FAQ: Decent Work for Domestic Workers

What is this note about?

Domestic work is emerging as an important avenue of work for women in India, one that is able to absorb
unskilled and lowly educated women (73 percent of female workforce is illiterate or educated only up to
primary level), as well as an important contribution to economic growth as it enables more and more
educated women to enter the labour market as they outsource this task formerly assigned to “housewives”
to hired domestic workers. As such, even though domestic workers are able to support women to free
themselves from arduous housework and pursue paid work, the “empowering” factor has been one sided, as
domestic workers are not covered by labour laws, traditional practices view them as “servants” rather than
household employees with labour rights. Moreover, the essential elements of a working relationship- a
contract detailing the terms of employment, mutually agreed- are not established. These include the right to
a written contract, minimum wages, limited working hours with sufficient rest, and safe working
conditions in a secure working environment. It also guarantees fundamental rights to freedom from
discrimination, from child and forced labour, and freedom to associate by forming trade unions.
Furthermore, news of exploitation, abuse, sexual assault and even murder crowd media reports,
attesting to their vulnerability. On the other hand, employers also fall a victims to crimes committed by
household employees. Unfortunately, it is also a sector that absorbs children for work, especially girls.

The Government of India has taken major steps to promote decent work for domestic workers. Further
to the initiatives taken by the Ministry of Labour and Employment, domestic workers are now entitled to
minimum wages in seven States. Social protection is being extended to them through RSBY in three
states and separate Domestic Workers Welfare Boards were constituted in three States. In the states of
Bihar, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh, domestic workers were provided benefits along with other
unorganized workers through various state sponsored programmes. In several States, trade unions are
organizing domestic workers and unions were registered exclusively for domestic workers. The Ministry
of Labour and Employment took measures as early as 2010 to facilitate registration of placement agencies
placing domestic workers under the Shops and Establishment Act.

The Ministry of Labour and Employment constituted a Task Force on Domestic Workers in 2009 and the Task
Force submitted a draft National Policy for consideration. The draft National Policy defines the domestic
worker, the employer and the clear cut terms of employment. It recommends providing wage and social
security protection to domestic workers. The draft Policy also provides guidelines on regulating the working
conditions in this sector with specific reference to weekly leave, paid annual leave, rest periods and so on.
The Draft National Policy also ensures domestic workers’ right to trade unionization, domestic workers’ rights
to acquire new skills for upward mobility in their professional lives. Considering the scenario where there
lacks uniform guidelines to regulate the working conditions in this sector, the adoption of the draft national
policy acquires enormous significance towards promoting decent work for domestic workers. In recent years,

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major achievements can be seen at State levels. As recalled, significant developments have been made in
extending labour and income protection through mechanisms such minimum wages, establishments of
welfare boards and extension of RSBY to the workers. These provide essential mechanisms to deliver
substantive labour entitlements and pave the way for recognition as workers. A major concern which is also
being progressively addressed is the prevention of labour trafficking, and practices of unscrupulous
recruitment agencies. The ILO is strengthening its focus in this area, through its project “work in freedom”.

This note contains useful background facts in support of the above. Also attached to this note is a series of
case studies of domestic workers and employers of domestic workers, focusing on the true potential of this
sector to bring care and empowerment to all those involved.

Who are domestic workers?

 Domestic work refers to work performed in and for a household in an employment relationship.
The work may include cleaning, cooking, washing and ironing, taking care of children, elderly or
sick members of a family, as well as household pets, gardening, guarding the house and driving
for the family. Domestic workers include full- or part-time employees. Some live in their
employers’ residence, others in their own homes. They may be migrants or nationals of the
country they work in other work which is carried out for an employer for remuneration.
Domestic work has been referred to as “unpaid work”, “care work”, “reproductive work”,
“labour of love” and for the most part it was the women of the household that undertook this
work, often forfeiting the opportunity to pursue paid work outside the house.

 Many factors influence the growth in demand for domestic workers, including rising incomes of
the middle class to hire domestic workers, or the need to supplement the family income and
thus take up work as a domestic worker, or require the services of one while out at work.
Another big driver of the increase is the lack of alternative job opportunity particularly for low
educated/ skilled worker. Hired domestic workers ease the work-family-life tension that
individual households face by undertaking house chores in return for remuneration.

