Join our Q&A session on domestic workers

GENEVA – A new ILO report shows that there are at least 52 million people employed as domestic workers worldwide. Many of them experience poor working conditions and do not have access any access to legal protection. Most of the domestic workers are women, and many of them are migrant workers.

Amelita King-Dejardin, ILO expert on Domestic Workers

“Combined with the lack of rights, the extreme dependency on an employer and the isolated and unprotected nature of domestic work can render them vulnerable to exploitation and abuse,” says Amelita King-Dejardin, ILO's Chief Technical Adviser.

Domestic work is essential for the smooth running of not only households but also labour markets. It secures care for our children and our homes, allowing our doctors, teachers, lawyers and millions of others to, in turn, go to work.

Last year, the adoption of a new international labour standard on domestic work (ILO Convention No. 189 and its accompanying Recommendation No. 201) marked a milestone on the path to the realization of decent work for domestic workers. Under the convention, domestic work is internationally recognized as work, and domestic workers as deserving the same legal protection as workers generally.

The new standard establishes that domestic workers should be entitled to social security and a minimum wage (where the latter applies to workers in the formal economy), fair terms of employment, and effective protection against all forms of abuse, harassment and violence.

Send your questions on Domestic Workers to ILO's Amelita King-Dejardin, she will answer you on Monday 14 January 2012 at 15:00 Geneva time (14:00 GMT) on Twitter (@ILONEWS) hashtag #ILO2013.