RECOGNIZING AND PROTECTING DOMESTIC WORKERS: CONCEPTUAL, EMPIRICAL, AND REGULATORY CHALLENGES Marty Chen Harvard Univer

1. RECOGNIZING AND PROTECTING DOMESTIC WORKERS: CONCEPTUAL, EMPIRICAL, AND REGULATORY CHALLENGES Marty Chen Harvard University WIEGO Network International Seminar Regulating Decent Work for Domestic Workers Faculty of Law, McGill University March 29, 2010

2. REMARKS • Four Parts: • Conceptual Challenges • Empirical Challenges: Reality + Measurement • Regulatory Challenges • Promising Responses • Knowledge Base: WIEGO colleagues/projects + ILO reports • International Domestic Workers Network Project: Barbro Budin (IUF) + Karin Pape and Chris Bonner • WIEGO Law and Informality Project in India: Kamala Sankaran + Roopa Madhav + Shalini Sinha • WIEGO Statistics Programme: Joann Vanek + Francoise Carre • ILO Reports on Decent Work and Domestic Workers

3. WHY DECENT WORKFOR DOMESTIC WORKERS? • Domestic workers provide critical services which enable others to go to work outside the home, thus facilitating the operation of the labour market and contributing to the growth of the economy • Domestic work is a large and growing sector of employment, especially for women • share of domestic workers in total employment: • developing countries: 4-10% of total employment • developed countries: 1-2.5% of total employment • share of women in total domestic work: • ranges from 74% (Belize) to 94% (Israel) • Domestic workers remain invisible + under-valued + under-protected; in ILO terminology… • Domestic workers suffer significant “Decent Work Deficits”

4. CONCEPTUAL CHALLENGESHeterogeneity of Domestic Workers • By Task/s • Cleaning + washing • Providing care: children + sick/disabled + elderly • Cooking + serving • Gardening/landscaping • Driving/chauffeuring • Guarding/providing security Notes: • Those doing the first two tasks are more likely to be women, than men, in most societies • Those doing the last three tasks are more likely to be men, than women, in most societies • Either men or women predominate in cooking and serving, depending on the society.

5. CONCEPTUAL CHALLENGESHeterogeneity of Domestic Workers • By Employment Arrangement/s • Part-time vs. full-time • Single vs. multiple task/s • Single vs. multiple employer/s • Live-in vs. live-out • Resident vs. migrant • Tied vs. non-tied (e.g. migrant visas) • By Employment Status • Employee: • of private client or household • of third part contractor • Self-employed • Member of domestic worker cooperative Notes: 1. Home health care aides are contracted by either the public sector or non-profit providers. 2. Some domestic workers are recruited by brokers (who facilitate the match and charge a one-time fee) or by placement agencies (who also keep payrolls and supervise the worker). 3. Some domestic workers are – or might be considered – self-employed if they a) bring their own cleaning, catering, gardening supplies; and b) work for more than one employer 4. Domestic workers with small children may have to hire others to care for their children while they are at work if unpaid family members or affordable child care services are not available

6. CONCEPTUAL CHALLENGESSpecificity of Domestic Workers • Nature of Employment Relationship • Employer = private client or household • informal + “intimate” • paternalistic vs. exploitative • Employer = Third Party agency • formal + de-personalized • contracting only vs. support services • Characteristics of Private Employer • typically not organized – but have power over worker • may be from any class: • ILO Social Partners: government, employers, or workers • Income Class: poor, middle-class, or rich

7. EMPIRICAL CHALLENGESReality of Domestic Work Common Conditions of Domestic Workers: • invisible + isolated from other workers • “intimate”/personalized but unequal relationship with employer • under-valued: seen as “women’s work” = low status • low wages + few benefits + limited protection: • long hours and night work • delayed or irregular payments • limited (if any) paid leave • uncertainties re probation and dismissal • little (if any) skills training and career development

