scholarly journals Domestic workers in New Zealand and the implications of International Labour Organization Convention No. 189

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Rachel Hyde

<p>There are an estimated 52.6 million domestic workers in the world, 83 per cent of whom are women, and many of whom work in poor conditions for low pay. Globally, domestic work is an under-regulated and under-valued sector. In an effort to address the precariousness of domestic work, the International Labour Organization adopted Convention No 189, concerning decent work for domestic workers. The Convention came into force on 5 September 2013. It provides for global minimum standards in areas in respect to which domestic workers should enjoy employment and social protection. The rights of domestic workers in New Zealand are addressed in a number of pieces of legislation, including the Employment Relations Act 2000, the Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992, and the Human Rights Act 1993. Although some categories of domestic worker receive protection under the legislation, others do not. This paper argues that the coverage of domestic workers in New Zealand is confusing and incomplete. For many domestic workers in New Zealand low pay and poor working conditions are a reality. If New Zealand’s domestic workers are to receive the same protection as other New Zealand employees and those domestic workers in nations that have ratified Convention No 189, then ratification of the Convention and associated domestic legislative change may be necessary to bring domestic law into line with international labour law. In the absence of ratification there are a number of options that could be pursued to improve the working lives of domestic workers in New Zealand.</p>

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Rachel Hyde

<p>There are an estimated 52.6 million domestic workers in the world, 83 per cent of whom are women, and many of whom work in poor conditions for low pay. Globally, domestic work is an under-regulated and under-valued sector. In an effort to address the precariousness of domestic work, the International Labour Organization adopted Convention No 189, concerning decent work for domestic workers. The Convention came into force on 5 September 2013. It provides for global minimum standards in areas in respect to which domestic workers should enjoy employment and social protection. The rights of domestic workers in New Zealand are addressed in a number of pieces of legislation, including the Employment Relations Act 2000, the Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992, and the Human Rights Act 1993. Although some categories of domestic worker receive protection under the legislation, others do not. This paper argues that the coverage of domestic workers in New Zealand is confusing and incomplete. For many domestic workers in New Zealand low pay and poor working conditions are a reality. If New Zealand’s domestic workers are to receive the same protection as other New Zealand employees and those domestic workers in nations that have ratified Convention No 189, then ratification of the Convention and associated domestic legislative change may be necessary to bring domestic law into line with international labour law. In the absence of ratification there are a number of options that could be pursued to improve the working lives of domestic workers in New Zealand.</p>


2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 109-133
Author(s):  
Kartika Dewi Mulyanto

The existence of domestic workers or better known as domestic workers is no stranger to the life of Indonesian society. Domestic worker is a job that provides services to a family to do homework such as cooking, cleaning house, washing clothes and others. However, because there is no regulation that regulates domestic workers maximally, and there are often different degrees between employers and workers, there is a lot of violence against domestic workers. In 2011, the International Labor Organization issued an ILO Convention No. 189 on Decent Work for Domestic Workers. This Convention as evidence that domestic workers need to be legally protected as human beings with human rights. Based on the result of the research, it can be concluded that the act of ratification of ILO Convention No. 189 of 2011 on Decent Work for Domestic Workers needs to be done, in an effort to increase the protection of domestic workers' rights law, to increase the economy of domestic workers, and to raise the social status of domestic workers Indonesia. Abstrak Keberadaan pekerja rumah tangga atau yang lebih dikenal sebagai pembantu rumah tangga sudah tidak asing lagi dalam kehidupan masyarakat Indonesia. Pekerja rumah tangga merupakan suatu pekerjaan yang memberikan jasa kepada suatu keluarga untuk mengerjakan pekerjaan rumah seperti memasak, membersihakan rumah, mencuci baju dan yang lainnya. Namun karena belum ada regulasi yang mengatur pekerja rumah tangga secara maksimal, dan sering terjadi perbedaan derajat antara majikan dan pekerja, maka banyak terjadi kekerasan terhadap pekerja rumah tangga. Pada tahun 2011, International Labour Organization mengeluarkan suatu Konvensi ILO Nomor 189 tentang Pekerjaan yang Layak bagi Pekerja Rumah Tangga. Konvensi ini sebagai bukti bahwa pekerja rumah tangga perlu mendapat perlindungan secara hukum sebagai manusia yang memiliki hak asasi manusia. Berdasarkan hasil penelitian dapat disimpulkan bahwa tindakan ratifikasi Konvensi ILO Nomor 189 tahun 2011 tentang Pekerjaan yang Layak bagi Pekerja Rumah Tangga perlu dilakukan, sebagai upaya peningkatan perlindungan hukum hak-hak pekerja rumah tangga, peningkatkan ekonomi pekerja rumah tangga, serta menaikkan status sosial pekerja rumah tangga Indonesia.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
David du Toit ◽  
Lindy Heinecken

