Unions demand stronger legal protection for domestic workers

12 Jul 2005

Some workers on €112 a month for 80-hour week

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions today (Tuesday) called on the Government to strengthen legal protections for domestic workers, mostly migrant women who perform live-in caring and housekeeping duties in Irish homes. Speaking at the launch of a new rights guide for domestic workers, Congress President Peter McLoone said some domestic workers were earning as little as €112 a month for an 80-hour week. It was common for them to have their passports withheld by employers who set unreasonable tasks and workloads and threaten deportation if workers complain. Others had been summarily sacked when they became ill and unable to work.

Congress has called on Labour Affairs Minister Tony Killen to establish a new 'Joint Labour Committee' (JLC) to set pay and working conditions for domestic workers, and an enhanced Labour Inspectorate to police these rights. The unions also want stronger controls over recruitment agencies, which have been known to actively mislead migrants about their rights and entitlements as workers and residents in Ireland. JLCs already set legal minimum pay and working conditions for certain vulnerable groups of workers in sectors like agriculture, hospitality, cleaning, catering, retail and clothing.

Research produced by the Migrant Rights Centre has revealed that, while some domestic workers have a positive experience, most experience problems in every area of working and domestic life including recruitment, job descriptions, workloads, pay, working hours, holidays, leave, legal documentation, privacy, insurance and social insurance, leaving employment, accessing social services, and racism. Its 2004 report, Private Homes: A Public Concern revealed:

  • Pay rates are usually substantially below those offered on recruitment. In one case a worker earned €112 a month for an 80-hour week
  • Working hours are usually longer, and duties wider and more onerous, than those agreed on recruitment
  • Many employers make unreasonable (and sometimes illegal) deductions from pay for accommodation, food and breakages
  • Employers generally withhold pay slips
  • Non-payment of tax and social insurance is common
  • Few domestic workers have formal contracts of employment
  • Few get extra payment for working Christmas, bank holidays or on-call hours
  • Employers often impose severe restrictions on privacy and social activities
  • Staff are sometimes expected to work in their employers' relatives' homes
  • Staff have been sacked on becoming sick, injured or pregnant
  • Workers' passports and ID are usually held by employers - one charged €500 for the return of a passport
  • A worker was sacked for possessing information on workplace rights.

Produced in English and French, the new Congress guide, Homes and Workplaces: The Rights of Domestic Workers, aims to inform staff and employers about the legal framework governing them. It points out that employment laws give domestic workers the same legal protections as other workers, but they are often ignorant of these rights.

Launching the guide, Mr McLoone also called on the Government to allow work permits to be issued for domestic work. Right now, it won't do so as it says the term is too loose and open to exploitation. Instead permits are granted for titles like 'nanny' and 'care worker', making it more difficult to quantify and protect migrant domestic workers in Irish homes.

Mr McLoone said: "Domestic work is real work, it's hard work, and it's skilled work. Congress is demanding real rights for domestic workers with proper pay and employment relationships and robust protection from exploitation. Homes and Workplaces will inform employees and employers about their legal obligations and entitlements. But we also need Government action to recognise the validity of domestic work and establish the apparatus to set and enforce decent working conditions. That's why we want a Joint Labour Committee, an enhanced Labour Inspectorate, and proper regulation of employment agencies that recruit domestic workers from overseas."

Speaking at the launch, Siobhan O'Donoghue of the Irish Migrant Rights Centre said: "We welcome this guide for domestic workers. It will hopefully be a valuable resource for migrant workers who do not know their rights and are vulnerable and susceptible to maltreatment due to their lack of awareness, and a lack of awareness by some employers as to how to treat their staff. We also hope that this guide will highlight the issue of bad working conditions in homes and garner a commitment by employers, government and social welfare services and others, to take seriously the concerns we have about the conditions many domestic workers have to live with."

Mike Jennings of SIPTU, the trade union for domestic workers, said: "This guide is not about treating domestic workers differently. It is in fact about the opposite. This guide will show employers the importance of treating domestic workers as workers and giving them the rights and entitlements afforded to other workers. It is also hoped that the guide will remind people of the valuable contribution domestic workers make not only in the individual home, but to society at large."

 

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