8. EMPIRICAL CHALLENGESReality of Domestic Work Special Cases of Domestic Workers: • Live-In Domestics: isolation + limited mobility + long working hours + payment in kind + lack of privacy + poor living conditions + vulnerability to physical and sexual abuse within the home • Migrant Domestics: abuses within the recruitment system (advance commission fees, withheld wages and passports, physical and sexual harassment) + harassment by police and immigration authorities • Smuggled or Trafficked Domestics: same situation as migrant workers compounded by near-bondage of workers and criminality of recruiters/employers

9. EMPIRICAL CHALLENGESMeasurement of Domestic Work Challenge # 1: Collecting and Tabulating Data • Domestic work .. • No common definition • No discrete occupational code: requires tabulating several occupational sub-sub-codes at 4-digit level • Often under-reported: because hidden/undeclared, done by undocumented migrants, or not regarded as work • Data collected at the 4-digit occupation code level are often not tabulated at this level. • Resources are needed for collection and tabulation of data. • To leverage resources, users of data – researchers and advocates – need to ask for data and show why they are important.

10. EMPIRICAL CHALLENGESMeasurement of Domestic Work Challenge # 2: Compiling and Harmonizing Data • Different Definitions: narrower or broader depending on… • which tasks are included • whether home care or cleaning workers contracted by third-party agencies are included • Difficulties in Implementing Definitions: • National statistics: difficulty in accessing data at the 4-digit level • International data bases: difficulty in tabulating data at 4-digit level • often use 1-digit codes only • often use industrial, rather than occupational, classification Note: There are three different classification systems in statistics, all of which are relevant to the measurement of domestic workers: Industry: International Standard Industrial Classification (ISIC) Employment Status: International Classification of Statuses in Employment (ICSE) Occupation: International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO)

11. REGULATORY CHALLENGESCurrent Coverage • ILO Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work: domestic workers are covered inprinciple – but there are flexibility or exclusion clauses in some ILO conventions that can be used to exclude domestic workers • National Labour Laws: domestic workers are, de jure, covered under labour laws and social protection policies/schemes in many countries: of the 40 some ILO member states in the regions below that responded to a 2009 ILO survey the following percentages reported that domestic workers were covered under minimum wage… Developed 50% Asia 18% Africa 70% LAC 75% But domestic workers in many countries are not covered de facto, including countries in which they are covered de jure – due to problems of implementation and enforcement • Social Protection: domestic workers are often covered under general health care and old-age pension schemes but are seldom covered by occupational health and safety measures or unemployment insurance Note: Africa includes Tunisia and South Africa Source: Decent Work for Domestic Workers Report IV (1)

12. REGULATORY CHALLENGESExtending Coverage • Domestic Workers: protectionrequires innovations in regulations • who should negotiate when both the employer and the employee are not organized? • who should negotiate when there is a third party? • how to monitor, regulate, and enforce in the home which is a private sphere? • Special Cases of Domestic Workers: requires broad spectrum of responses • migrant domestic workers: need to bring in migration law and set up safe houses and other emergency services + facilitate remittances • migration-smuggling-trafficking nexus: need to bring in criminal law • third party contracting: need to regulate placement or contracting agencies • Underlying Structural Issues: need to • address sexual division of labour • raise status and perceived value of care work • advocate for public care policies that promote affordable and accessible child care services

13. ADDRESSING THE CHALLENGESPromising Examples • Conceptual: ILO “Decent Work for Domestic Workers” surveys and reports • Measurement: ILO Statistics Department and WIEGO with International Expert Group on Informal Sector Statistics (Delhi Group), national statistical offices, and national data analysts • Legislation, Policies, and Schemes: • Belgium: subsidized state “service ticket” scheme with collective bargaining • India: Unorganized Sector Workers’ Social Security Bill + welfare boards • Hong Kong: right to organize + coverage under Employment Ordinance + contracts with minimum standards required by Immigration Department • Mali: Collective Agreement on the Employment Conditions of Household Employees • Philippines: Magna Carta for Household Helpers • South Africa: Basic Conditions of Employment Act, 1997 (BCEA) with binding mandate to protect domestic workers • Organizing: national, regional, and international networking and campaigning in preparation for standard-setting discussions at the 2010 and 2011 International Labour Conferences – e.g. International Domestic Workers Network