PurposeThe nature of paid domestic work is changing, with the growth in companies delivering domestic cleaning services. Few studies have looked at why people opt to use these services and the underlying drivers. As with the outsourcing of non-core tasks in businesses, outsourcing domestic work is motivated by similar, yet different reasons, which have to do with the personal and private nature of domestic employment. This study aims to establish the reasons why “clients”, who were former employers of domestic servants, opted to outsource domestic work to a domestic cleaning service provider.Design/methodology/approachGiven the limited research on domestic cleaning services in South Africa, a mixed-methods research approach is used.FindingsThe findings showed that there are three key motivations: the nature of the domestic cleaning service supplier, the services rendered by domestic workers and the tripartite employment relationships. These three benefits imply that clients have access to functional and numerical flexibility, unlike employing a domestic worker directly. This study contributes to the literature on outsourcing and domestic work by showing that clients not only look to change the economic structure of the relationship with domestic workers, but it allows them to psychologically and emotionally distance themselves from domestic workers.Research limitations/implicationsThis study shows that some people are no longer willing to have a relationship with the people who clean their homes, and that they believe it is simply not worth the effort to maintain a relationship. This is an aspect that needs further research, as this is the one sphere where women are united in their plight, albeit from different worldviews. Thus, a limitation is that this study only focuses on clients' views of outsourcing. Have domestic workers employed by the outsourced domestic cleaning service supplier become just like assembly-line workers, where they are anonymous to their clients, performing routine tasks with little recognition from those whose homes they are servicing? Future studies could focus on domestic workers' views on outsourcing and the effects it has on their working conditions and employment relations.Originality/valueFirstly, studies mainly focus on the Global North where domestic work and outsourcing have different dynamics, regulation policies and social changes when compared to South Africa. Secondly, few studies have sought to establish why people shift from employing a domestic or care worker directly to an outsourced domestic agency when direct domestic help is available and affordable. Considering these shortcomings, this study aims to provide a better understanding of domestic cleaning service suppliers from the perspective of clients, often omitted from the literature. Accordingly, this study aimed to establish what the benefits are for clients (former employers of domestic workers) who use domestic cleaning service suppliers.


Author(s):  
Astra Emir

This chapter explains the organisation and functions of the following institutions of employment law: the Employment Tribunal and Employment Appeal Tribunal; the Supreme Court, the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS); the Certification Office; the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC); industrial training boards; the Equality and Human Rights Commission; the Health and Safety Executive; the Health and Work Advisory and Assessment Service; and the Low Pay Commission. It also discusses the impact of the EU on UK employment law and the implications of the Human Rights Act 1998 for employment law, and mentions the effect of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018.


2017 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 367-385 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kim England

This article explores the spatialities associated with the recent emergence of a social movement of domestic workers in the United States. Domestic work is rendered invisible, not only as a form of ‘real work’, but also because it is hidden in other people’s homes. The article unpacks the home as a private space beyond government intervention, and as domestic worker activists argue, when homes are workplaces workers should be protected from exploitation. Domestic workers have become active and visible in campaigns to gain coverage under labour legislation at the state and federal government levels. An analysis of the success of their campaigns reveals a set of strategies and tactics that draw on feminist care ethics in a range of different locations, and that thinking spatially has been pivotal in the emergence and continued growth of their social movement.


