Their work may include tasks such as cleaning the house, cooking, washing and ironing clothes, taking care of children, or elderly or sick members of a family, gardening, guarding the house, driving for the family, and even taking care of household pets.
A domestic worker may work on full-time or part-time basis; may be employed by a single household or by multiple employers; may be residing in the household of the employer (live-in worker) or may be living in his or her own residence (live-out). A domestic worker may be working in a country of which she/he is not a national, thus referred to as a migrant domestic worker.
Even though a substantial number of men work in the sector – often as gardeners, drivers or butlers – it remains a highly feminized sector: more than 80 per cent of all domestic workers are women. Globally, one in every
13 female wage workers is a domestic worker (or 7.5 per cent), and the ratio is as high as one in four in Latin America and the Caribbean, and almost one in three in the Middle East. Improving working conditions in this sector has broader ramifications for greater gender equality in society.
At present, domestic workers often face very low wages, excessively long hours, have no guaranteed weekly day of rest and at times are vulnerable to physical, mental and sexual abuse or restrictions on freedom of movement. Exploitation of domestic workers can partly be attributed to gaps in national labour and employment legislation, and often reflects discrimination along the lines of sex, race and caste.
The Domestic Workers Convention, 2011 (No. 189), a landmark treaty setting standards for the treatment of domestic workers, affirms that domestic workers are, like other workers, entitled to the respect and protection of their fundamental principles and rights at work, and to minimum protection. The convention lays down a framework of minimum standards regarding:
- Promotion and protection of human rights
- Fundamental principles and rights at work
- Terms and conditions of employment
- Working time
- Remuneration
- Occupational safety and health
- Social security
- Groups with special risks: child domestic workers, live-in workers, migrant domestic workers
- Private employment agencies
- Dispute settlement, complaints and enforcement
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