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ILO / DOMESTIC WORKERS
STORY: ILO / DOMESTIC WORKERS
TRT: 2.52
SOURCE: ILO
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 9 JANUARY 2012, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND / FILE
FILE – ILO – RECENT, MONTEVIDEO, URUGUAY
1. Various shots, domestic worker vacuuming and making beds
9 JANUARY 2012, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Martin Ölz. International Labour Office (ILO) Legal Specialist in the Conditions of Work and Employment Programme:
“It’s actually a new kind of report that for the first time links estimates on the size of the domestic workers workforce with the extent of legal protection that they enjoy under the laws of the countries in which they live and work.”
FILE – ILO – RECENT, MONTEVIDEO, URUGUAY
3. Various shots, domestic worker vacuuming
9 JANUARY 2012, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Martin Ölz. International Labour Office (ILO) Legal Specialist in the Conditions of Work and Employment Programme:
“The global number, figure, that we have estimated is 52.6 million domestic workers globally, with Latin America and the Caribbean and Asia being the regions employing the most domestic workers, followed by Africa and Europe and the Arab region.”
FILE – ILO – RECENT, MANILA, PHILIPPINES
5. Med shot, domestic bringing groceries into the kitchen
9 JANUARY 2012, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Martin Ölz. International Labour Office (ILO) Legal Specialist in the Conditions of Work and Employment Programme:
“Some 83 percent of the world’s domestic workers are women, and in our new report we show that among these women roughly one third, more than one third, are still excluded from important measures from maternity protection such as maternity leave and cash benefits during maternity leave.”
FILE – ILO – RECENT, MANILA, PHILIPPINES
7. Wide shot, woman sweeping stairs
9 JANUARY 2012, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Martin Ölz. International Labour Office (ILO) Legal Specialist in the Conditions of Work and Employment Programme:
“Domestic work has been absent for a very long time from public policy debates, and this is mainly the case because domestic workers are employed by private individuals, in private households, they work for families and homes rather than for workplaces such as factories or offices. So, for a long time domestic workers were absent from the debate on social reforms and labour protection. In reply, in response to this, the International Labour Organization has adopted recently a new convention and a new recommendation on decent work for domestic workers.”
FILE – ILO – RECENT, MANILA, PHILIPPINES
9. Med shot, domestic worker cleaning dishes
10. SOUNDBITE (Tagalog) Ailyn, Domestic Worker:
“I usually wake up at 3 a.m., I do three baskets of laundry, I go to sleep very late at night, I'm not able to do my homework because my employer turns out the lights late at night.”
11. Med shot, domestic worker cleaning dishes
12. SOUNDBITE (Tagalog) Ailyn, Domestic Worker:
“It's a little difficult for me in the house. I don't eat too well because they hide the rice. Then, in the morning, they don't let me join them during meals. I also take care of their child. I take him to school, bathe him. I do everything that they ask me to do.”
FILE – ILO – NEW YORK CITY, UNITED SATES
13. Various shots, domestic workers in park with strollers
According to a new International Labour Office (ILO) report, released today (9 January), more than 52 million people worldwide are employed as domestic workers, and 80 per cent of them are women.
The report, Domestic Workers across the World, notes that of the 52 million domestic workers, only ten percent are covered by labour laws to the same extent as other workers, and more than one quarter are completely excluded from national labour legislation.
The ILO’s Martin Ölz, one of the report’s authors, said that this is “a new kind of report that for the first time links estimates on the size of the domestic workers workforce with the extent of legal protection that they enjoy under the laws of the countries in which they live and work.”
Ölz said that Latin America and the Caribbean and Asia are the regions employing the most domestic workers, followed by Africa and Europe and the Arab region.
The report notes that disparities in conditions translate into longer, more unpredictable working hours with no appropriate remuneration for domestic workers, rendering them highly vulnerable economically, as well as affecting their health.
Ölz said more than one third of female domestic workers “are still excluded from important measures from maternity protection such as maternity leave and cash benefits during maternity leave.”
The report states that more than half of all domestic workers have no limitation on their weekly normal hours of work and about 45 per cent have no entitlement to weekly rest periods or paid annual leave. In countries such as Qatar, Namibia, Tanzania and Saudi Arabia, the average hours of domestic workers range from 60 to 65 per week, largely surpassing the statutory limits set by virtually all countries of 40 to 48 hours per week.
Ölz pointed out that “domestic work has been absent for a very long time from public policy debates, and this is mainly the case because domestic workers are employed by private individuals, in private households, they work for families and homes rather than for workplaces such as factories or offices.”
He said that “in response to this, the International Labour Organization has adopted recently a new convention and a new recommendation on decent work for domestic workers.”
The report follows the adoption in June 2011 of a new ILO Convention and Recommendation on domestic work which sets a standard for equal treatment between domestic and general workers in relation to working hours, rest periods and annual leave.
The Convention will come into force in September this year. So far, it has been ratified only by three countries: Mauritius, Uruguay and the Philippines.
Ailyn, a domestic worker and student in the Philippines, said she usually wakes up at 3 a.m. to do the laundry, and gets to sleep “very late at night” without the possibility of doing homework “because my employer turns out the lights late at night.”
Ailyn said she is faced with many difficulties, including insufficient food allowances and added that she also takes care of the family child. She said “I do everything that they ask me to do.”
Long working hours are especially common among live-in workers, many of whom are migrants who are expected to be available at all times of the night, the report notes.
Many migrant workers also lack knowledge of the local language and laws, which makes them especially vulnerable to abusive practices, such as physical and sexual violence, psychological abuse, non-payment of wages, debt bondage and abusive living and working conditions.
The report’s findings are intended to act as a benchmark against which progress in extending legal protection for domestic workers will be measured. It also calls for joint actions taken at a national level by governments, trade unions, employers and domestic workers’ organizations to bring about reform in legislation as well as in practice.
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