National legislation for domestic workers
Definitions of domestic work are generally expressed in labour codes or in specific laws regulating labour relations. In some developed countries, mainly in Western Europe, the definition of domestic work and the right to social security are established through collective bargaining, such as in the case of Sweden, or through a combination of specific laws and collective bargaining, such as in Austria, Belgium, France and Italy (ILO, 2012a; ILO, 2012b). Some countries have more than one national definition of domestic work, such as the Philippines, which has one definition in the Labour Code and another in a specific law regulating the activity; or Singapore, which has one definition in the national employment law and another in the law regulating one of the main social security schemes.
Other countries have no precise definition of domestic work, and thus establish, de facto, that domestic workers have the same rights and responsibilities as other employees, for which reason labour relations are tacitly expressed in the legislation.
Differences in the term used in national law
The Domestic Workers Convention (No. 189) in Article 1(a) defines domestic work as “the work performed in or for a household or households” (ILO, 2011a). Domestic work entails tasks such as cleaning the house, cooking, washing and ironing clothes, taking care of children, or elderly or sick members of a family, gardening, guarding the house, driving for the family, and even taking care of household pets. According to the Convention, the term domestic worker means “…any person engaged in domestic work within an employment relationship.” (Article 1(b)). This definition includes domestic workers employed on a parttime basis and those working for multiple employers, nationals and non-nationals, as well as both live-in and live-out workers. The employer may be a member of the household for which the work is performed or an agency or enterprise that employs domestic workers and makes them available to households. Additionally, the Convention specifies that “a person who performs domestic work only occasionally or sporadically and not on an occupational basis is not a domestic worker.” (Article 1(c)).
Definition of domestic work according to ILO
The Domestic Workers Convention (No. 189) in Article 1(a) defines domestic work as “the work performed in or for a household or households” (ILO, 2011a). Domestic work entails tasks such as cleaning the house, cooking, washing and ironing clothes, taking care of children, or elderly or sick members of a family, gardening, guarding the house, driving for the family, and even taking care of household pets (ILO, 2011b).
According to the Convention, the term domestic worker means “…any person engaged in domestic work within an employment relationship.” (Article 1(b)). This definition includes domestic workers employed on a parttime basis and those working for multiple employers, nationals and non-nationals, as well as both live-in and live-out workers. The employer may be a member of the household for which the work is performed or an agency or enterprise that employs domestic workers and makes them available to households (ILO, 2011c). Additionally, the Convention specifies that “a person who performs domestic work only occasionally or sporadically and not on an occupational basis is not a domestic worker.” (Article 1(c)).
According to the categories included in the ILO definition, the most usual activities established in legislation are that of cooking, cleaning and caring for household members while the least-frequently cited are gardening, guarding and driving, which may be implicitly or explicitly excluded from the definition of domestic work. In some countries, the occupational categories of domestic work are listed separately, which expressly include other, similar categories, as long as the employer is the household head and the work is performed in his or her place of usual residence. Other countries establish lists of some of the tasks performed by domestic workers, without organizing them into separate occupational categories (ILO, 2010). In countries with more than one legal definition of domestic work, the classification included in the labour code usually differs from that established in social security norms, mainly with respect to the activities included in the definition, which often limits the scope of coverage and becomes an element of exclusion.
Additionally, several laws stipulate that individuals who occasionally or sporadically work as domestic workers are excluded from the legislation. For example, Finland’s Employment Law of Domestic Workers excludes from the group of domestic workers those who have contracts of less than one month, less than four days weekly or less than four hours a day for the same employer (Article No. 2, Law of Employment of Domestic Workers). Finally, some laws explicitly define the concept of the domestic work employer. In most cases, the employer is assumed to be an individual, usually the household head. However, in Brazil the law stipulates that the employer may be a person or a family that requests domestic work services (Decree No. 71885/1973). In Barbados, the law stipulates that the employer may be an individual, agent, manager or representative of that person, directly or indirectly responsible for the employed person’s remuneration (Article No. 2, Domestic Employees Act, 1985). Although these distinctions are important, in terms of social security, they are usually the same social security institutions or schemes that more specifically define the concept of employer, usually through the regulation on enrolment or registration processes.
As discussed later in this report, besides differences in the scope of social security laws with respect to the domestic work sector across and within countries, social security legislation in several countries does not include domestic workers. In several cases, the laws explicitly exclude domestic workers from labour and social security rights, thus devaluing the economic activity and creating an environment of increased social vulnerability and disadvantage for this group.
References
ILO. 2010. Decent work for domestic workers. International Labour Conference, 99th Session, 2010.
ILO. 2011a. Convention 189 & Recommendation 201 on Decent Work for Domestic Workers. International Labour Organization. Switzerland.
ILO. 2011b. Convention No. 189. Decent work for domestic workers. Conditions of Work and Employment Programme (TRAVAIL).
ILO. 2011c. Decent Work for Domestic Workers Convention 189 & Recommendation 201 at a glance. International Labour Organization. Switzerland.
ILO. 2012a. Decent Work for Domestic Workers. The state of labour rights, social protection and trade union initiatives in Europe. An ACTRAV/ITC-ILO report realized in cooperation with ETUC and EFFA
ILO. 2012b. Effective Protection for Domestic Workers: A guide to designing labour laws. International Labour Organization.