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 21st 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)
|