Ratifying Convention 189 on Domestic Workers, a political and social emergency for the protection of Nepali workers

On 16 June 2011, during the 100th session of the International Labor organization, the Convention 189 on Domestic Workers was adopted. Less than a year later, on 26 April 2012, the Uruguayan parliament approved the convention and thereby became the first country to ratify it, soon followed by 35 others. The adoption of this convention was the result of an important international social movement, organized by a coalition of domestic workers, trade unions, national centers, human rights groups and grassroots organizations. These organizations recognize that the convention C189 is a huge step for domestic workers. It’s also significant for migrant workers, widely improving their conditions, in the country where it has been ratified. For Sabita Purkuti, who works  for Right to Mobility and Decent Work with the Women's Rehabilitation Center organization (WOREC) “It’s the first convention that has specifically talked about the rights of domestic workers, it defines the scope of domestic work. It’s a legal basis on which we can advocate for domestic work. So it has a great significance.”

Domestic work is an important part of Nepal’s economy. It includes domestic workers in Nepal, but also numerous Nepali migrant workers in gulf countries. Sabita Purkuti explains: “Most of them are from marginalized communities. They don’t have much education, so basically the only skill they have is domestic work, it’s not a choice. And more than 90% of women migrate for domestic work”

Domestic workers are not considered as workers: they are not included in social security, don’t have access to union, are not included in minimum wage legislation, are not registered and thus, not protected. In Nepal, more than 80 per cent of domestic workers have no written contract.[1]

This is the main change induced by this convention, which pled “The Convention is founded on the fundamental premise that domestic workers are neither “servants”, nor “members of the family” nor second-class workers.”[2]

For Nepalese domestic workers, the adoption of this convention would be an important improvement. It contains many articles which would ensure concrete protection for domestic workers, and ensure safe and dignified work. The Domestic Workers Convention requires governments to provide domestic workers with the same basic labor rights as those available to other workers. In 17 articles, it specifies the rights needed for domestic workers: daily and weekly rest hours, entitlement to minimum wage and to choose the place where they live and spend their leave. This chart also includes protection from abuse, protection for children, fair terms of employment, equal treatment with other workers, minimum wage coverage, payment at least once a month, right to a safe and healthy working environment, social security, including maternity protection. Article 8 focuses on migrant worker rights: migrant domestic workers who are recruited in one country for domestic work in another need to receive a written job offer, or contract of employment prior to crossing national borders, and they are entitled to repatriation on the expiry or termination of the employment contract. This chart finally requires effective and accessible complaints mechanisms, measures for labor inspections, and penalties, and access to court. That would ensure that domestic workers have means to be heard if their rights are not respected.

But this convention still has not been ratified in Nepal, or in Middle East Countries, where thousands of  Nepalese travel to become migrant domestic workers. And the situation for them is still tough. Nepalese workers in gulf countries often face exploitation, and their government seems to fail to protect them. Currently, domestic workers in gulf countries don't have the same rights as other workers, they are often under the Kafala system, meaning their employer can prohibit them from leaving, taking their passport, and they have no minimum wage.

In Nepal, the  measures often taken by the government to prevent the problems faced by Nepalese domestic workers was banning Nepalese citizens from traveling to work as domestic workers in the Gulf (since 2017). The goal was to protect them from domestic violence and exploitation. As Sabita Purkiti explains, many organizations consider that: “Banning it’s not a solution. It is kind of guided by the principle that women have to be controlled, and protected. The idea that they have to be taken care of. So that’s totally against human rights principle. “

This is indeed a false solution, as migrants continue to go work abroad, but with even less legal protection. They resort to traveling through neighboring countries before making their onward journey, making them even more vulnerable to trafficking. In 2020, the Commerce, Labour, and Consumer Welfare Committee recommended the government to relax the 2017 ban.

As of  2022, only 36 countries have ratified the Convention C189, but the number is growing every year. So we could hope for Nepal or Middle east countries to be next. In 2011, all members of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia) expressed support in the final vote of the Convention[3]. Kuwait has introduced a law on domestic workers (The domestic worker Law) and a minimum wage in 2015-16, and in 2017 Qatar has adopted laws on the protection of domestic workers.

Sabita Purkuti explains: “Once a government official said “I don’t think we need to ratify more conventions because we have already done a lot. We also have national law”. They are reluctant. The issue is that we have so much changes in government. For example, the current minister for labor, he is quite positive. We work with him and the bureaucrat, we supported the ministry to better understand the situation, but then there would be a new team coming totally unaware of the situation. There is no institutional memory”

Ratification is entirely voluntary, and depends on the interest and priority of the government..

That’s why, all the organizations working on labour migration, including WOREC, have been advocating to push for the ratification of the convention. They celebrated the 10th anniversary of Convention 189, with the ambition of “Commemorating domestic workers and urging countries to ratify C189 and ensure the rights of domestic workers worldwide”

Once countries ratify it, governments will have to introduce new legislations or revise the existing legislations, so that the regulations of domestic work for Nepalese fall within the framework of the convention. If it doesn’t, unions or employer associations will be able to submit complaints to the ILO.[4] "Ratifying this convention would be an agenda during negotiation between Nepal and Destination Countries (such as Qatar, Saudi Arabia or Kuwait for example). As Sabita explains: “We are the country who sends migrants. So we have national instruments, the rights of domestic workers are guaranteed by our national constitution and laws. But when we talk about countries of destinations, where these rights are not respected, the situation is different. And if we ask them to ratify they will say that Nepal didn’t.” Finally, ratifying this convention would show how the Nepal government is working to improve domestic worker conditions, in Nepal and abroad.

“We do not have to be slaves anymore”[5], declared Myrtle Witbooi, a member of the ILO Domestic Workers Committee Working Group and South African labour activist, when the convention 189 was signed in 2011. She noted the importance of this convention, but she also advocated: “We must not rest until our governments ratify the Convention.” So the next step is to make the voice of domestic workers heard, and to plead for ratification. “It takes time and we need to advocate for it”, concludes Sabita Purkuti.

Élise Gressier

[1] https://www.wiego.org/sites/default/files/publications/file/WIEGO_PolicyBrief_N20_Nepal%20for%20Web.pdf

[2] https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_protect/---protrav/---travail/documents/publication/wcms_168266.pdf

[3] https://globalnation.inquirer.net/4318/ilo-passes-landmark-treaty-to-protect-domestic-workers

[4] https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/24360/1/dp0014.pdf Boockmann, Bernhard, The ratification of ILO conventions: a failure time analysis

[5] https://www.hrw.org/report/2013/10/27/claiming-rights/domestic-workers-movements-and-global-advances-labor-reform

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