This is separate from the cancellation levels above, and those levels do not apply here.

In both cases the Babysitter is entitled to leave and entitled to her full fee. The booking fee the Family paid is not refunded. Leaving for either reason never counts as a Babysitter cancellation under 6.2, and she is not penalised for it.

The payment is not released straight away. If a Babysitter leaves for either reason, she must send a report within 48 hours through Dispute Resolution (category: Safety). While the report is open, no money is released to either side, as with any open dispute. The no-refund result above applies once Elite Traders Lounge has reviewed the report and either upheld it or found that the Family does not dispute it.

What we look at. We decide using the record of the booking. This usually includes:

• the Babysitter's check-in and check-out times, which are also recorded on a public ledger so the time can be checked independently;
• any location recorded with those check-ins;
• the household details the Family gave on the booking form, and the declaration the Family accepted before booking;
• the Babysitter's report, and any messages, photos or witness details sent with it; and
• the Family's response.

Either side may add evidence while the report is open. If the record does not support the report and the Family credibly disputes it, the normal levels in 6.1 apply instead. That decision is Elite Traders Lounge's alone.

The report must be honest. This rule exists so a Babysitter never has to choose between her safety and her pay. A report is never treated as suspicious just because it was made. If a report is reviewed and not upheld, there is no consequence for her. But a report she knows is false, made to get out of a booking she did not want to do, is a serious breach of the Babysitter Contract. In that case Elite Traders Lounge may withhold her fee for that booking and remove her from the platform.

6.2 If the Babysitter cancels (before the booking starts)

The Family never loses the babysitter's fee because the Babysitter cancelled.

How to cancel. The Babysitter must cancel through the Elite Traders Lounge app or by email, giving the booking reference and the reason. She MUST tell us at least 5 hours before the agreed start time.

6.3 Cancelling after the booking has started

• If the Family ends the booking early, or asks the Babysitter to leave early, there is no refund for the unused hours. The Babysitter keeps her full fee for the booking.
• If the Babysitter ends the booking early after she has arrived, she is paid only for the hours already worked (at least 1 hour). The Family gets back the babysitter's fee for the hours not worked, through Paystack, to the card you paid with.
• This does not apply when a Babysitter leaves because the home is unsafe or the children are not there. Section 6.1.1 applies instead.

6.4 Running over time (overtime)

• There is a free 15-minute grace period after the agreed end time. If the Family is back within it, there is no extra charge.
• After the grace period, extra time is charged in half-hour blocks at the same hourly rate as the booking. Any part of a half-hour counts as a full block. For example, 20 minutes past the grace period is charged as one half-hour.
• No cash, ever. Overtime is paid through Paystack and worked out automatically. As soon as the Family and the Babysitter both confirm departure with the check-in tool, the system works out any overtime from those confirmed times. The same babysitter rate and platform fee per hour as the booking apply. Elite Traders Lounge then sends the Family a Paystack payment link for the exact amount. The Family and Babysitter may never settle overtime between themselves or in cash. Doing so breaks these Policies. If they then keep working together off the platform, the R5,000 Continued-Engagement Fee in Section 6.6 may also apply.
• Because overtime is worked out from the confirmed check-in times, there is always a time-stamped Paystack record to rely on if an overtime amount is disputed, in line with the Dispute Resolution process below.

6.5 No cash payments

• Everything owed on the platform is paid only through Paystack: the booking fee, any overtime, hotel and Airbnb partner bookings, and registration and verification fees. Families must never pay a Babysitter directly, in cash, by EFT or any other way outside the platform, for work that came through the platform. This includes overtime.
• A payment made outside Paystack for a platform booking is not protected. There is no dispute record for it. The R5,000 Continued-Engagement Fee in Section 6.6 may also still be owed, if the payment shows the Family and Babysitter kept working together off the platform.

