Impact Justice Final Employment Rights of Domestics Workers

Employment Law Focusing on the Rights of Domestic Workers Research to Inform Public Education Cecilia Babb For IMPACT Justice 2017

REVISED FEBRUARY, 2018

Employment Law Focusing on the Rights of Domestic 2017 Workers

? Government of Canada

No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying and recording, without the written permission of the copyright holder, application for which should be addressed to the IMPACT Justice Project, CARICOM Research Building, UWI, Cave Hill Campus, Barbados. Such written permission must be obtained before any part of this publication is stored in a retrieval system of any nature.

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Employment Law Focusing on the Rights of Domestic 2017 Workers

PREFACE

IMPACT Justice (Improved Access to Justice in the Caribbean) is a project funded by the Government of Canada under an agreement with the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus. The project is being implemented from within the Caribbean Law Institute Centre, Faculty of Law, University of the West Indies (UWI), Cave Hill Campus.

The beneficiary countries are: Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, the Commonwealth of Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago. The Project's primary partners are governments and civil society institutions including the CARICOM Secretariat; the OECS Commission; bar associations; the Universities of Guyana, Suriname, UWI and the University of Technology, Jamaica; private sector and legal information service providers. The Project is also expected to work closely with the JURIST, JUST and other Canadian-funded projects in the region and to cooperate and collaborate with other donor-funded projects which have similar objectives.

The ultimate outcome of the project is "enhanced access to justice benefitting men, women, youth and businesses in the CARICOM region." Domestic workers have been identified by IMPACT Justice as a group that may be economically vulnerable because their legal employment rights are not well known, and may not be adequately protected. In 2016, Cecilia Babb, a gender specialist, was selected to report on this topic after looking at applicable international standards, employment laws and other relevant legislative provisions, as well as any actions taken by CARICOM Member States to give effect to the 2009 provision under Articles 45 and 46 of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas, for domestic workers to move freely within the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME).

The research was undertaken and the report prepared by Ms. Babb with characteristic thoroughness. It is with great satisfaction that IMPACT Justice shares this document, which is one in a series being produced on aspects of the law which affect vulnerable groups in the CARICOM region.

Velma Newton Regional Project Director IMPACT Justice

February 2017

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Employment Law Focusing on the Rights of Domestic 2017 Workers

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TABLE OF STATUTES..................................................................................................................................... vi TABLE OF TABLES AND FIGURES ................................................................................................................ viii ACRONYMS .................................................................................................................................................. ix EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .................................................................................................................................. x 1. INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................................................... 1

1.1 CSME Free Movement Rights of Household Domestics ............................................................... 1 1.2 Domestic Workers are not benefiting from CSME Free Movement............................................. 3 1.3 Patterns of Domestic Work in CARICOM ...................................................................................... 4 1.4 Domestic Workers Employment Rights Laws in CARICOM........................................................... 7 1.5 Main Provisions of Domestic Workers Legislation...................................................................... 11 1.6 Other Employment Legislation Applicable to Domestic Workers .............................................. 17 1.7 Compliance with Domestic Workers Legislation in Force........................................................... 20 1.8 Origins of Legislation Pertaining to Domestic Workers in the Commonwealth Caribbean........ 23 1.9 Other Sources of CARICOM Legislation for Domestic Workers .................................................. 26 2. GENDER, COMMONWEALTH and C189 GAP ANALYSIS ...................................................................... 28 2.1 Gender Analysis of Domestic Workers Employment Rights Laws .............................................. 30 2.2 Mapping CARICOM and Other Commonwealth Laws ................................................................ 41

2.2.1 Provisions not contained in CARICOM Domestic Workers Laws ........................................ 44 2.2.2 Zimbabwe Labour (Domestic Worker) Employment Regulations ...................................... 46 2.3 Gap Analysis of CARICOM Domestic Worker Laws and ILO C189............................................... 47 2.4 Ratification of C189 in CARICOM ................................................................................................ 55

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Employment Law Focusing on the Rights of Domestic 2017 Workers

3. CIVIL SOCIETY MOBILISATION ON CSME and C189............................................................................. 58 3.1 Caribbean Policy Development Centre (CPDC) ........................................................................... 58 3.2 Red Thread .................................................................................................................................. 59 3.3 National Union of Domestic Employees (NUDE) of Trinidad and Tobago .................................. 61 3.4 Jamaica Household Workers Union (JHWU) ............................................................................... 63 3.5 Barbados Workers Union (BWU) ................................................................................................ 65

4. GENERAL CONCLUSIONS AND STAKEHOLDER PROPOSALS ................................................................ 68 4.1 Conclusions ................................................................................................................................. 68 4.2 Stakeholder Proposals ................................................................................................................ 71

5. RECOMMENDATIONS.......................................................................................................................... 75 ANNEX A. Text of the Four Laws Examined ............................................................................................ 79 ANNEX B. List of Employment Laws ...................................................................................................... 101 ANNEX C. Schedule of Persons Interviewed.......................................................................................... 105 REFERENCES .............................................................................................................................................. 107

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