Social Dialogue to Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals: Formalising Domestic Work in the Philippines (SDGs 1, 5, 8 and 10)
Description
Domestic work has among the highest concentrations of low-waged workers. In September 2012, the Philippine Government ratified the Domestic Workers Convention, 2011 (No. 189), and, in January 2013, passed a comprehensive Domestic Workers Act. Both are landmark policies in a country that employs within its borders close to 2 million domestic workers, and has deployed hundreds of thousands of Filipinos to work as domestic workers overseas. Both measures have been hailed as major achievements of a broad-based alliance among trade union federations, the national employers’ organization, civil society organizations, and government.
The main objective of the practice was the formalisation of domestic work in the Philippines (related to SDGs 1, 5, 8 and 10). This was carried out through social dialogue processes involving the government, workers’ and employers’ organisations as well as other organisations working with domestic workers. These social dialogue processes were organised around several major themes: a unified Philippine position on the ILO instruments, ratification of Convention 189 on Domestic Workers, passage of a comprehensive law on domestic workers (the Domestic Workers’ Act), formulation of the Implementing Rules and Regulations of the new law, formulation of other guidelines and procedures for the implementing agencies, review and adjustment of the minimum wage rates for domestic workers, the design of a framework for the participatory assessment of the impact of the law, and a Technical Working Group assessment and action-planning.<br />
Over the past years, the Domestic Workers’ Act has translated into specific achievements such as the establishment of minimum wages, working time protection and social security and health insurance coverage for domestic workers, and the prohibition of child labour in domestic work. Its outcomes contribute to the SDGs in the following ways<br />
SDG 8 – Promote decent work: Due to the high levels of informality, formalising domestic work will contribute to the achievement of SDG Target 8.5 (full and productive employment and decent work for all women and men) and SDG Target 8.3.1 (reduction of informality amongst women and men). Measures to promote freedom of association, labour rights, and occupational health and safety standards in domestic work would also be in line with SDG Target 8.8 (protection of labour rights, and promotion of safe and secure working environments for all workers).<br />
SDG 10 – Reduce inequalities: Domestic work has disproportionately high concentrations of women from poor households and socially excluded populations. Measures that address the multiple dimensions of inequality that permeate domestic work will contribute to SDG Target 10.2 (empowerment and promotion of the social, economic and political inclusion of all).<br />
SDG 5 – Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls: As domestic work is the single most important source of income for women, addressing decent work deficits and rights violations will contribute to the realisation of SDG Target 5.1 (end all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere).<br />
SDG 1 – End poverty in all its forms everywhere: Low and precarious wages, income and job insecurity, health and safety risks, child labour and labour exploitation further trap already impoverished domestic workers in poverty. Therefore, measures that tackle these problems are in line with SDG Target 1.2 (reduce at least by half the proportion of men, women and children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions according to national definition).
The workers' organisations: Federation of Free Workers (FFW), Sentro ng mga Nagkakaisa at Progresibong Manggagawa (SENTRO), The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP);
The employers' organisation: Employers' Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP);
Government entity: the Department of Labour and Employment (DOLE).
Other organisations: Visayan Forum Foundation, SUMAPI, the Informal Sector Coalition of the Philippines (ISP, later renamed ALLWIES), the Philippine Commission on Women (PCW), and Migrant Forum Asia (MFA).
The International Labor Organisation (ILO)
The main beneficiaries have been domestic workers in and from the Philippines.
This initiative was implemented through a tripartite Technical Working Group (TWG) on domestic work, created in 2009, composed of the Department of Labour and Employment, and workers’ and employers’ organisations, which later expanded its membership to NGOs and networks involved in the campaign for a convention on domestic workers.
The work through the TWG enabled members to build an expertise in domestic work issues, and facilitated decision-making. Technical representatives were also high enough in the decision-making ladder of their own institutions to be able to commit resources and secure support from their own membership.
The TWG set group objectives, and formulated and coordinated action plans, which were a combination of joint and separate activities by member organizations.
