Decent work for domestic workers is a step in ensuring gender equity
Opening remarks at the "National Consultation: Towards Decent Work for Domestic Workers in India" by Satoshi Sasaki, Deputy Director, ILO DWT/CO-New Delhi
5 December 2023
Good morning. I am pleased to welcome you to the consultation on promoting decent work for domestic workers in India, organized in consultation with the Ministry of Labour and Employment.
Domestic workers make significant contributions to households and economies. For those women and men who may not have access to other employment opportunities, domestic work is an important livelihood option. Domestic work is more significant for women, as women represent nearly 80% of all domestic workers. Domestic work also makes an important part of the employment, representing 2.3 per cent of total employment worldwide. Domestic workers contribute greatly to the households of their employers by providing care work and reducing the workload, allowing the household members to engage in other productive activities outside.
Despite the importance of domestic workers to our societies and economies, their contribution is often taken for granted and inadequately recognized and remunerated. Since they are engaged in tasks such as cooking, cleaning, looking after children or elderly, etc. which have been traditionally done by women and girls in the households without remuneration, when these tasks are done for pay, it is often not recognized as work. This is evident from the words often used to call them such as “domestic help”.
Recognizing the significance of domestic workers and the gaps that these workers face in accessing decent work, the ILO Convention on Domestic Workers No.189, and the Recommendation on Domestic Workers No. 201 were adopted in 2011. The adoption of these international standards was celebrated worldwide by domestic workers’ organizations as they recognized domestic work is work and that domestic workers have a right to decent work, like any other workers.
It has been over 12 years since the adoption of the labour standards and there has been important progress globally as well as in India, building on efforts by trade unions and civil society organizations that had been already working on the issues of domestic workers even prior to the adoption of the standards. In India, domestic workers have increased their representation and voice by organizing. With the increased recognition that domestic workers are workers, and backed by advocacy efforts by domestic workers’ organizations, many states have extended the minimum wages to domestic workers. The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and redressal) Act, 2013, covers a house or a dwelling place as a workplace, and women employed in these places.
There have been efforts by the Government to extend social protection to domestic workers. Though we have seen important progress, the situations offer no grounds for complacency. Domestic workers continue to face challenges in accessing adequate earnings and social security, having stability and security of work, and enjoying equal opportunity and treatment and safe work, including safety from violence and harassment. They also struggle in having decent working time, with many domestic workers working without any weekly rest.
Hence, this consultation is very important to hear priority issues to be addressed from domestic workers’ organizations, learn good practices in improving the living and working conditions of domestic workers and discuss ways for making further progress in promoting decent work for domestic workers. Stakeholders from diverse sectors participating in this consultation demonstrates a collective commitment to promoting decent work for domestic workers.
Promoting decent work for domestic workers is necessary for achieving the Sustainable Development Goal 5 on Gender Equality, Goal 8 on Decent work and Goal 1 on Ending poverty. In addition, it can foster more equitable and inclusive environments while upholding fundamental human rights and dignity for all individuals in the workforce. It is time that we ensure domestic workers are not just contributors to our societies and economies but also beneficiaries of country’s social and economic development.
Hope today’s consultation can bring important contribution in this regard. Thank you very much and I wish you an enriched discussion.
Domestic workers make significant contributions to households and economies. For those women and men who may not have access to other employment opportunities, domestic work is an important livelihood option. Domestic work is more significant for women, as women represent nearly 80% of all domestic workers. Domestic work also makes an important part of the employment, representing 2.3 per cent of total employment worldwide. Domestic workers contribute greatly to the households of their employers by providing care work and reducing the workload, allowing the household members to engage in other productive activities outside.
Despite the importance of domestic workers to our societies and economies, their contribution is often taken for granted and inadequately recognized and remunerated. Since they are engaged in tasks such as cooking, cleaning, looking after children or elderly, etc. which have been traditionally done by women and girls in the households without remuneration, when these tasks are done for pay, it is often not recognized as work. This is evident from the words often used to call them such as “domestic help”.
Recognizing the significance of domestic workers and the gaps that these workers face in accessing decent work, the ILO Convention on Domestic Workers No.189, and the Recommendation on Domestic Workers No. 201 were adopted in 2011. The adoption of these international standards was celebrated worldwide by domestic workers’ organizations as they recognized domestic work is work and that domestic workers have a right to decent work, like any other workers.
It has been over 12 years since the adoption of the labour standards and there has been important progress globally as well as in India, building on efforts by trade unions and civil society organizations that had been already working on the issues of domestic workers even prior to the adoption of the standards. In India, domestic workers have increased their representation and voice by organizing. With the increased recognition that domestic workers are workers, and backed by advocacy efforts by domestic workers’ organizations, many states have extended the minimum wages to domestic workers. The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and redressal) Act, 2013, covers a house or a dwelling place as a workplace, and women employed in these places.
There have been efforts by the Government to extend social protection to domestic workers. Though we have seen important progress, the situations offer no grounds for complacency. Domestic workers continue to face challenges in accessing adequate earnings and social security, having stability and security of work, and enjoying equal opportunity and treatment and safe work, including safety from violence and harassment. They also struggle in having decent working time, with many domestic workers working without any weekly rest.
Hence, this consultation is very important to hear priority issues to be addressed from domestic workers’ organizations, learn good practices in improving the living and working conditions of domestic workers and discuss ways for making further progress in promoting decent work for domestic workers. Stakeholders from diverse sectors participating in this consultation demonstrates a collective commitment to promoting decent work for domestic workers.
Promoting decent work for domestic workers is necessary for achieving the Sustainable Development Goal 5 on Gender Equality, Goal 8 on Decent work and Goal 1 on Ending poverty. In addition, it can foster more equitable and inclusive environments while upholding fundamental human rights and dignity for all individuals in the workforce. It is time that we ensure domestic workers are not just contributors to our societies and economies but also beneficiaries of country’s social and economic development.
Hope today’s consultation can bring important contribution in this regard. Thank you very much and I wish you an enriched discussion.