2019 ◽  
pp. 105-121
Author(s):  
Erynn Masi de Casanova

This chapter explores some of the challenges that organizers of domestic workers in Ecuador face. Its discussion of domestic worker organizing touches on the three major themes of this book: social reproduction, informal arrangements that render domestic work invisible, and class relations that degrade and dehumanize workers. Workers' engagement in long hours of paid and unpaid social reproduction makes them difficult to reach and organize. Informal arrangements, and lack of political will and political effectiveness to change these arrangements, combine to make the enforcement of existing laws difficult. Moreover, relationships with the left-leaning state, embedded in traditional assumptions about who constitutes the working class—assumptions that leave out women and informal workers—have been fraught. The chapter then shows how domestic workers and their advocates have been organizing, what strategies they have used to demand the rights of these workers, and what the implications of these strategies are for political action and change.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hima Gupta

PurposeHousehold chores are one of the most essential aspects of each individual's daily routine. The author has observed people from middle and upper socioeconomic backgrounds, outsourcing women domestic workers to perform these household tasks. Even though these women domestic workers make up a significant portion of the total working class, they remain a socially and financially vulnerable section of society. The job of working in other people's private spaces comes with little or no regulation, social protection and no guarantee of decent work standards. The major aim of this study is to find out the social wellbeing of part-time domestic workers of Pune.Design/methodology/approachFor this purpose, the researchers have interviewed 167 women working in the Pune region of Maharashtra, India from the period of October 2020 to January 2021. Descriptive methods and factor analysis have been used to analyze the collected data, so that socioeconomic wellbeing correlated with the significant factors explored. Further, the factors identified that Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFAs) are further validated through reliability analysis (Cronbach’s alpha for economic wellbeing and social wellbeing index for social wellbeing).FindingsWith the help of this study, researchers have tried to explore the significant factors to the social and economic wellbeing of domestic workers. The qualitative facts collected during the interview time have substantiated the findings got in EFA.Originality/valueThe paper aims to provide ground-level insights to policymakers focusing on the domestic work sector, and the gaps identified in the research will help the policymakers to frame the guidelines for the betterment of these informal domestic workers.


2003 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 503-517 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sónia Parella Rubio

In the familistic welfare state regimes of Italy and Spain, the resurgence in live-in domestic work and the demand for migrant domestic workers is stronger than in other European countries. Organising and regulating services in order to help with the burden of caring for one's family is not an important objective of social policy in southern European countries. It is taken for granted that the family (‘women') is the main provider of social protection. In the absence of policy decisions in this field, the increase in local women's labour market participation in recent decades has led to households recruiting non-EU immigrant women in order to help them balance the needs of their family with the demands of paid employment. These immigrants constitute an enormous supply of low-cost labour and there is a shortage of local female workers in paid domestic work.


2014 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
pp. 250-266 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adelle Blackett

The International Labour Organization (ILO) adopted the Decent Work for Domestic Workers Convention, 2011 (No. 189) (the Domestic Workers Convention or Convention), as supplemented by an accompanying non-binding Recommendation (No. 201), on June 16, 2011. Both instruments were immediately hailed as historic. Two years later, on September 5, 2013, the Domestic Workers Convention entered into force, thus bringing the fifty-three to 100 million predominantly women workers—many of whom are migrants—squarely within the corpus of international labor law, with due attention paid to the specificity of their human rights claims.


2017 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 201
Author(s):  
Mary Austin

<p>This article examines a recent ILO funded project designed to engage more Indonesian journalists and media organizations in advocacy journalism on behalf of domestic worker legislation. Applying Ann Stoler’s notion of ‘disregard’ in the context of post-Suharto<br />democratization, I illustrate how established newsroom practices and patterns of reporting helped maintain distinctions between ‘home’ and overseas domestic workers which impeded progress towards comprehensive legislation. Indonesia’s endorsement of the adoption of ILO Convention 189 in June 2011 opened up political opportunities, provided a framework for re-scripting media narratives and encouraged journalists to give more space to domestic workers’ voices. At the same time, increased media coverage enabled those opposed to legislation to reiterate a gendered disregard for the social and economic value of domestic work.</p>


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