Legitimizing domestic work as “work”: ILO Convention C.189 on Domestic Work

 The Convention was adopted by the International Labour Conference in 2011 with wide support
from the 185 ILO member States. India was among those who supported the “birth” of this
Convention.

 To date, it has been ratified by 11 countries, which are Bolivia, Ecuador, Germany, Guyana, Italy,
Mauritius, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Philippines, South Africa, Uruguay

How many domestic workers are there?

 Domestic work is a growing and emerging sector of work in urban India.

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  The figures from NSSO employment and unemployment rounds show number of domestic workers
in urban India increased by 68 percent1 during the decade between 1999-2000 to 2009-2010.

 Another official source- Labour Bureau’s Employment and Unemployment Survey (2009-2010) puts
an estimate as 10 million workers in India.

 As such the statistics of domestic workers is a topic that attracts much debate. Collecting accurate
and comparable data on the number of domestic workers throughout the world is difficult because
of high incidence of undeclared domestic work, under-reporting, and the varying definitions of
domestic work in statistical surveys. Clearly there is a need to establish a common understanding of
the numbers, but both the sources indicate that it is an important emerging sector of employment.

Isn’t it an employment option for a very marginal population?

 No, on the contrary, domestic work as an important emerging sector of employment.

 Given that over 72.5 percent of Indian female workers are illiterate or educated up to primary level
(NSSO 68th round), generating productive employment is a challenge. In this context domestic work
offers an important entry into the labour market for unskilled women.

 It is a low threshold entry job that could absorb low skilled workers in regular paid employment.
Many research shows, what unorganized sector workers require most is regularity of work and pay,
and domestic work is one form of regular work. The ILO has commissioned studies that show how
earnings of domestic workers particularly benefit education of girls. It also shows that domestic
workers often use their income to build/buy a house.

 To make their work more productive, recognition of the sector as a legitimate labour market activity,
regulation of working conditions as well as skills development is important. In short it calls for
measures to formalize the sector.

What policy/ regulatory measures are most in need?

 An important player in regulating domestic work is the Placement Agencies. The placement agencies
play an important role of an intermediary between the worker and the employer. They function with
varied terms and conditions placed on the employer and in services offered to the worker and differ
considerably in their objectives.

 Large numbers of women (especially unmarried girls) are mobilized from rural as well as tribal
pockets of the country. Migrant women depend on middlemen as they are strangers to the city,
often illiterate, and have scanty knowledge of the local language. Non-payment of wages, elements
of forced/bonded labour, and the possibility of sexual exploitation (by the middlemen, agents and
employers) are among the concerns raised in the literature.

1
From 0.94 million in 1999-2000 to 1.6 million in 2009-2010 in urban India

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 Thus, bringing Placement Agencies under regulation and establishing their roles, responsibilities in
ensuring lawful treatment of domestic workers, as well as determining their employment
relationships with the domestic workers are some important issues to be considered in the process
of formalizing this sector.

 The right to organize and join associations of their choice is crucial, as is the need to organize
employers of domestic workers to have a balanced bipartite discussion on worker and employer
requirements.

 The ILO has worked together with DGET, Ministry of Labour and Employment in designing and
implementing Competency based Modular Employable Skills (MES) development course for domestic
workers. The work entailed mapping of domestic workers’ skills into 4 levels. It clearly showed that
domestic work sector is a sector that requires complex set of skills: it allows workers with only basic
set of skills to enter- as sweepers and cleaners- but we saw in the mapping that depending on the
opportunity the domestic workers got from their employers and other sources, they progressed to
child minders, cooks, elderly care, and even management of the household- a position we call
household managers where the employee takes care of bills and bank errands too. Clearly there is a
progression of skills and that links from basic to complex. The modules aim to assist domestic
workers climb within the sector, and into other sectors such as nursing, hospitality too.

 The National Skills Development Corporation, which is spearheading the setting-up of Sector Skills
Council, is keen to take forward the idea of an SSC for domestic workers. This will contribute to
"formalization" processes in this highly informal sector.

 Many national governments have put in place specific regulations for domestic work, from European
countries, Asian countries (Thailand, Philippines), In Latin America, so there is an undeniable
recognition of this sector as an emerging and growing sector offering important opportunities for
low skilled workers, and an important service to households. The international commitment to
promote decent work for domestic workers is definitely in motion, and there are many good
practices, even in tricky areas such as inspection (see Thailand brief, section “enforcement”).

