Work Like Any Other, Work Like No Other: Establishing Decent Work for Domestic Workers

Abstract

Extending labor rights to domestic workers is crucial not only from the standpoint of the workers but also in light of the renewed emphasis on and demand for paid care work in the home. This article explores the legal challenges that must be addressed in order to ensure decent work for domestic workers. It does so at a pivotal moment in the ongoing struggle to provide justice for domestic workers, to ensure that they enjoy the same substantive labor rights extended to workers generally. For the first time, the International Labour Organization (ILO) has agreed to consider adopting labor standards that allow for the specificity of the unique circumstances of domestic service workers.

This article therefore combines a global perspective with a local focus on the particular status of domestic workers in the United States. Part II overviews domestic service and underscores some of the distinct qualities of both the work and the domestic service employment relationship. While the situation of domestic workers varies widely within and among countries, the workers share in common a deprivation of rights that turns on their invisibility within private households. Parts III and IV focus on the work of the ILO as it relates to domestic service. Part III considers the applicability of existing ILO standards to domestic service while Part IV examines the proposed ILO standards relating to domestic service. The effectiveness of ILO standards ultimately rests on ILO member states embracing them and taking steps to ensure that national laws comply with them. Thus Part V examines key national labor laws in the United States, evaluates their significance for domestic workers, and considers the extent to which they presently align with the proposed ILO principles of decent work for domestic workers. In short, Part V poses and answers the question: How close is the United States to ensuring decent work for domestic workers? Part V also provides some initial guidance on steps the United States must take in order to fill the existing gaps in its national labor laws as applied to domestic workers.

Keywords: domestic workers, labor law, labor rights, childcare, elder care, International Labour Organization