Work like any other, work like no other. Decent work for domestic workers

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1 Work like ay other, work like o other Decet work for domestic workers

2 WHO ARE DOMESTIC WORKERS? Domestic work is work performed i or for a household or households i a employmet relatioship. The work may iclude cleaig, cookig, washig ad iroig, takig care of childre, elderly or sick members of a family, as well as household pets, gardeig, guardig the house ad drivig for the family. Domestic workers iclude full- or part-time employees. Some live i their employers residece, others i their ow homes. DOMESTIC WORKERS CONVENTION, 2011 (NO. 189) I 2011, a overwhelmig majority of the 185 member States of the Iteratioal Labour Orgaizatio - govermets, trade uios ad employer s orgaizatios- voted i favour of adoptig the Domestic Workers Covetio (No. 189), ad its supplemetig Recommedatio (No. 201). Idia was amog the coutries which voted i favour of the Covetio, pavig the way for the ew istrumets to emerge. The Covetio, ofte referred to as historic, is the first iteratioal labour stadard layig dow miimum labour protectios for domestic workers. The Covetio cofers rights to domestic workers which have log bee cosidered ormal to other categories of workers. These iclude the right to a writte cotract, miimum wages, limited workig hours with sufficiet rest, ad safe workig coditios i a secure workig eviromet. It also guaratees fudametal rights to freedom from discrimiatio, from child ad forced labour, ad freedom to associate by formig trade uios. So far, the Covetio has bee ratified by 11 Member States of ILO, amely Bolivia, Ecuador, Guyaa, Germay, Italy, Mauritius, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Philippies, South Africa ad Uruguay. [ 2 ] Work like ay other, work like o other

3 WORK LIKE ANY OTHER, WORK LIKE NO OTHER Every day millios of wome ad me i Idia clea other people s homes, cook their meals ad look after their childre. They are the ivisible labour that make it possible for wome ad me i Idia to go about their work ad life. Ivisibility marks the work ad status of a domestic worker. Despite the beefits their services brig, domestic workers lack recogitio as real workers ad costitute oe of the most vulerable categories of workers. The vast majority are wome. May are of tribal origi from poor areas. Large umbers are victims of traffickig, lured ito jobs i big cities o false promises made by dubious recruiters. They ofte work i isolatio ad are ivisible i the world of work. Abuses, such as workig aroud the clock, physical violece, sexual assaults, eve threat to their lives are commo. Domestic work is i higher demad tha ever, offerig ew jobs for millios of wome i Idia. The Employmet ad Uemploymet Survey report of Govermet of Idia, shows that more tha 10 millio people are workig i private households. Cosultatios carried out with domestic workers ad orgaizatios represetig domestic workers idicate frequet malpractices. These iclude uder paymets, discrimiatio o grouds of caste, religio ad ethicity, o regulatio o work hours, o-recogitio as workers etc. Domestic workers ad orgaizatios represetig domestic workers have requested state regulatio over their workig coditios i the form of a specific legislatio. State regulatio through specific policies ad legislatios, esurig the collective bargaiig power of domestic workers by workers orgaizatios ad civil society orgaizatios, are key to esurig digity ad respect ad i seeig domestic work as work. [ 3 ] Decet work for domestic workers

SAY NO TO CHILD DOMESTIC LABOUR WIN-WIN FOR WORKERS, EMPLOYERS AND SOCIETY Case studies show that whe domestic workers meet good employers who give them respect, demad professioalism rather tha

households. More skills have meat better wages, better mobility ad a stroger foudatio to build a better life.

4 SAY NO TO CHILD DOMESTIC LABOUR WIN-WIN FOR WORKERS, EMPLOYERS AND SOCIETY Case studies show that whe domestic workers meet good employers who give them respect, demad professioalism rather tha servitude, ad who ivest i their skills, the worker is able to go from basic tasks to those requirig specialized skills ragig from cookig, carig for ifats, the elderly ad ifirm adults i private households. More skills have meat better wages, better mobility ad a stroger foudatio to build a better life. The effect is far-reachig as domestic workers ofte express the importace of educatig their daughters ad sos well ad equally. I short, cotrary to egative perceptio, domestic work is a powerful source of empowermet for workers, employers, ad society as a whole. Natioal statistics show vast umbers of owhere or idle childre, whose umbers are captured either i educatio or i employmet. I Idia, 11 millio of 7-14 years age group, were show as either attedig school or at work i employmet. It is likely, that may, if ot all of these childre are ivolved i household chores ad domestic labour, workig up to 12 hours or more a day with little or o pay, every day of the week, exposed to physical, sexual ad psychological violece. Childre egaged i domestic work are more vulerable sice the domestic work takes place i private households, away from public scrutiy. Child domestic work for childre youger tha fourtee is illegal i Idia. There is o place ad o excuse for child labour i domestic or ay other form of work. Guy Rider, ILO Director-Geeral [ 4 ] Work like ay other, work like o other

