Domestic Workers

Domestic Workers: Towards an International Convention?

The ILO’s decision to place the question of decent work for domestic workers on the agenda of the 2010 International Labour Conference is a historic one. It aims to set standards through a new Convention and an accompanying Recommendation.

There are today millions of domestic workers. They represent an important and growing segment of the labour force and their work is enabling others to improve their living standards. The great majority of them are women and many are migrant workers. Since 1948 the International Labour Organization has repeatedly drawn attention to the fact that in many cases they are either insufficiently protected by legislation or not protected at all. In March 2008, following an international campaign by Global Unions supported by ACTRAV, the ILO Governing Body decided to place “Decent Work for Domestic Workers” as an agenda item for the 2010 International Labour Conference.

The ILO Governing Body proposed that the International Labour Conference develops ILO instruments, possibly in the form of a Convention accompanied by a Recommendation to give this group of workers the protection they so urgently need.

Recent studies suggests that domestic workers often have to work long or even excessive hours of work, receive low wages, and have inadequate health insurance coverage are also exposed to physical and sexual harassment and violence and abuse. In many countries, labour, safety, and other laws do not cover domestic workers, so that there are no legal norms for their treatment or offices and inspectors to enforce them. See special issue of Labour Education on Decent work for domestic workers

In recent years, however, a number of governments have sought to address the issues and have initiated steps to improve legal protection for domestic workers. Trade union organizations have increased activities, often with civil society organizations, to reach out to domestic workers and employers’ organizations have been associated in some countries with efforts to regulate the employment conditions of this category of workers.

Trade unions, in particular the Workers’ Group of the ILO, has been on the forefront to promote the adoption of international standards that can be used to improve the legal environment and enable domestic workers to benefit from the full range of protections and rights related to decent work. A global campaign has been launched to support the adoption of an International Convention accompanied by a Recommendation.