The ILO Domestic Workers Convention and regulatory reforms in Argentina, Chile and Paraguay. A comparative study of working time and remuneration regulations

• Author: Lorena POBLETE
• Published date: 01 September 2018
• Date: 01 September 2018
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/ilr.12115

International Labour Review, Vol. 157 (2018), No. 3

Copyright © The author 2018

Journal compilation © International Labour Organization 2018

The ILO Domestic Workers

Convention and regulatory reforms

in Argentina, Chile and Paraguay.

A comparative study of working

time and remuneration regulations

Lorena POBLETE*

Abstract. In June 2011, the International Labour Conference adopted the

Convention concerning decent work for domestic workers, No. 189, and its accom-

panying Recommendation No. 201. From a comparative law standpoint, this arti-

cle seeks to analyse the role played by Convention No. 189 on regulatory reforms,

focusing on the legislative measures taken in three Latin American countries that

have ratied it: Argentina, Chile and Paraguay. An analysis is also made of the

discussions and controversies that have determined the way in which the working

time and wage provisions contained in the Convention have been incorporated into

the national laws on paid domestic work in these three countries.

At its 100th Session, in June 2011, the International Labour Conference

(ILC) adopted the Domestic Workers Convention (No. 189) and its

accompanying Recommendation (No. 201). These two instruments provide an

innovative regulatory model for paid domestic work based upon the fundamen-

tal principles and rights at work: freedom of association and the right to bargain

collectively; the abolition of child labour; the elimination of all forms of forced

labour; and the elimination of discrimination in employment and occupation.

In taking measures to ensure these principles and rights, domestic workers are

*Researcher, Centro de Investigaciones Sociales, CIS-CONICET/IDES, Argentina, email:

lorena.poblete@conicet.gov.ar. This research was co-funded by the Fung Global Fellows Program,

Princeton University, and the Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (National

Scientific and Technical Research Council, CONICET), Argentina. The author would like to thank

Adelle Blackett, Ana María Goldani, Rosmary Taylor, Peter A. Hall and Andreas Wimmer for their

comments at the first stages of this research. She extends also all her gratitude to Guy Mundlak for

his intelligent and generous reading of the article.

Responsibility for opinions expressed in signed articles rests solely with their authors, and

publication does not constitute an endorsement by the ILO.

436 International Labour Review

granted: protection from abuse, harassment, violence and discrimination; the

right to be informed of the terms and conditions of employment, including ter-

mination of employment; protection against excessive working hours; provi-

sions governing periodicity and modalities of pay; daily and weekly rest periods;

annual paid leave; sick leave; probation periods; and access to social security.

Since the Domestic Workers Convention was adopted in 2011, 26 coun-

tries have ratified it, of which 13 are in Latin America.1 This may be attrib-

uted to the interest in regulating such an important sector in the region and

to the activism of domestic workers’ organizations in these countries. In Latin

America, paid domestic work accounts for nearly 40 per cent of the worldwide

total and is one of the main forms of women’s labour market participation: 26.6

per cent of working women in the region are domestic workers and 92 per cent

of all domestic workers are women (ILO, 2013). Undeclared employment is

common in the domestic work sector, which means that labour rights do not

apply and workers have no access to social benefits. When Convention No. 189

was starting to take shape, Latin American domestic workers’ organizations

played an important role in supporting this international standard-setting ini-

tiative. After its adoption, these organizations actively promoted its ratification

in their respective countries. Although 13 countries in Latin America have rati-

fied Convention No. 189, only Argentina, Chile and Paraguay have introduced

comprehensive amendments to their national legislation since its adoption.2

The structure of the domestic work sector varies considerably across the

three countries. Argentina has 1 million domestic workers (accounting for

7.2 per cent of the labour force and 17.2 per cent of working women). In

Chile there are approximately 400,000 domestic workers (accounting for

4.9 per cent of the labour force and 11.7 per cent of working women). Finally,

it is estimated that Paraguay has 230,000 domestic workers (accounting for

7.5 per cent of the labour force and 15.8 per cent of working women). Over

the past 15 years, varying trends have emerged in the three countries: while

the number of domestic workers has risen in Argentina, it has remained rel-

atively stable in Paraguay and declined in Chile (ILO, 2012). Contractual

arrangements also differ substantially in each of the three labour markets.

In Chile, domestic workers who live in their employers’ households make up

about 15 per cent of the domestic work sector (MTPS, 2009). In Paraguay,

live-in domestic workers account for 10 per cent of the sector (UNFPA, 2013),

while in Argentina they make up less than 2 per cent (Pereyra and Tizziani,

2014). These differences are significant in that they shape the domestic work

sector according to the national context of each country. The labour market

1 Uruguay ratified the Convention in 2012; the Plurinational State of Bolivia (hereinafter

“Bolivia”), Ecuador, Nicaragua and Paraguay in 2013; Argentina, Colombia and Costa Rica in

2014; Chile, Dominican Republic and Panama in 2015; Brazil and Peru in 2018.

2 The case of Brazil is worth mentioning, given its importance in the context of the South

American Common Market (MERCOSUR). Brazil ratified Convention No. 189 in January 2018,

and it will enter into force in January 2019. Since Brazil had already introduced legislation on

domestic workers before it ratified Convention No. 189, it is not included in this analysis.