6.6 Continued-Engagement Fee (R5,000)

• What it is. Elite Traders Lounge vets, matches, checks identity and supports disputes for every Family and Babysitter it connects. If a Family and a Babysitter who were matched through Elite Traders Lounge keep working together, or start again, outside the platform, without booking and paying through Elite Traders Lounge, within 12 months of their first booking through the platform, the Family must pay Elite Traders Lounge a Continued-Engagement Fee of R5,000.
• How often. It is charged once for each matched Family and Babysitter pair, not for each time they work together. It is separate from any platform fee owed on bookings made through the platform, and does not replace it.
• How we find out. We may learn about it in several ways. For example: a report from either side, the Babysitter telling us herself, or a Family and Babysitter who stop booking on the platform while still working together. Every report is reviewed through the Dispute Resolution process below before the fee is invoiced.
• When it does not apply. It does not apply to a Family and Babysitter who were never matched through the platform. It also stops applying once 12 months have passed since their first booking through the platform.

Profile Badges

A babysitter's profile may carry a badge. A badge is earned from the platform's own record of completed work — it is not a review, a score, or anyone's opinion of her.

Most booked

• The Most booked badge goes to the babysitter who has completed more bookings through Elite Traders Lounge than any other babysitter.
• A booking counts towards it only when both the babysitter and the family confirmed check-out through the check-in tool. A booking that was never confirmed finished by both sides does not count, and neither side can add to the count on their own.
• A babysitter needs at least five completed bookings before she can carry the badge, so that it means something. Where two or more babysitters are level on the highest count, they all carry it — the platform does not invent a tie-break between them.
• The badge is worked out fresh each time profiles are shown. It is not a permanent award: it moves as the booking record changes, and a babysitter can carry it one month and not the next.

What a badge is not

• A badge is not a safety rating, and it is not a substitute for the verification checks every listed babysitter has already passed. Every babysitter shown to a family is verified, badge or no badge.
• A babysitter without a badge is not being marked down. Most often she is simply newer to the platform.
• Elite Traders Lounge does not publish a public star score or a written review against any individual's name.

Withholding a badge

• Elite Traders Lounge may withhold a badge from a profile — for example while a serious conduct matter is being looked into — and records its reason for doing so. Withholding a badge is not itself a finding against the babysitter.
• Nothing here happens automatically. As with every other consequence in these policies, a person decides.

Code of Conduct

• Babysitters must arrive on time, follow the Family's written care instructions, and never leave a child unsupervised.
• No smoking, alcohol, or unauthorised guests are permitted while a Babysitter is on duty.
• Families and Babysitters must treat each other with respect — discriminatory, abusive, or unsafe behaviour by either party is grounds for immediate suspension.
• Any injury, incident, or safety concern must be reported to Elite Traders Lounge and, where relevant, emergency services, as soon as possible.
• Photos or personal information about a Family or child may not be shared publicly by a Babysitter without written consent.
• Every Family also makes a binding Sitter Safety & Human Rights Declaration at booking, covering household-member disclosure and the Babysitter's right to end a booking penalty-free if that declaration is violated — see Section 7 of the Terms & Conditions for the full text. A Babysitter who invokes this clause has 48 hours to report it through the Dispute Resolution process below (category: Safety); payment and account outcomes follow the investigation described there and are never automatic.

Conduct Breaches & Consequences

This section sets out how Elite Traders Lounge treats a breach of the Code of Conduct above. It applies to Families and to Babysitters. Babysitters, nannies and au pairs are independent contractors: Elite Traders Lounge does not employ them, does not pay them a salary, and the consequences here concern access to the platform, not employment.

Nothing on this page happens automatically. There is no counter that suspends an account on its own and no threshold that triggers a penalty by itself. Every consequence below is a decision made by a person at Elite Traders Lounge after looking at the booking record and at what both sides have said.

Serious breaches

The following may lead to immediate suspension while the matter is investigated, and to removal from the platform:

• Leaving children unsupervised, or ending a booking without notifying Elite Traders Lounge and without handing the children back to a responsible adult. A Babysitter is entitled to end a booking where the children are not present or where she reasonably feels unsafe, and she remains entitled to her full fee when she does — see Section 7 of the Terms & Conditions. The breach is the failure to tell us, not the decision to leave.
• Bringing unauthorised guests to a booking, or admitting a person to the Family's home who the Family has not approved.
• Arranging payment outside the platform for a booking made through it, or soliciting a Family or Babysitter to take an existing booking off-platform.
• Providing false identity, banking, qualification or reference information.
• Abuse, harassment, discrimination, or any conduct that endangers a child, a Babysitter or a Family member.
• Knowingly making a false report through the dispute process.