 An important part of formlisation also entails thinking about how existing services provided by
domestic workers could be better shared by the State, for example by establishing accessible public
full time child care centres, as well as quality elderly care so the need on domestic workers are
eased. Establishing public child care centres are crucial for low income working women, as well as
prevention of children from entering into domestic work.

But is it really work?

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  Domestic work is a legitimate labour market activity undertaken in an employment relationship.
However, contrary to the growing demand and presence of domestic workers in urban households,
they are very slow to be recognized as workers due in part to the nature of work which is considered
an extension of household work. This means that often these workers are seen as “helping” the
women of the households, and therefore part of the family.

 There is also a tendency to view hiring of domestic workers as a sign of benevolence by the employer
for helping an underprivileged person escape poverty by giving them food, a place to sleep, clothes
and medication in exchange for their labour.

 This notion is problematic as it first and foremost masks the existence of an employment relationship
between the “helper” and the “household” where the helper is an employee like any other
employee, and the household is the employer, a relationship bound by labour law.

Young girls and boys in domestic work

 Another pressing reason to establish domestic work as “work” is because it is an area that many child
workers are present. Worldwide, 15.5 million children are estimated to be engaged in domestic
work2.
Global3

 More than 10 million of these children are in domestic child labour, i.e. either below the minimum
age for employment or involved in hazardous work, leaving them extremely vulnerable to violence
and abuse.

 Many are also very young, with 47 percent of child domestic workers under the age of 14 and 3.5
million no more than 5 to 11 years old.

 In addition, a significant number of the more than 5.5 million children estimated to be victims of
forced labour and human trafficking are believed to end up in domestic work. Of particular
concern is that almost three-quarters of all these child domestic workers are girls.
India

 National statistics show vast numbers of “nowhere” or “idle” children, whose numbers are captured
neither in education nor in employment. In India, 11 million of 7-14 years age group4 was shown as
neither attending school nor at work in employment.

2
Child labour in domestic work refers to situations where domestic work is performed by children below the
relevant minimum age (for light work, full-time non-hazardous work), in hazardous conditions or in a slavery-like
situation.
3
ILO estimates (2013)
4
(ILO-WB-UNICEF) UCW calculations based on India National Sample Survey (NSS), Round 66, 2009-2010

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 It is likely, that many, if not all, of these children are involved in chores and even domestic
labour, working up to 12 hours or more a day - with little or no pay - every day of the week,
exposed to physical, sexual and psychological violence, and deprived of their rights to care,
education, recreation, rest, and overall development.

 In 2006, the Indian Government took a bold and decisive step by prohibiting domestic child labour5
for children below 14 years of age, but enforcement has been a challenge.
The consequences are long lasting, and they impair children's physical, emotional, and
intellectual well-being, as well as the economic and social development of the country

Are domestic workers covered in labour law?

 Currently, domestic workers are not explicitly covered under any significant labour laws mainly
because of the nature of their work and the non-recognition of the employment relationships.

 Having reviewed important labour laws (12 in total) only the Unorganized Sector Workers Social
Security Act includes them. Other labour laws treat only establishments, mines, and factories, as
workplaces. The private homes are treated as private spheres beyond the reach of these laws.
The definition of the workmen or the employer also excludes the domestic workers from the
scope of these laws. Even the placement agencies get out from the ambit of the labour laws
(especially the Inter-State Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of
Service) Act, 1979) because of these definitional issues (definition of occupation, and the
applicability of law only to an establishment employing more than five interstate migrant
workers).

 Working conditions, wages and leave days, working time, etc., which are regulated through
labour laws that are generally available to other class of workers, are currently not available to
domestic workers or are not being enforced. This is largely because the domestic workers
undertake work in private homes rather than commercial establishments, and definition of
workers or workplaces used in existing laws are not applicable to household spaces or domestic
workers themselves.

