The DA'S plan to deliver a better life for domestic workers

Note to editors: The following statement and document were presented by DA Shadow Minister of Labour, Ian Ollis MP, during a press conference in Parliament today.

In our current labour dispensation, domestic workers are not afforded the same rights as other workers. Domestic workers do not have the same level of protection when they are sick or injured and they are not covered by the International Labour Organisation's Convention on Domestic Work.

The DA seeks to change this.

As such, we have formulated a comprehensive action plan to expand the rights of domestic workers. We will take this plan to Parliament and put pressure on the national government to implement it as soon as possible. A copy of this document can be foundhere.

Our plan aims to achieve three goals:

• To expand Compensation Fund coverage to include domestic workers.
• To ratify the International Labour Organisation (ILO) convention on domestic work in Parliament.
• To drive an information campaign via the Compensation Fund and the Department of Labour to inform domestic workers and their employers of their rights.

Domestic workers are unsung heroes in our country and yet they are treated as second-class citizens by our labour dispensation. If other workers become injured or disabled at work, they are protected by the Compensation Fund and receive pension payouts to compensate for losses in income. Besides members of the South African National Defence Force and the South African Police Services (who have their own fund), domestic workers are the only category of workers that are excluded from the Compensation Fund's coverage.

To remedy this, the DA will submit a private member's bill to amend the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act of 1993 in order to expand the Compensation Fund's coverage to include domestic workers.

The implications for domestic workers will be profound.

It will mean that, whenever a domestic worker becomes injured or disabled because of work, they will be eligible for compensation of their medical expenses, compensation for loss of income and could potentially receive punitive damages if employers were negligent or knowingly complicit in any injuries to domestic workers.

And it won't be expensive. Contributions to the Compensation Fund are made by employers on a monthly basis.  Individual employers will pay a small fraction of the total value of domestic workers' salaries into the fund - this will likely be below 1% of the domestic worker's salary.

In addition, we will push for the ILO Convention on Domestic Work to be ratified in Parliament. The Convention sets guidelines on reasonable hours of work, limits on in-kind payment as well as the rights of domestic workers to receive clear information on terms of employment and enjoy the same protection as other workers. The DA fully supports the resolutions therein and will endeavour to make them a reality in South Africa.

Domestic workers have been treated as second-class citizens for too long. It is high time that their role in building our nation is properly acknowledged and they are afforded the same rights as other workers. We will push for these reforms with vigour in the weeks and months ahead.

Statement issued by Ian Ollis MP, DA Shadow Minister of Labour, September 28 2011

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