ILO hosts national consultation for promoting decent work for domestic workers in India

In the past decades, important progress has been made in India to raise awareness about various challenges faced by domestic workers and improve their living and working conditions as a result of continuing advocacy and organizing efforts by various stakeholders, particularly workers’ organizations, member-based organizations (MBOs) and civil society organizations (CSOs). These organizations also created the National Platform for Domestic Workers (NPDW) to advocate for comprehensive legislation on domestic work and the ratification of the ILO Convention on Domestic Workers, 2011 (No. 189) by the Government of India. The work of the NPDW and other stakeholders was instrumental for the government to consider formulating a National Policy on Domestic Workers, and in 2019, the Ministry of Labour and Employment presented features of the draft National Policy on Domestic Workers.

Despite the progress, domestic workers continue to face challenges in achieving decent work. They do not enjoy workers’ rights equal to those of other workers with respect to working time, working conditions and minimum wages as they remain outside of labour and social security laws, or because of the weak implementation of laws.

In this context, the ILO India office organized the national consultation on domestic workers. The Care Economy Project ‘Expanding Decent Employment Opportunities in Care Economy in India’ and the ILO/Japan project on promoting rights and social inclusion through organization and formalization (PRS) jointly coordinated and provided technical and financial support for this consultation.

127 participants attended the consultation, including representatives from the central and state governments, employers’ organizations, private sector organizations operating digital employment platforms for domestic workers, workers’ organizations, including domestic workers’ unions, civil society organizations, and academic institutions.

The consultation's objectives were:

• Improve awareness among policymakers and key stakeholders on relevant international labour standards for promoting decent work for domestic workers.
• Have a shared understanding of progress made and key challenges to be addressed in improving the working conditions of domestic workers.
• Improve awareness of measures taken by ILO constituents and stakeholders across India to address challenges in improving the working conditions of domestic workers.
• Identify key areas of action to accelerate progress towards decent work for domestic workers.

Key highlights of the event:

• The consultation had technical sessions to discuss progress and challenges related to laws and policies, social protection, occupational safety and health, and safety from violence and harassment along with a session to discuss plans of action.
• Ms Arti Ahuja, Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Employment (MOLE) acknowledged the need to extend legislation for promoting rights of domestic workers. Stressing that progress has been made to extend some financial benefits to domestic workers, through certain schemes, she also highlighted the need to raise mass awareness to increase accessibility and coverage. Reinvigorating India’s declaration in G20 New Delhi Summit, Ms Ahuja highlighted government’s commitment to extend social protection to all, including domestic workers and reiterated the government’s willingness and commitment to do more in this sector.
• Mr Onkar Sharma, Deputy Director-General, Labour Welfare (MOLE) highlighted the importance of a collaborative approach to implement measures to promote decent work for domestic workers.
• Mr Arvind Francis, Executive Director, All India Organization of Employees (AIOE) reaffirmed AIOE’s commitment to promoting decent work for all workers by supporting ILO’s Decent Work Agenda with measures such as promoting a voluntary member pledge to promote decent work for domestic workers. The voluntary pledge covers aspects such as decent wages, decent living/working conditions, right to privacy, safe workplace and the need for weekly rest for domestic workers. He also acknowledged the ongoing challenges in realizing decent work for domestic workers, including legal frameworks and social protection, and called for more action.
• Ms Sonia George, General Secretary, Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA), emphasized the importance of tripartite consultations of this nature to discuss challenges and contributions, while addressing the long-standing demands of domestic workers in India. She further summarized three urgent demands, aligned with ILO’s Convention No. 189: recognition of domestic work as work; recognition of homes as establishments of work, and recognition of domestic work as skilled work; and the establishment of a minimum wage for domestic workers on par with skilled workers. She also highlighted the need for a separate legislation for domestic workers.
• Ms Anjali Kujur shared her experience of going through harassment and abuse as a domestic worker in the absence of a written contract. She also pointed out the increased vulnerability of domestic workers who are single mothers, widowed, or separated and demanded for more specific action to ensure protection of the rights of domestic workers in vulnerable situations. She reiterated the importance of written contracts.
• Ms Chinmayee Samal, representing the National Platform for Domestic Workers, appealed to the government to create welfare boards for domestic workers, stressing the significance of their registration to ensure social protection and to empower workers to engage in dialogue with individual employers to advocate for their rights and demands.