WE REPORTED yesterday that the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board has approved a P500 salary increase for domestic workers or “kasambahays” in Western Visayas.
We believe this is an offshoot of Batas Kasambahay (Republic Act 10361) and the Convention on Domestic Workers (International Labor Organization Convention 189), two positive policies for household helpers who are often looked down on. These legal instruments embody, define and guarantee the rights of household helpers and set the standards that should guide society in general in treating these workers and addressing their concerns.
With the Batas Kasambahay and Convention 189, the long-suffering sector of the country’s labor force – the local domestic workers – finally enjoy social and legal protection. We just have to constantly make sure these policies are effectively implemented.
There are an estimated 1.9 million kasambahays. This sector of our labor force is oftentimes overworked but underpaid, delivering round the clock service at every beck and call of their employers.
Batas Kasambahay states the following, among others: upholding of the rights and dignity of household workers; use of a formal contract to govern employer-employee relationship; realistic minimum wage that is regularly adjusted in accordance with rising cost of living; and provision of other benefits such as membership in SSS, PhilHealth and PAG-IBIG.
On the other hand, Convention 189 provides, among others, the following: promotion and protection of the human rights of all domestic workers; respect and realization of fundamental principles and rights at work for domestic workers, namely: freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining; and elimination of all forms of forced or compulsory labor, child labor and discrimination; protection against all forms of abuse, harassment and violence; fair terms of employment; and decent working conditions.
Ensuring that our kasambahays are remunerated well and fairly is one way of giving them due recognition. Our domestic workers, our household heroes, are not invisible hands but legitimate workers equipped with the rights and benefits they truly deserve.
