Did you know?

Ioana Navarrete Pellicer*

March is considered Women's History Month around most of the world. A month to celebrate women's contributions throughout history and to contemporary society. I recently wrote, about the commemoration of Women's International Day on March 8th. (https://www.lajornadamaya.mx/opinion/211754/dia-internacional-de-la-mujer-8-de-marzo-every-women-every-where-all-the-time). Now that we are at month's end, allow me to tell you about an essential group of women in our economy, whom we celebrate on March 30th: Domestic Workers.

It is worth noting that, according to the ILO (International Labor Organization), “of the 75.6 million domestic workers worldwide, 76.2 per cent are women, (…)”   

Domestic workers are those who perform their labor in domestic households. This could entail cleaning the house, preparing meals, doing the laundry, caring for children, elderly or sick members of the family and even for the pets. Domestic workers might live-in or out of the household. They might work full time or part-time, in one or several homes.

Historically, domestic work has been an invisible job, even though it is an essential one for our economy. The domestic workers´ labor, allows many of us to leave our homes and go to our own jobs, while our homes are well kept, and our children and other family members are cared for and looked after. They also allow us time to spend with our loved ones —time that would otherwise be spent on domestic chores. Nevertheless, it is a silent, almost unnoticeable, task. That is, until the day the domestic worker fails to arrive, then our tidy routine becomes chaos, and we notice their absence.

Notwithstanding the importance of domestic workers in the economy and our daily lives, they seldom have access to, information about, and protection of, their rights. They generally labor under very demanding conditions, exposed to violence and harassment. Especially vulnerable are the informal domestic workers given the gaps in labor and social security legislation and their implementation. According to the ILO: “Domestic workers represent 4.5 percent of employees, and 81 per cent are in informal employment-…”

In Mexico, it was back in 2011 that the Constitution was amended to acknowledge domestic work and establish the rights and working conditions of domestic workers. Nevertheless, it took 8 additional years (2019), for Mexico´s Federal Labor Code to be amended to define the term domestic work and grant domestic workers basic labor rights. Three more years had to elapse for the Social Security laws to be modified accordingly.

Did you know that with these revisions, including the last - to the Social Security Code-domestic workers in Mexico can finally exert all the basic rights that any other employee had been able to for years.

This means: the right to a written contract, an eight-hour shift, double time for extra hours or shifts, minimum wage, days off and vacations, year-end bonus (aguinaldo in Spanish) and social security. The amendment to the Social Security Code now acknowledges the right of the domestic worker to be registered; but more importantly it makes it mandatory for the employer to register the domestic worker.

Fortunately, domestic workers now have all their rights protected by the laws of this country. It is therefore critical that domestic workers get to know these rights and have access to them. Yet, it is as important for the employers to comply with the laws that protect them.

Let us celebrate these workers by dignifying their labor and their way of living.

https://www.ilo.org/global/topics/domestic-workers/who/lang--en/index.htm

*Con estudios en Derecho en México y el extranjero y experiencia de más de 25 años como miembro del Servicio Exterior Mexicano, Ioana Navarrete Pellicer se ha dedicado a la protección, defensa y difusión de los derechos humanos y civiles del migrante mexicane en el exterior. A su regreso a México y su establecimiento en Mérida, desea contribuir a dar orientación sobre, y visibilidad a, los derechos humanos dentro de las comunidades yucatecas.

[email protected]

Keep reading: Every women, every where, all the time

Editon: Estefanía Cardeña