87pc domestic workers don’t get weekly holiday: Study

News Desk :
About 87% of domestic workers in the country do not get any weekly holiday, according to a recent study.
Around 1.5% of the domestic workers get earned leave, about 3% get paid maternity leave and around 6% get unpaid maternity leave, said the study report titled “Decent Job and Gender Violence in the Workplace: A Research Project on Bangladeshi Female Domestic Workers”.
Almost 99% of domestic workers do not have any kind of skill development training, said the report revealed at a workshop in the National Press Club in the capital on Sunday.
Dnet conducted the study on behalf of the Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies (Bils), and the Suniti (Securing Rights of Women Domestic Workers in Bangladesh) Project.
The researchers collected data from 456 live-in domestic workers, 370 live-out domestic workers, and 150 employers for the study.
The report said about 85% of employers think that life skills training would increase the domestic workers’ awareness about their rights.
About 99% of domestic workers are not provided with any type of safety equipment for occupational hazard or emergencies. These workers never get various social security benefits like severance pay, post severance pay, provident fund, gratuity, pension, accident benefits, and medical allowance.
In 100% cases, domestic workers do not have a formal employment contract as they are employed through an oral contract. About 26% of domestic workers face a wage cut for being absent or late at work.
Domestic workers who stay at the employers’ houses have to work 10-14 hours a day. On the other hand, domestic workers who do not live at the employers’ houses have flexible work hours as per the contract. Weekly or festival holidays are not common among the domestic workers.
Billal Hossain Sheikh, director of the Department of Labour, said, “There should be specific laws for the protection of domestic workers, as well as provisions for punishment for those who violate the laws. Awareness alone does not really do much for protecting rights.”
Sushmita Paik, deputy director of National Human Rights Commission Bangladesh, said, “We think about all the people lagging behind, including the small ethnic groups, but we do not think about the domestic workers. To achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, we must move forward with them, leaving no one behind.”
M Shahadat Hossain, co-founder and executive director of Dnet, said, “The research shows that there is still a lot to be done to ensure the safety of domestic workers in Bangladesh. Proper steps are needed to shift them from informal to formal sector. The government can play a role in ensuring that.”
Bils Joint Secretary General Dr Wajedul Islam Khan, Oxfam Bangladesh Project Coordinator Tarek Aziz, ILO National Project Coordinator Anne Drong, Labour Rights Journalists Forum General Secretary Ataur Rahman, Change Initiative Researcher and Chief Executive Md Zakir Hussain Khan, Global Affairs Canada Senior Development Advisor Sylvia Islam, and Global Affairs Canada Head of Corporation Joe Goodings, among others, were also present at the programme.