Domestic workers

TUC Online 132/050711 Brussels, 5 July 2011 (ITUC OnLine): A new report by the European Union’s Fundamental Rights Agency http://www.fra.europa.eu/fraWebsite/home/home_en.htm has exposed serious loopholes in legal protections for undocumented migrants who are domestic workers. The survey of 10 EU Member States reveals that despite international legal requirements, employers largely control the extent to which the…

ABU DHABI // Recruitment agencies must ensure employers pay the minimum wage set by the Philippines government for its nationals working abroad as domestics, a labour official has said.

THE Philippines’ labor department will continue to support its $400 minimum pay rates for Filipino domestic workers in Saudi Arabia despite an employment ban in the Kingdom. “Yes (we will stand pat on it). Una, hindi naman sa Saudi lang applicable yan e. All countries employing HSWs [household service workers] are following that,” said Department…

Decision to ban Indons, Filipinos seen as pique after criticism of beheading of Indonesian maid The decision last week by the Saudi Arabian government to stop hiring maids from the Philippines and Indonesia as of Aug.1 has created chaos in the overseas labor markets of the two countries, with the fate uncertain for tens of…

MANILA, Philippines – The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has downplayed the impact of Saudi Arabia’s decision to stop granting work permits to domestic workers from the Philippines on the total amount of money sent home by Filipinos working abroad.

REPUBLIC Act 8042, also known as The Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act, was enacted in response to the tragedy that befell Flor Contemplacion, a housemaid in Singapore who was executed after she was found guilty of murder.

MANILA, Philippines – Malacañang said yesterday the government has contingency measures for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in case Saudi Arabia imposes its new policy halting the grant of working permits to domestic helpers coming from Asian countries.

RIYADH // Saudi Arabia’s Labour Ministry said the kingdom would no longer issue work permits for domestic workers from Indonesia and the Philippines after these nations issued new hiring guidelines.

When Saudi Arabia begins turning away migrant laborers, overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) can turn to Australia and Canada for employment, the Philippine labor chief said Thursday. In an interview with GMA News Online, Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said the government is now exploring to take advantage of the “labor shortage” in Australia and Canada.

JEDDAH: Illegal housemaids in Jeddah have begun asking for huge salary increases following the decision to suspend recruitment of housemaids from Indonesia and the Philippines. Many families are reporting that the maids have threatened to walk out if their demands are not met, especially that Ramadan is one month away when demand for extra domestic…

Megan McKee, University of Pittsburgh School of Law Class of 2012, worked as a legal researcher for the Centre for International Sustainable Development Law and is currently working in Lebanon. She writes about the need for greater rights for migrant workers in that country, especially for those employed as domestic workers…

Foreign workers in Saudi Arabia send £17bn to families back home annually. But for some, the cost in physical and mental abuse is too high, writes Jason Burke Shortly after dawn, as the sun rises over the hills behind the city, tens of thousands of women will wake in the Saudi Arabian port of Jeddah…

Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada yesterday urged President Aquino to certify as urgent the bill seeking to increase mininum wage for household helpers or “kasambahay” along with additional benefits, saying that the measure is long overdue. Estrada also twitted colleagues from the House of Representatives for apparently sitting on the bill, which has been…

MANILA, Philippines — A lawmaker Thursday urged the House of Representatives to pass a version of the measure pushing for the welfare of household helpers.

Lilibeth Masamloc is all of 22. She started working as a maid at13. At the International Labor Organization meeting in Geneva, she prodded member countries to adopt a convention that would curb serf-like treatment of 53 million domestic workers worldwide.

MANILA, Philippines – Filipino domestic helpers are widely abused in Middle East countries because they are not covered by labor laws in these nations, a labor attaché said recently.

The landmark treaty setting standards for the treatment of domestic workers that was adopted at the International Labour Conference in Geneva has been widely hailed as a milestone. The Convention and accompanying Recommendation on decent work for domestic workers aim at protecting and improving the working and living conditions of domestic workers worldwide – estimated…

SINGAPORE should consider legislation that makes employers give their domestic helpers a rest day every week, said Madam Halimah Yacob, the Minister of State for Community Development, Youth and Sports.

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MANILA, Philippines — International action, long overdue, is finally going to help domestic workers, as the 100th annual Conference of the International Labor Organization (ILO) has adopted a historic set of international standards aimed at improving the working conditions of tens of millions of domestic workers worldwide.

MANILA, Philippines – Middle Eastern countries should recognize, guarantee, and protect the rights of domestic helpers and uphold the International Labor Organization’s (ILO) recent adoption of the Convention on Domestic Workers, a migrant workers group said.

GENEVA, June 18 (KUNA) — Most Arab delegates to the International Labour Conference (ILO) supported the adoption of historic international labour standards on decent work for domestic workers on Thursday, with only a handful of abstentions. But some highlighted the challenges to ratification and implementation in Arab countries.

The International Labour Organization (ILO) said Asia, including the Middle East, lags behind other regions in providing good employment conditions for domestic workers.

The Philippines has to do some housekeeping before it can ratify the landmark Domestic Workers Convention giving protection to domestic workers the world over.

A convention adopted by the International Labour Organization (ILO) has said that domestic workers must have the same basic labour rights as enjoyed by other professionals.

DAMMAM: With the Philippine government sticking to its position that the monthly minimum pay for domestic workers is $400, employers are anticipated to resort to “paper compliance” in order to meet the terms of the work contract.

Geneva – Labor and Employment Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz, who is currently here attending the 100th International Labor Organization conference, yesterday reported that the Philippines has successfully chaired the ILO’s Committee on Domestic Workers which had adopted a report containing the proposed Convention and Recommendation concerning decent work for domestic workers.

MANILA — The Philippines, which sends out tens of thousands of maids to work abroad every year, on Friday hailed a landmark International Labour Organisation treaty giving protection to domestic workers.

GENEVA – The International Labor Organization (ILO) on Thursday passed a landmark treaty giving protection to an estimated 52.6 million domestic workers across the world.

DOMESTICS – AN INTERNATIONAL ISSUE. Organising in New York (above), Treatment sometimes borders on slavery. THEY can be flown around the globe with their employer, and then find themselves unable to leave the house. For some it may be an escape from grinding poverty and war zones, to relative comfort and security, at the price…