 Efforts to bring domestic workers in the ambit of labour related laws are ongoing, and recent
development to include domestic workers specifically in the Sexual harassment Act is a positive
development. Domestic workers are explicitly included in the Unorganised Workers (Social
Security) Act, 2008, and through its decision of the Government 26 June 2011, domestic
workers have come under the coverage of RSBY, paving way for effective access to social
protection for domestic workers and their family members. The Child Labour (Prohibition and

5
Term used in the Schedule is “Domestic workers or servants”

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 Regulation) Act, 1986 now prohibits employment of child labour in domestic work as also the
conduct rules governing government employees. Nevertheless, particular laws that their
inclusion would be crucial are the Minimum Wages Act, Equal Remuneration Act, Shops and
Establishment Act (for regulation of placement agencies), Contract Labour Act, Inter-state
Migrant Act, and Employee Compensation Act, and the Abolition of Bonded Labour Act etc. and
any other suitable legislation which exists or may be notified in future.

What is Ha been done at the Policy level?

 Though there is mention of domestic workers in some of the legislations, absence of a

comprehensive, uniformly applicable, national legislation or a policy leaves major gaps in
providing fair terms of employment as well as decent working conditions that are no less
favourable compared to other categories workers.

 Domestic workers are workers, and as such they are entitled to fair terms of employment and
working conditions taking into account the specificity of the work, which should be equivalent to
those enjoyed by other workers generally.

 Main gaps currently are lack of decent wages, ill working conditions, undefined working time, no
weekly offs, loneliness (separated from family and friends, and children), no career growth, no
skill development, victimization at the hands of traffickers/placement agencies and even
violence, abuse and sexual harassment at workplace.

 The public perception of domestic work is often that it is undignified work, and the workers in
this sector should be pitied as they are not qualified for anything else. Such sentiments are
evident in news articles reporting criminal activities by domestic workers. Little is recognized
about their role in improving the quality of life for their employers.

 In case of India, what required at the moment is a uniformly applicable national policy which
can regulate the working conditions as well secure rights and entitlements of domestic
workers. The proposed National Policy (as it was posted in the MOLE website for comments
and available in public domain), is drafted in line with the ILO Convention c-189 and it secures
visibility and recognition.

Do we have any good practice?

Considerable progress has been made in bringing domestic workers in the ambit of labour related
schemes, laws and policies. State governments have made important strides in recent years; some
States have included domestic workers for benefits under their welfare fund laws and provisions. So far
seven states notified minimum wages for domestic workers under the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, these
are
1. Andhra Pradesh,

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 2. Bihar,
3. Jharkhand,
4. Karnataka,
5. Kerala,
6. Odisha, and
7. Rajasthan

Moreover, some state governments have constituted Welfare Boards for Domestic Workers, where
domestic workers avail prescribed set of welfare benefits by registering with these Boards. These States
are
1. Kerala,
2. Maharashtra,
3. Tamil Nadu,

Three state governments have taken initiatives to improve the working conditions of domestic workers
as well provide access to social security schemes through the RSBY.
1. Chhattisgarh,
2. Jharkhand,
3. Kerala,

The care chain

 The slow policy response to recognize domestic work as a legitimate labour market activity is a
part of a bigger invisibility of the “care economy”. Although domestic work is a paid activity, it is
seriously undervalued, because this work has traditionally been provided “free” by women of
the households. As such, the time women spend on care and reproduction of the household
members are entirely invisible from national statistics.

 Although we have to rely on data from some time ago (1997) but the value of “unpaid work”
carried out by women in Haryana and Gujarat is estimated to be as high as 26 to 28 percent of
the State Domestic Product, which means over Rs. 22,578 crore in Gujarat and Rs. 10,209 in
Haryana. This is the size of the “invisible care economy”

 The availability of domestic workers has enabled households and their members, particularly
women to enter the labour market and reap the benefits that economic autonomy and
professional growth offer.

 However the gender equality effect has been one sided. The large supply of domestic workers in
India has meant that care responsibilities mainly shifted from women in the households to hired
domestic workers who are a predominantly female and invisible workforce. This in itself did not
challenge broader structural gender inequality.

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 Hence when the ILO calls for decent work for domestic workers, first and foremost, it calls for
recognition of the rights of domestic workers for fair terms of employment that is no less
favourable than other workers generally, and in an equally loud manner, it calls for recognition
of the existence of a structural inequality that is perpetuated by not recognizing the sheer
weight of “care work” and invites the active participation of the State.

 A pressing issue is how to ensure domestic workers’ child care needs are met. The absence of an
effective service that is accessible for domestic workers especially in urban centres call to
question how domestic workers with children are coping with their care needs. This is a crucial
area to address, as it opens up possibilities for children being brought to work.