Domestic Workers Denied Rights By Poor Labour Laws
Goitsemodimo Kaelo | Monday November 12, 2018 15:51
Speakers at the Botswana Global Alumni panel discussion held recently at the Institute of Labour and Employment Studies (ILES) said the current labour laws allow for domestic workers to be exploited, to provide sex work to their bosses and perform a duplication of duties they are not employed to perform and are not paid for.
Cashiers and Allied Workers Unions (CASAWU) Industrial relations officer, Mpho Chingapane said domestic workers have not earned the status of being workers or employees.
“They are domesticated like chickens, dogs and cats because the law treats them like animals. The law is the root cause of all the challenges they face. Under the current law, the employer has no obligation to provide documentation of their employee,” he said.
He said in the event the employee alleges unfair dismissal, the employer is not bound by the burden of proof. He said this is so because the law intended that domestic workers be treated like tools or property.
Chingapane also stated that domestic workers in the country have been condemned to live away from the idea of solidarity. Moreover, he said domestic workers have not enjoyed terms and conditions like other employees.
As such he called for the enactment of a Private Sector Act, which he said would work similar to the Public Service Act, which would also create a platform of meaningful bargaining for the domestic workers.
“The Private Sector Act would deal with the precariousness surrounding the domestic workers conditions,” he said, adding that radical reforms centred on the private sector are imminent.
Magdeline Gontse, a domestic worker of 13 years’ experience who gave presentation on the experience of a domestic worker, said they are forced to work on contracts, something that makes it difficult to negotiate for an improvement in the salary and working conditions.
“We work for peanuts for many years without salary increase and when we ask, they tell us about the minimum wage. We are also forced to work extra hours without pay, even at midnight and are not allowed to take days off or leave. It is a difficult situation,” Gontse said.
Gontse added that in most cases they are forced to care for relatives, and are forced to do sex work because they are at the mercy of their employer.
“Most domestic workers are forced to neglect their parenthood responsibilities because their bosses do not allow them to stay with their children. We are not supposed to get sick, as you would be replaced for taking time out at the clinic. And in most cases we are forced to give into our bosses sexual demands,” she added.
She said that organised groups should extend a helping hand to domestic workers to put solidarity in action. It is said there are over 67 million domestic workers the world over; 80% of them being female.
The panel discussion, which was organised by ILES in conjunction with the GLU Alumni, was held under the theme ‘Precariousness of work in the domestic sector’.