ILO standards relating to domestic work

In an effort to improve national domestic work laws and practices of Member States with a view to promoting decent work in the sector, in 2011, the ILO adopted the Domestic Workers Convention (No. 189) and Recommendation No. 201 (concerning domestic workers). These have become the most important instruments on this subject in terms of the basic principles and minimum labour standards for this activity.

Convention No. 189 seeks to guarantee that domestic workers have conditions that are no less favourable than those generally applicable to other types of workers, and recognizes that to achieve this and other objectives requires considering the context of each country and the specific characteristics of domestic work. The Convention defines among other aspects the basic rights of workers, the terms and conditions of employment, working hours, remuneration, occupational safety and health, laws concerning child labour and migrant domestic workers, as well as guidelines on social security for domestic workers. It also stresses the importance of consulting with the most representative organizations of employers and workers and with organizations representative of domestic workers and of employers of domestic workers, where they exist, when modifying the rights and responsibilities of these groups. Given that the majority of domestic workers are women, the Convention makes a specific reference to the maternity protection, an issue of particular relevance to this group.

With respect to social security, Article 14 of Convention No. 189 establishes that all Member States “shall take appropriate measures, in accordance with national laws and regulations and with due regard for the specific characteristics of domestic work, to ensure that domestic workers enjoy conditions that are not less favourable than those applicable to workers generally in respect of social security protection, including with respect to maternity.”

Thus, the Convention recognizes the right of domestic workers of member States that have ratified the convention – in accordance with national law –, to benefit from social security protection that is no less favourable than that for workers in general. For example, if a social security scheme provides sickness benefits, domestic workers should also have access to those benefits, whether through the general system or a special scheme. Two clarifications are in order here. First, the Convention refers to the principle of “no less favourable,” to demand treatment which, while it does not have to be identical, should be equivalent in its effects to those enjoyed by other workers. It also stresses the need to take into account “the specific characteristics of domestic work.” Second, Article 14(2) states that the member States that adopt measures to provide that protection may do so progressively. Thus, each State has some flexibility, in accordance with national circumstances, in terms of how it offers that protection to domestic workers, as long as that protection is equivalent to that enjoyed by other workers and that there is a progression to completely equivalent protection. For example, a government may begin by offering one or more of the benefits of a social security system for a geographic area or for a category of domestic work and then progressively extend protection to include the full range of social security benefits to the entire domestic work sector.

As the preparatory reports to the Convention state, the expression “social security protection” should be guided by the nine branches of social security described and defined in the Social Security (Minimum Standards) Convention, 1952 (No. 102). The nine forms of protection are: medical care; sickness benefit; unemployment benefit, old-age benefits; employment injury benefit; family benefit; maternity benefit; invalidity benefit; and survivors’ benefit.

Convention No. 189 is adequately complemented by the Social Protection Floors Recommendation, 2012 (No. 202), adopted two years later. With this recommendation, the ILO sought to fully exercise its mandate to promote social protection. The Recommendation calls for extending social security coverage to everyone, including migrants, moving beyond the traditionally structured, formal economy to encompass the population living in precarious conditions, poverty and insecurity, and adapting existing social security schemes to make them as complete as possible. This includes coverage of flexible and atypical forms of employment such as domestic work.

Additionally, the Domestic Workers Recommendation, 2011 (No. 201) that accompanies the Convention urges ILO member States to take measures to facilitate the payment of social security contributions, for example, through the creation of simplified payment systems. That Recommendation also highlights the potential of bilateral and multilateral agreements to guarantee equal treatment of migrant domestic workers in terms of social security, with an emphasis on guaranteeing the maintenance of acquired rights and the right to export benefits.

Recommendation No. 201 acknowledges the additional difficulties faced by migrant domestic workers, who are highly concentrated in some countries. The Recommendation recalls the Equality of Treatment (Social Security) Convention, 1962 (No. 118), the Maintenance of Social Security Rights Convention, 1982 (No. 157), and the Maintenance of Social Security Rights Recommendation, 1983 (No. 167), which establish the fundamental principles with respect to social security:

• Equal, non-discriminatory treatment, including equal treatment in terms of social security between nationals and non-nationals;
• Maintenance of acquired rights;
• Maintenance of rights in the course of acquisition; and
• Payment of benefits to beneficiaries residing abroad.

In addition to these instruments, there are other international standards that complement the labour protection framework for domestic work. These include the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29), the Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (No. 105), the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87), the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98), the Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138), the Migrant Workers (Supplementary Provisions) Convention, 1975 (No. 143), the Migrant Workers Recommendation, 1975 (No. 151), and the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182).

To 2015, a total of 22 countries had ratified Convention No. 189, the majority of which belong to the region of Latin America and the Caribbean.

See countries that have ratified Convention 189

The ratification of the Convention has frequently served as an impetus for establishing and accelerating legal and administrative reforms to improve the vertical dimension or level of coverage, as has occurred in Costa Rica, Bolivia, Paraguay and the Philippines. Some of these reforms were implemented to extend or improve the social protection of the domestic work sector. These reforms benefited from the participation of representatives of organizations of domestic workers and of their employers.