National stakeholders exchanged ideas on domestic workers’ rights protection at ILO consultation meeting in Beijing

The consultation meeting provided an opportunity for participants to discuss the research findings on recruitment, employment and working conditions of domes-tic workers in China, which reviewed the current policies and practices, exam-ined their coherence with international standards, and put forward recommenda-tions to address policy gaps and better protect domestic workers' rights. Gender dimension is particularly highlighted as over 90 per cent of the domestic workers are women.

A national stakeholders’ consultation meeting was organized by the ILO Country Office for China and Mongolia on 29 March 2017 in Beijing under the EU-China Dialogue on Migration and Mobil-ity Support Project, funded by EU and jointly implemented by ILO and IOM. The consultation meeting provided an opportunity for participants to discuss the research findings on recruitment, employment and working conditions of domestic workers in China, which reviewed the current policies and practices, examined their coherence with international standards, and put forward recommendations to address policy gaps and better protect domestic workers' rights. Gender dimension is particularly highlighted as over 90 per cent of the domestic workers are women. The study, commissioned by ILO, analyzed a particular aspect of migration and development (in particular urban development) relevant to the Chinese context.

Prof. Liu Minghui from the Law School of China Women’s University, the leading researcher of the sector study on recruitment, employment and working conditions of domestic workers in Chi-na, introduced the key findings. She pointed out that government departments at all levels have introduced numerous regulations and policies related to domestic service, and have enacted a num-ber of domestic service standards. Local governments are piloting projects to enable domestic workers to enjoy the same labour rights as workers in other occupations, and civil society organizations are playing an increasing role in helping domestic workers better protect their rights and integrate into city life. However, notwithstanding all these positive developments, the domestic workers still face various challenges.

The ILO Domestic Workers Convention, 2011 (No. 189) established international labour standards for domestic workers and requires ratifying countries to enact legislation to ensure that domestic workers have equal access to labour and social security rights. However, currently, domestic workers employed by employee system-based domestic service com-panies account for no more than 10 per cent of domestic workers in China. The vast majority of domestic workers, who find their jobs either through intermediary agencies or private social net-work, do not have legal labour rights that meet the standards set in Convention No. 189. The high national labour protection standards and corresponding compliance costs pose considerable challenges to the formalization of the domestic service sector and its sustainable development. Low profit, high privacy and emotional input are some of the characterizing features of domestic service. Differences in labour intensity and environment, randomness of employers' instruction, and ambiguity concerning the boundary between work and rest all require specific labour standards for the domestic service sector based on its unique characteristics.

A wide range of issues related to domestic service and domestic workers’ rights protection were discussed at the consultation meeting, including the feasibility to promote the formalization of the domestic service sector in the near future, the need to enhance the flexibility of the current legislation based on the labour market dynamic, balancing the rights and interests of different parties, improving the service management of the intermediary agencies and discouraging private hiring, the necessary skills and qualifications of domestic workers, the definition of private households as “employer” or “consumer” and its implication for the rights protection of domestic workers, elderly care, more enabling environment for the recruitment of foreign domestic workers etc. The consultation meeting put forward recommendations on the promotion of decent work for domestic workers in China, and explored the alignment of the findings and recommendations with the participants’ work and the potential areas for cooperation among different stakeholders.

10 participants from ILO, China Women’s University, Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MOHRSS), United Nation’s Development Programme (UNDP), Oxfam, Beijing Jialehui Domestic Service Co., Ltd, and Beijing Rural Women’s Development Center/Tianyi Elderly Nursing Home attended the consultation meeting.