Recorded breaches

The following are recorded against the account and are taken into account when deciding future matters. A single instance normally results in a written note; a repeated pattern may result in suspension or removal:

• Cancelling a confirmed booking less than 24 hours before it starts, other than for a reason the Cancellation Policy recognises.
• Not arriving for a confirmed booking, or not being reachable at the agreed start time.
• Arriving late without notice, or leaving before the booked end time without the Family's agreement.
• Not confirming arrival or departure through the check-in tool, which is what protects both sides in a dispute.
• Unprofessional conduct towards a Family, a Babysitter, or Elite Traders Lounge staff.

Where an account is removed, Elite Traders Lounge may decline to accept that person again, and may keep the minimum record needed to enforce that decision. Personal information is kept only for as long as it is needed for that purpose and for any legal obligation, in line with POPIA.

Dispute Resolution

• Parties should first attempt to resolve any disagreement directly, within 24 hours of it arising.
• If unresolved, either party may submit a formal complaint to Elite Traders Lounge with the booking reference number and supporting evidence (e.g. check-in/check-out timestamps, messages, photos).
• Elite Traders Lounge investigates within 5 business days and issues a written decision within 10 business days.
• Dual-party check-in/check-out timestamps recorded through the check-in tool are treated as the primary evidence of worked hours in any dispute.
• Either party may escalate an unresolved dispute to independent arbitration or the CCMA/relevant regulator after the internal process concludes.
• No payout is released on a booking while a dispute is open on it — not to either party, and not in part. This applies from the moment the dispute is raised until Elite Traders Lounge issues its written decision.
• A Safety-category dispute filed by a Babysitter under the Sitter Safety Declaration (Terms Section 7) follows this same process. If substantiated, or not disputed by the Family, the Family is required to pay the full booking cost, released to the Babysitter as though the booking were completed; if inconclusive or contradicted, the standard Cancellation Policy above applies instead. No payment is released to either party while such a dispute is open.

Evidence & Appeals

Both sides are asked

• Either party may submit supporting information on any open report — whether they raised it or it concerns a booking they were part of. This can be a written statement, photographs, screenshots of messages, or a document, submitted through the report a concern page. Up to five files, 6 MB each.
• Where a report is made about a person, Elite Traders Lounge asks that person for their account of what happened before deciding.
• Not responding is not a decision. If a party does not reply, Elite Traders Lounge does not rule against them automatically. A decision is still made by a person, on the information available — but a party who does not respond loses the chance to put their side of it.
• Dual-party check-in and check-out timestamps from the check-in tool remain the primary evidence of worked hours.

Appeals

• Either party may appeal a decision within 48 hours of being told the outcome, through the report a concern page or by emailing disputes@etlbabysitters.co.za. This matches the 48-hour window for reporting a safety concern.
• An appeal must say why the decision is believed to be wrong, and should point to anything Elite Traders Lounge may not have had in front of it.
• While an appeal is open, no payment is released and no refund is processed on that booking. A decision that has been paid out cannot be undone, so nothing moves until the appeal has been considered.
• Where an appeal is upheld, the matter is decided again from the beginning rather than the earlier outcome simply being reversed. Where it is declined, the original decision stands.
• One appeal is allowed per report. After the internal process concludes, either party may still escalate to independent arbitration or to the CCMA or relevant regulator.

How Refunds Are Processed

All payments on the platform are processed by Paystack, a licensed payment provider. Where a refund is due under the Cancellation Policy or following a dispute decision, it is processed through Paystack.

• A refund is returned to the same card or account the payment came from. It cannot be paid to a different person or a different account, and it cannot be paid out in cash.
• Once a refund has been submitted, it may take up to 10 business days to reflect, depending on the Family's bank or card issuer. Elite Traders Lounge has no control over that timing. (Paystack: a processed refund “may still take up to 10 business days” — Paystack refunds documentation, and customers “can expect their refund within 3 to 10 working days” — Paystack support.)
• Refunds are submitted manually once a decision has been made, and are not issued automatically by the platform.
• A refund can only be processed within 180 days of the original payment. After that the payment provider can no longer reverse it, and any amount due would have to be settled another way.
• The administration fee retained on a refund is the fee already set out in the Cancellation Policy for that tier, and nothing further is deducted. That retained fee covers the payment processing costs that are not recoverable when a payment is refunded. No separate processing charge is subtracted on top of it.
• Where a dispute decision results in a partial refund, the percentage refunded is the percentage of the booking fee stated in the written decision.

