DILEMMA OF DOMESTIC WORKER OR HELPER?

According to the International Labour Office; ‘tens of millions’ of domestic workers provide essential services that enable others to work outside their homes.

Thus domestic workers help keep labour markets and economies working around the globe. Referring to Swaziland as my home country, house helpers are often referred to as domestic workers. The vast majority of whom are women and girls make a critical contribution to societies and economies across the world. Still, domestic work is typically not regarded as work and is often excluded from full protection under labour legislation and social security provisions. It is usually carried out for private households, often without clear terms of employment, leaving workers vulnerable to abuse. Domestic work is increasingly done by migrant workers, who may be further disadvantaged by restrictive migration laws and difficult recruitment, emigration and admission procedures. It is worth noting that attitudes and behaviours towards domestic workers is dishonour in most instances.

Helpers work in the homes of others for pay, providing a range of services: they sweep and clean; wash clothes and dishes; shop and cook; care for children, the elderly, and people with disabilities; they provide gardening, driving and security services. Some live on the premises of their employers. Others work part time, often for multiple employers. Women are concentrated in cleaning and care services, while men tend to have the better paying jobs as gardeners, drivers, or security guards. They are not always covered under labour laws and social protection policies or schemes. Even where they are covered by laws, they may not be covered in practice. Implementation and enforcement is weak or non-existent and the private households or individuals who employ domestic workers may not pay into payroll taxes or collect income tax.

Few helpers have labour contracts or social protection. Many do not know what benefits and protections they should get in exchange for taxes paid and contributions made.
 Most of my clients who are live-in domestic workers experience greater isolation, less privacy and more limited mobility, work longer hours and receive a larger share of payments in kind (such as board). Living conditions are frequently sub-standard. They are also more vulnerable to physical or sexual abuse by employers. Domestic workers often have a personal, intimate knowledge of their employers, but the relationship is highly unequal, leaving many domestic workers vulnerable to verbal, physical, or sexual abuse.

Often differences in race, class and citizenship increase this inequality. Also, most of the tasks involved in domestic work are seen as ‘women’s work’, so are considered of low status and value. In some cases, domestic workers are hired by third-party agencies, which are technically the employer; however, the agency may see its role only as negotiating the placement, not overseeing working conditions. In other cases, agencies act only as ‘brokers’. These are sometimes linked to criminal activity, and charge the domestic worker a lot of money, promising services which are never delivered.
My view is that labour standards cannot be enforced in the private home, which means many employers do not comply with and government does not enforce labour laws regarding wages, benefits and working conditions. The major reason being that, domestic workers are employed in private homes rather than firms or enterprises. This tends to make them invisible as workers and isolated from others in the sectors.

They are dependent on the good or bad will of their employer. Accoding to media and legal system reports the concept of the home is ‘safe haven’? Growing evidence suggests domestic workers are exposed to a range of unhealthy and hazardous working conditions. For instance, they usually have no maternity leave, health care or pension.
What I can say as a social worker is that they are prone to suffer from stress that may result to anxiety and depression if not attended to. Relevant labour laws should be visible for their safety. Migrant helpers are even at a more disadvantaged position than locals; they are even trafficked to foreign countries. Threats from their ‘recruiters’ of being reported to the migration authority keeps them quiet in most cases, and such goes unnoticed. Some employers even confiscate their passports to shut them up.

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