5 MIGRANT DOMESTIC WORKERS ARE PARTICULARLY VULNERABLE May domestic workers are migrat workers, movig both withi ad out of Idia. I Idia, States such as Chhattisgarh, Jharkhad, West Begal ad Odisha with a domiat adivasi populatio are sources for iter-state migrat domestic workers. States such as Adhra Pradesh ad Kerala o the other had are witessig sigificat umbers of domestic workers workig i middle east coutries. Migrat workers, whether iter or itra-state are more vulerable because they lack a orgaic lik with the place they migrated to. Ufamiliarity ad iability to commuicate i the laguage of the locatios they work i, differet cultural cotexts ad beig far away from family ad support systems accetuates their vulerability. The cocers of migrat domestic workers ca be addressed through state itervetios aimed at promotig safe migratio, regulatig private placemet agecies, ad evolvig a uderstadig betwee sedig ad receivig states to esure decet workig coditios. [ 5 ] Decet work for domestic workers

IRREGULAR MIGRATION The ILO Global Estimate o Forced Labour (2012) shows that iteral ad crossborder migratio is a importat factor that reders people more vulerable to traffickig ad forced labour.

6 IRREGULAR MIGRATION The ILO Global Estimate o Forced Labour (2012) shows that iteral ad crossborder migratio is a importat factor that reders people more vulerable to traffickig ad forced labour. Almost half of all victims (44%) have moved prior to their exploitatio, ofte uder the pretece of false promises. I Idia, lack of alterative livelihood optios, aspiratio to eter ito the labour markets to ear a decet livig, ad also the lack of freedom ad idepedece withi oe s ow commuity ad family, make youg girls a easy prey for traffickig. May of these workers face a icreased risk of traffickig because of their vulerability, uiformed ad usafe migratio, uprotected ature of work ad the highly persoalized relatioship betwee the itermediaries who ofte help uscrupulous agets to take childre, adolescet girls ad wome to cities for work. Irregular migratio, particularly resultig from traffickig of wome ad childre across borders is see from Bagladesh ad Nepal ito Idia ad from Idia to other coutries. Traffickig for domestic work from adivasi domiat regios to urba cetres i Idia is also a emergig challege. Geeratig awareess at source states, creatig alterative decet livelihood optios, buildig efficiet public ifrastructure for educatio at source states ad promotig safe migratio, are some of the key steps forward to prevet traffickig for domestic work. [ 6 ] Work like ay other, work like o other

TOWARDS DECENT WORK FOR DOMESTIC WORKERS Labour rights for domestic workers: The draft Natioal Policy for Domestic Workers formulated i 2011, reflects the spirit of Covetio 189 ad esures the rights

7 TOWARDS DECENT WORK FOR DOMESTIC WORKERS Labour rights for domestic workers: The draft Natioal Policy for Domestic Workers formulated i 2011, reflects the spirit of Covetio 189 ad esures the rights ad fudametal priciples for domestic work. The draft Policy esures miimum wages, weekly off, stipulated work hours, access to social protectio, guaratees protectio from abuses ad strog collective bargaiig power of domestic workers. Adoptig the draft Natioal Policy will be a step forward i achievig decet work for domestic workers i Idia. Sigificat progress at State levels: Seve states, Adhra Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhad, Karataka, Kerala, Odisha, ad Rajastha have otified miimum wages for domestic workers. State govermets of Kerala, Maharashtra ad Tamil Nadu have costituted Welfare Boards for domestic workers who ca avail of a prescribed set of welfare beefits by registerig with these Boards. Several States have exteded health isurace schemes to domestic workers. Trade uios, domestic workers uios ad associatios i several states are orgaizig domestic workers toward promotig their collective bargaiig power. Carig for the carer: The availability of domestic workers has eabled households ad their members, particularly wome to eter the labour market ad reap the beefits that ecoomic autoomy ad professioal growth offer. Geder equality however, has bee oesided. Care resposibilities have largely shifted from wome i the households to hired domestic workers who are a predomiatly female ad ivisible workforce. Eablig public policies which shifts the burde of social care care for youg childre ad family services from the household to the public, through publically fuded services (such as day care for o-school goig childre) would be beeficial ot oly for households but to domestic workers themselves, who curretly suffer from lack of optios to care for their families. [ 7 ] Work Decet like ay work other, for domestic work like workers o other

8 Beig good employers: How ca I esure decet workig coditios for my domestic worker? By ot egagig a child to do your domestic work By treatig the domestic worker with the digity, respect ad professioalism you yourself expect from your employers at the workplace By recogizig that there is a employmet relatioship betwee you ad the domestic worker By havig clear terms of cotract betwee you ad your domestic worker By providig fair wages, decet workig coditios, ad a day of rest By cotributig towards professioalizatio of domestic work By extedig possible support to your domestic worker i acquirig ew skills i.oe.u.org Image Credits ILO

Human Security and the Post-2015 Development Agenda. Harry Minas Centre for International Mental Health University of Melbourne

Human Security and the Post-2015 Development Agenda. Harry Minas Centre for International Mental Health University of Melbourne Huma Security ad the Post-2015 Developmet Ageda Harry Mias Cetre for Iteratioal Metal Health Uiversity of Melboure Post-2015 Developmet Ageda! A New Global Partership: Eradicate Poverty ad Trasform Ecoomies