The TWG’s first action plan had twin objectives: (i) enabling the Philippine employers, trade unions, and government to present a common position at the 2010 and 2011 International Labour Conference, and (ii) advocating for the passage of a law for domestic workers. After the ILO adopted Convention 189 and Recommendation 201, the TWG prioritised the ratification of the Convention by the Philippine government, together with sustained advocacy for a comprehensive national law aligned with the Convention. From 2013 onwards, the TWG members focused its actions on supporting the effective implementation of the Domestic Workers’ Act and promoting compliance among employers and workers. It carried out activities in five areas: (i) formulation of the Implementing Rules and Regulations of the law by organizing multi-stakeholder consultations on the draft rules; (ii) building capacities of implementing agencies to perform their functions under the new law, including formulation of guidelines, procedures the and systems; (iii) awareness-raising campaigns for the general public; (iv) organizing and educating domestic workers and employers of domestic workers; and (v) formulation of a framework for the assessment of the impacts of the law.
Monitoring and assessment of progress has been undertaken through two multi-stakeholders’ workshops in 2015 and 2016 and All Workers regional conferences in 2017.
1. General obligations imposed on employers of domestic workers:
Treat domestic workers with fairness and respect and protect them against abuse or exploitation.
Provide domestic workers adequate meals and housing, as well as medical assistance.
Respect workers’ right to privacy.
Provide the worker with access to outside communication.
Adjust the work schedule to allow access to education or training.
2. Recruitment and pre-employment:
Prohibits agencies, intermediaries, and employers from extracting “finders’ fees†and deployment expenses from domestic worker.
Makes Private Employment Agencies (PEAs) jointly and severally liable with the employer for all the wages, wage-related benefits and other benefits due to domestic workers
Requires the employer and the domestic worker to enter into a written contract before commencement of the service.
3. Wage protection and minimum wage:
Establishes minimum wages for domestic workers
Mandates Regional Tripartite Wage Boards to review and, if necessary, adjust the minimum wages of domestic workers one year after the enactment of the law and periodically thereafter.
Entitles domestic workers with at least one month of service to a thirteen month pay.
Requires employers to pay wages in cash and issue pay slips.
Prohibits employers from interfering with the domestic workers’ disposal of wages.
Provides clear and strict guidelines for deductions from wages of domestic workers for loss and damages to the property of the employer caused by domestic workers.
Penalizes employers who will place domestic workers in debt bondage or illegally withhold the wages of domestic workers.
4. Working time protection:
Entitles domestic workers to an “aggregate daily rest period†of eight hours per day and at least 24 consecutive hours of rest for every week.
Entitles workers who have rendered at least one year of service to an annual service incentive leave with pay.
5. Social security:
Entitles domestic workers who have rendered at least one month of service to be covered by the Social Security System, Employees Compensation Commission, Philippine Health Insurance Corporation, and the Home Development Mutual Fund.
6. Protection from child labour:
Prohibits employment of children below 15 years of age as domestic workers.
Allows the employment of children aged 15-17 years old as long as the working conditions conform to the standards set forth in the law.
7. Employment protection:
Prohibits domestic workers and employers from terminating the contract before the expiration of the contract term except for just causes as enumerated under the law.
Obligates compensation of domestic worker unjustly dismissed by the employer.
8. Victims of abuse and exploitation:
Assures the immediate rescue of abused and exploited domestic workers, including children in worst forms of child labour.
1. Political leadership and support from the Executive Branch
The Domestic Workers’ Act was included in the priority legislative agenda of the Legislative- Executive Development Advisory Council.
An internal Department of Labour and Employment inter-agency committee was set up to assess gaps in Philippine legislation in respect of Convention 189 and comment on various versions of the draft law in Congress; and convened an inter-agency committee consisting of relevant government agencies that would have functions under the proposed law.
