Events & Issues

New Delhi, 24 August 2015

Policy On Domestic Workers

IDEA WANTED & UNWANTED

By Dr S Saraswathi

(Former Director, ICSSR, New Delhi)

Yet another national policy is in the pipeline – this time to reorient our thinking on domestic labour and recast the outmoded “master-servant” relationship with a new 21^st century outlook based on human rights and equality. Time has changed and there is no longer a “servant” class in any sector. With this basic premise, we have to approach the new national policy for domestic workers, which was proposed in 2011 and now resurrected hopefully to give it life.

The ILO’s global standard Convention 189 that came into force in 2013 regulates working conditions for millions of people employed in households and guarantees them some basic protection. India supported this convention, but has not yet ratified it.

It lays down minimum standards for promotion and protection of human rights; fundamental principles and rights at work; terms and conditions of employment; working time; remuneration; occupational safety and health; and social security. 

As there never had been any idea of treating domestic labour also as an “honourable work”, recording paid domestic work as “employment”, and recognizing domestic worker as an “employee” entitled to work under definite regulations, the ILO Convention is an eye-opener for workers and employers. It has brought a ray of light for the workers hitherto not recognized, respected, or protected.

Description of domestic work as “the work that makes all work possible” is no exaggeration given the relief the workers provide to employers for carrying on their normal life and their avocations without interruptions.  Women employment in the organized sector, in many cases, is totally depending on the unorganized domestic helpers.   Unfortunately, labour laws in the past had not taken care of the interests of this ‘unorganized workers’. Indeed, they have remained not just unorganized, but a disorganized lot.   

The Draft National Policy for Domestic Workers prepared by the   Ministry of Labour and Employment in 2011 describes domestic work as a devalued sector characterized by lack of job security, decent wages and proper work conditions, definite work time and weekly holiday. It admits that workers are prone to suffer from violence, abuse, and sexual harassment at workplace, and victimization at the hands of traffickers/placement agencies. In short, the policy recognizes that domestic workers are overworked, underpaid, and unprotected.

The need for regulation has become urgent because of multiple causes – extremely low wages, abuse and ill-treatment of workers by their employers and unscrupulous middle men, and increasing cases of sexual harassment at workplace. Recall the murder of a domestic help an MP’s  house in Delhi had sent shock waves and exposed the miserable state of these workers doing several kinds of jobs for small wages with no recognition or security. 

India has introduced some mandatory provisions such as minimum wage and salary to govern migration of domestic workers to the Middle East, but reports tell a different story.

Another side of employment of domestic help is seen in increasing reports of burglary and even murder carried out directly or in connivance with domestic workers who act as informers. The situation is aggravated by the growing tribe of internal migrants which brings strangers with no stakes into a city to take up occupations that carries no security and status, prestige, or monetary attraction. This is not workers’ or employers fault, but of society and the State which have failed to recognize and reward workers attached to households who are not family members.   

In the 1990s, in Latin America, organized grassroots movements were started by domestic workers. Regional networks were formed with the support of trade unions and civil society organizations and the lead taken continues, while the movement is spreading to Africa and Asia.

In India, welfare of labour including working conditions, PF, employers’ liability, old age pension, and maternity benefit are in the concurrent list in the Constitution enabling Central and State legislations and regulations. But there is no Central law governing domestic work.

The 2002 Labour Commission Report has recommended that domestic labour in India should be brought under labour laws. This was partly in response to the reports of the National Commission for Women on the plight of domestic workers undergoing various kinds of maltreatment--inadequate wages, denial of bonus, increments and leave, torture, punishments, sexual harassment, accusations of theft etc. Such workers often have no support. They tend to look for help from the placement agencies many of which vanish as quickly as they appear.

When the National Advisory Council (NAC) made the proposal to declare a national policy for domestic workers in April 2009, the main object was to extend the benefit of labour laws to cover domestic workers also. It also suggested bringing them within the ambit of social security under the Unorganized Sector Social Security Act 2008 for maternity benefit, safe and healthy place to stay, safe working place etc.

In Tamil Nadu, domestic workers are included under Manual Workers Act and a separate board created. Maharashtra Government has framed a Code of Conduct under the Maharashtra State Public Service Conduct Act. Government employees are prohibited from employing children below 14 years of age in domestic work. Karnataka and Kerala have notified minimum wages for them.

A national policy for domestic workers, even if it is framed to address the multifarious problems, cannot provide a final solution.  A policy is normally understood as “a set of decisions which are oriented towards a long-term purpose or to a particular cause”. A policy is not a law and cannot be enforced like a law. Even the Directive Principles aren’t legally enforceable.

The policy document outlines what a government wants to do, hopes to achieve, and what methods and principles it will employ to reach the goals. It needs to be followed by laws to become effective. For, only laws are enforceable by courts. They may carry penal provisions to punish violators.

There are various types of domestic workers – full and part-time.  They are hired for specific work or time in a day. It is difficult to treat them all alike.  Knowledge and skill levels required also vary. In metropolitan cities, already there are informal unions of domestic workers that suggest wages, conditions of work, leave, bonus, etc., which are operative.

The employers belong to different economic classes. The arrangement between them and the domestic help varies from case to case. It is mostly a private arrangement. There is scope for payment in kind besides monetary. In many instances, the employees welcome such arrangements that give them flexibility and freedom. Many domestic workers prefer to work for more than one household and get fringe benefits from all.

But, office-cum-residential establishments, which tend to equate workers employed on full-time in-house work with domestic workers of small households, have to be brought under service regulations.   

A survey of the situation reveals that what we need is not just another   national policy document. Policy is wanted to determine the goals for laws. It is not wanted to be the end of our endeavour to improve the lot of domestic workers.

The more urgent need is for a comprehensive legislation to prescribe working conditions, ensure safety and security, and prevent abuse and exploitation of domestic staff. We have to develop a will to take action against illegal agencies and punish criminal actions while allowing flexibility in the arrangement between employers and workers.---INFA

(Copyright, India News and  Feature Alliance)