The International Labour
Organization (ILO) Domestic
Workers Convention No.189
What is domestic work?
•
Millions of people including children as young as six work as domestic workers across
the world doing a number of jobs around the home such as:
Other household
tasks
Ironing
Looking after
children and the
elderly
Food
shopping
Cooking
Cleaning
Experiences of domestic workers
Positive working conditions
for domestic workers:
Negative working conditions
for domestic workers:
•Have labour rights respected
•No labour rights, no maternity pay
or minimum wage
•Paid a decent wage
•Work long hours without breaks
•Given time off for rest and
holiday
•No days off or holiday
•Given sufficient food and
accommodation
•Treated as a worker not a
servant
•Addressed respectfully
•Paid small amounts or not paid at
all
•Abused and treated as a
‘servant’ or ‘slave’
•Made to sleep on the kitchen floor
and fed scraps of food
The provisions of Convention 189
•
•
•
For years, many organisations have called for an international law to set out the
rights of domestic workers.
In June 2011, the International Labour Organization (a special United Nations agency
that deals with work and rights relating to work) adopted Convention 189, the
Domestic Workers Convention.
Convention 189 works to recognise domestic workers as workers, not just ‘hired
help’ and to give domestic workers the same protection and working rights as other
workers, which include:
– Working hours
– Terms and conditions of employment (i.e a contract)
– Rest and holiday time
– Decent pay
– Inspection of homes where domestic workers work
– The right to join a trade union
Protection for domestic workers
For many years, adult and child domestic workers have been calling for an
international law which would protect them from abuse and exploitation. In
June 2011, the International Labour Organization (a special United Nations
office which deals with work rights) adopted Convention 189, known as the
Domestic Worker Convention. The Convention gives rights to domestic
workers such as:
Decent
working
hours
A contract
Decent Pay
Inspection of
homes where
domestic workers
work
Time off for
Decent
rest and
working
holidays
hours
The right to
join a trade
union
Child domestic workers lobby for their rights
•
•
There are 15.5 million child (under 18) domestic workers across the world and
organisations like Children Unite and Anti-Slavery International have been working
over the years to help child domestic workers get their voices heard and their rights
met…even at the highest level.
Child domestic workers attended the ILO Conference held at the UN in Geneva in
2010 and 2011 to speak to ILO members about the situation of children in domestic
work and lobby for special provisions to be included in Convention 189 that protect
child domestic workers from abuse and exploitation.
Special provisions for children
In addition to all the rights for adult domestic workers under Convention
189, child domestic workers also have these special provisions:
 Children under 14 should not work as domestic workers
 When working, it should not interfere with compulsory education of limit
opportunities for higher education and vocational training
 Hours of work should be limited
 Space should be made for other activities
including play time and time to see family
 Child domestic workers should not be
made to work at night
 Work that is physically or psychologically
demanding should be limited
 There should be strong mechanisms to
inspect where children work and make
sure their rights are being met.
What happens now?
• Convention 189 has been adopted but
governments now need to ‘ratify’or sign up
to the Convention for it to start working.
• Ratification means that governments make a
commitment to making sure the Convention
can work in the country, and this can include
passing a new national law that includes the
provisions of the Convention.
UK Government response
• The UK government was one of only
eight countries which abstained from
voting for the Domestic Workers
Convention.
• 173 governments voted in favour of the Convention including China,
Zimbabwe and Saudi Arabia.
• During the development of the Convention, the UK government tried
to water down provisions on working hours and health and safety at
work for domestic workers as well as working and living conditions
for children.
What should the UK Government do?
The UK Government should ratify
Convention 189 to show that it really
cares about the rights of vulnerable
domestic workers especially children.
Britain was one of the first countries
to abolish the transatlantic slave
trade and we also have signed the
United Nations Convention on the
Rights of the Child and other laws
that protect children. Therefore we
have a tradition of protecting people
and we should continue to send a
strong message to the rest of the
world, that we take the issue of
protecting vulnerable working
children seriously.