2. A broad policy agenda favourable to domestic workers’ rights
The Administration’s 22-Point Labour and Employment Policy Agenda included protection of the constitutionally guaranteed rights of all workers. Decent work was the established framework for the Medium-Term Labour and Employment Development Plan. Under the Department of Labour and Employment Domestic Workers Policy Reform Package, the Philippines set higher standards for the recruitment and deployment of domestic workers to other countries. The National Anti-Poverty Commission – Agenda setting encompasses several sectors, among which is “Workers in the Informal Sectorâ€.
3. Sustained support to the legislative process to produce a Convention 189-compliant law
Included briefings for the House and Senate Committees on Labour and their technical staffs, meetings with “champions†of the Domestic Workers’ Act in Congress, close information sharing between the Department of Labour and Employment officials and Technical Working Group members regarding legislative process, and Technical Working Group “watch teams†and “drafting teams†to help draft alternative versions that might break impasses.
4. Technical Working Group on Domestic Work unified position on content of the law reform
The Department of Labour and Employment and the Technical Working Group continued efforts to achieve a unified stance vis-Ã -vis Congress.
5. Concerted awareness-raising, advocacy and media events
Aimed at mobilizing support for Convention 189, and maintaining public visibility of the domestic workers’ issue and the law reform.
6. Sustained knowledge base building
The Technical Working Group recognized that lack of data and analysis would be a constraint for policy formulation. Politicians and government staff were not convinced that addressing issues of domestic workers should be a national priority or that labour standards in domestic work were feasible.
The following were produced: analyses by the Department of Labour and Employment and the ILO of national statistical databases to produce profiles of domestic workers, and employer-households of domestic workers; policy gap analysis by the Department of Labour and Employment; analysis of the Quezon City and Makati local government initiatives on domestic workers; ECOP focus group discussions with employers of domestic workers to revise a draft “Ethical guidelines for employersâ€.
It is unavoidable that some challenges still remain in the effective implementation of the law, given the nature of domestic work which is mainly confined to the household, where non-compliance could easily go undetected. However, important lessons can be learned from the implementation of this practice, which could be replicable in other countries that have ratified the Domestic Workers’ Convention or could put forward measures for the formalisation of domestic work. One of the key lessons for replicability is that social dialogue is a key how-to to guarantee inclusiveness and sustainability.
Much of the poor working conditions on domestic work can be traced to the absence of an effective legal framework for domestic workers, and the predominance of social norms and traditional, personalized practices. The Domestic Workers Act and Convention 189 were landmark social policies for the Philippines. They sent two strong messages: first, that domestic workers are like other workers with fundamental rights; and second, that employment relationships by their nature, regardless of their location in the private sphere, cannot be excluded from state regulation on rights and conditions of employment. <br />
The social dialogue process that was put forward in the Philippines for the formalisation of Domestic Work is a good example of how the government, social actors and NGOs can work together to achieve concrete results in this area. The Domestic Workers Act led to concrete legal reforms with very positive outcomes towards formalizing employment of domestic workers. However, social dialogue processes on domestic work must dig deep and be ready for a long haul: Convention 189 and the Domestic Workers Act are not only about formal rules. The process of negotiation and consensus building is not yet finished even though the law is in place. To transform realities in domestic work, these have to touch norms, values and attitudes of deeply rooted social arrangements. Not least, these affect interest groups differently, and thus operate through their relative power. The challenge for social dialogue is making new formal rules known, understood and “owned†by domestic workers, their employers and communities.
The Philippines: Contribution of Social Dialogue to the Formalisation of Domestic Work and Agenda 2030: https://www.ituc-csi.org/IMG/pdf/sd_philippines_en.pdf
SDGS & Targets
Deliverables & Timeline
Resources mobilized
Partnership Progress
| Name | Description |
|---|
Feedback
Action Network
Share
Timeline
Entity
Region
- Asia and Pacific
Geographical coverage
Website/More information
Countries
Contact Information
Diego Lopez Gonzalez, Development Partnerships Officer