Who are domestic workers ?
Domestic workers constitute a large segment of the world working population in informal jobs and are one of the most vulnerable categories of workers. They are employed by private households and are often employed without specific terms of employment and are not registered in any publication and are therefore not covered by the labour laws. At present, there are around 67 million domestic employees worldwide and that does not include children domestic workers. This increase is steadily increasing in both developing and developed nations. While a large proportion of men are employed in the field typically as drivers, gardeners, or butlers, it is very feminized with 80 percent of domestic workers are females.
They may be required to perform tasks like cleaning the home cooking, washing, ironing clothes, caring for children, older or sick members of the family gardening, securing the house, driving the family, or caring for pets of the house.
They may be required to perform tasks like:
A domestic worker may work on
Domestic workers can be employed on a full-time or part-time basis. They could be employed by an individual household or by several employers. He or she could reside in the household or workplace of their employer (live-in employee) or living at their own home (live-out). A domestic worker could be employed in a country in which she or he is not considered a citizen, hence being referred to as an migrant domestic worker.
