News and articles on domestic work (Domestic workers)

Domestic workers

Uniting on the home front

11 January 2013

Against all the odds, domestic workers around the world have joined forces to push for better working conditions.

Al Jazeera

Numbers of domestic workers have increased, but working benefits have not kept up, says the ILO

09 January 2013

The ILO estimates that 30% of the nearly 53 million domestic workers worldwide do not enjoy any legal protection, and 45% of them are not entitled to any weekly rest or paid leave. ILO's Malte Luebker told Al Jazeera English that Asia has the least protection for domestic workers and stressed the importance for those countries to ratify the newly adopted ILO convention on domestic workers.

BBC Business Edition

The ILO calls for tough legal protection for domestic workers

09 January 2013

Only 10% of the world's 53 million domestic workers enjoy adequate labour rights. Over half of them have no legal limit on their working hours and do not receive a minimum wage. In addition, 45% of domestic workers worldwide are not entitled to rest periods. In a live interview on the BBC's "Business Edition", ILO's Martin Oelz, explained how domestic workers are more vulnerable to exploitation as their jobs are often not even considered as work and their workplaces are households beyond the usual reach of labour inspection systems. Oelz stressed that legal protection is key to achieve decent and better conditions for domestic workers.

Video interview

Domestic workers still experience poor legal protection, the ILO warns

09 January 2013

ILO's Martin Oelz, Legal Specialist on Working Conditions, presents the key findings of a new ILO report - Domestic workers across the world - which follows the adoption, in June 2011, of the ILO Convention and Recommendation on domestic work.