Card Chargebacks

A chargeback is different from the dispute process above. It is when a Family asks their own bank or card issuer to reverse a payment, rather than raising the matter with Elite Traders Lounge. The bank — not Elite Traders Lounge — decides the outcome, and the window to respond is very short.

• Families should raise problems through the Dispute Resolution process above, not through a chargeback. The internal process is faster, it can actually adjust a booking or issue a refund, and it does not penalise the Babysitter for work she has already done. Raising a chargeback instead of using this process, or raising one that the booking record contradicts, may lead to suspension or termination of the Family's account.
• A chargeback immediately blocks the payout on that booking and the block stays in place until the chargeback is finally resolved. This happens automatically and applies even where the chargeback is later withdrawn or decided in the platform's favour.
• Elite Traders Lounge contests chargebacks where the booking record supports the service having been delivered, using the signed agreement, the booking details, and the dual-party check-in and check-out timestamps from the check-in tool. This is the clearest reason for both parties to confirm arrival and departure at every booking — where one side never confirmed, there may be nothing to contest the chargeback with.
• If a chargeback succeeds, the payment for that booking is reversed and the Babysitter is not paid for it. Elite Traders Lounge will not recover an amount from a Babysitter who has already been paid out, but where the payout has not yet been released it cannot be released from a payment that no longer exists. Elite Traders Lounge does not underwrite, insure, or guarantee a Babysitter against a Family's chargeback.
• Where a chargeback appears to have been raised in bad faith — for example after a booking both parties confirmed as completed — Elite Traders Lounge will contest it, and may suspend the Family's account and decline future bookings.

Termination & Suspension

• Either party may deactivate their account at any time; bookings already confirmed remain subject to the Cancellation Policy above.
• Elite Traders Lounge may suspend or terminate an account for a no-show, safety violation, fraudulent information, harassment, or repeated policy breaches.
• A suspended Babysitter's pending payouts are held pending the outcome of any related investigation or dispute.
• Elite Traders Lounge reserves the right to refuse service or booking access to any party found to have provided false identity, banking, or reference information.

Data Protection (POPIA)

• Elite Traders Lounge processes personal information (identity, contact, banking, and location details) strictly to verify identity, facilitate bookings, process payments, and maintain safety records, in line with the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA).
• Identity verification data (e.g. Smile ID checks) is stored securely and is not shared with third parties beyond what is required for verification and legal compliance.
• Check-in/check-out timestamps and booking records are retained to resolve disputes and support labour-law compliance, and are only accessible to the parties involved and Elite Traders Lounge administrators.
• Location-stamped check-in. When a babysitter or a family member confirms an arrival or a departure on the check-in page, the browser may ask to share the device's location. Where it is shared, a single coordinate and the accuracy figure the device itself reports are recorded against that one check-in. What we do not do: we do not track anyone in the background, we do not record movement between check-ins, and the website is technically incapable of doing either. Why: to corroborate a babysitter's account of where and when she arrived and left, which protects her in a dispute, and to let us review a booking where a check-in looks far from where it should have been. Sharing is voluntary — declining the prompt is not a breach of any agreement, is never penalised, and the check-in is still confirmed normally. Coordinates are visible only to Elite Traders Lounge administrators, are never shown to the family, the babysitter, or the other party to the booking, and the precise coordinates are erased 90 days after the check-in. We rely on section 11(1)(b), (d) and (f) of POPIA rather than consent alone, and a data subject may object to this processing under section 11(3) by emailing inquiries@etlbabysitters.co.za.
• Users may request access to, correction of, or deletion of their personal information (subject to legal retention requirements) by emailing inquiries@etlbabysitters.co.za. A complaint may also be lodged with the Information Regulator of South Africa (POPIAComplaints@inforegulator.org.za).

Tax Obligations

• Babysitters engage as independent contractors, not employees of Elite Traders Lounge or of the Family.
• Income the Babysitter receives is taxable under South African law and should be declared to SARS by the Babysitter.
• Elite Traders Lounge does not withhold PAYE and does not provide tax advice; Babysitters should keep their own transaction records and consult a registered tax practitioner as needed.