The House of Representatives Wednesday reiterated the need to ensure the protection of domestic workers in Nigeria as it passed for second reading, a bill for an act to domesticate the “Domestic Workers Bill of Rights,” a convention of the International Labour Organisation (ILO).
The ILO convention stated that, “Each member shall take measures to ensure that domestic workers, like workers generally, enjoy fair terms of employment as well as decent working conditions and, if they reside in the household, decent living conditions that respect their privacy.”
A report of the organisation published in 2021 found that 81 percent of domestic workers were informally employed, due either to gaps in legal coverage or gaps in implementation.
The report reads: “Yet, the growing global need for care services means that the demand for domestic workers is likely to grow.”
Sponsored by chairman of the House Committee on Works, Hon. Akin Alabi, the bill seeks to establish minimum employment standards, ensuring the protection and welfare of domestic workers in Nigeria.
Presenting its general principles, the lawmaker stated that, “a lot of things are happening in homes where the so called bosses and madams are dehumanising domestic workers. This should not be happening at this age and time.
“We need to set out a clear-cut condition of minimum working standard for domestic workers.”
He urged his colleagues to support its second reading to pave way for stakeholder’s input at a public hearing.