Section 110p. 110

PUBLIC INTERNATIONAL LAW COMPENDIUM VOLUME II

The

General

Conference of the International Labour

Organization,

Having been convened at Geneva by the Governing Body

of the International Labour Office, and having met in its

100th Session on 1 June 2011, and

Mindful of the commitment of the International Labour

Organization to promote decent work for all through the

achievement of the goals of the ILO Declaration on

Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work and the ILO

Declaration on Social Justice for a Fair Globalization, and

Recognizing the significant contribution of domestic

workers to the global economy, which includes increasing

paid job opportunities for women and men workers with

family responsibilities, greater scope for caring for ageing

populations, children and persons with a disability, and

substantial

income

transfers

within

and

between

countries, and

Considering

that

domestic

work

continues

to

be

undervalued and invisible and is mainly carried out by

women

and

girls,

many

of

whom

are migrants or

members of disadvantaged communities and who are

particularly vulnerable to discrimination in respect of

conditions of employment and of work, and to other

abuses of human rights, and

Considering

also

that

in

developing

countries

with

historically scarce opportunities for formal employment,

domestic workers constitute a significant proportion of

the national workforce and remain among the most

marginalized, and

Recalling

that

international

labour

Conventions

and

Recommendations

apply

to

all

workers,

including

domestic workers, unless otherwise provided, and

Noting the particular relevance for domestic workers of

the Migration for Employment Convention (Revised), 1949

(No. 97), the Migrant Workers (Supplementary Provisions)

Convention,

1975 (No. 143), the Workers with Family

Responsibilities Convention, 1981 (No. 156), the Private

Employment Agencies Convention, 1997 (No. 181), and the

Employment Relationship Recommendation, 2006 (No.

198), as well as of the ILO Multilateral Framework on

Labour Migration: Non-binding principles and guidelines

for a rights-based approach to labour migration (2006),

and

Recognizing

the

special

conditions

under

which

domestic work is carried out that make it desirable to

supplement

the

general

standards

with

standards

specific to domestic workers so as to enable them to

enjoy their rights fully, and

Recalling other relevant international instruments such

as

the

Universal

Declaration

of

Human

Rights, the

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the

International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural

Rights, the International Convention on the Elimination of

All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the Convention on the

Elimination

of

All

Forms

of

Discrimination

against

Women,

the

United

Nations

Convention

against

Transnational

Organized

Crime, and in particular its

Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in

Persons, Especially Women and Children and its Protocol

against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air,

the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the

International Convention on the Protection of the Rights

of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families,

and EaCDAT

Having decided upon the adoption of certain proposals

concerning decent work for domestic workers, which is

the fourth item on the agenda of the session, and

Having determined that these proposals shall take the

form of an international Convention;

adopts

this

sixteenth

day of June of the year two

thousand and eleven the following Convention, which

may be cited as the Domestic Workers Convention, 2011.

ARTICLE 1

For the purpose of this Convention:

(a) the term "domestic work" means work performed in or

for a household or households;

(b)

the

term

"domestic

worker"

means

any

person

engaged

in

domestic

work

within

an

employment

relationship;

(c)

a

person

who

performs

domestic

work

only

occasionally or sporadically and not on an occupational

basis is not a domestic worker.

ARTICLE 2

1. The Convention applies to all domestic workers.

2. A Member which ratifies this Convention may, after

consulting with the most representative organizations of

employers

and

workers

and, where they exist, with

organizations representative of domestic workers and

those representative of employers of domestic workers,

exclude wholly or partly from its scope:

(a) categories of workers who are otherwise provided with

at least equivalent protection;

(b) limited categories of workers in respect of which

special problems of a substantial nature arise.

3. Each Member which avails itself of the possibility

afforded in the preceding paragraph shall, in its first

report on the application of the Convention under article

22

of

the

Constitution

of

the

International

Labour

Organisation, indicate any particular category of workers

thus excluded and the reasons for such exclusion and, in

subsequent reports, specify any measures that may have

been taken with a view to extending the application of

the Convention to the workers concerned.

ARTICLE 3

1. Each Member shall take measures to ensure the

effective promotion and protection of the human rights

of all domestic workers, as set out in this Convention.

2. Each Member shall, in relation to domestic workers,

take the measures set out in this Convention to respect,

promote and realize the fundamental principles and

rights at work, namely:

(a) freedom of association and the effective recognition of

the right to collective bargaining;

(b) the elimination of all forms of forced or compulsory

labour;

(c) the effective abolition of child labour; and

(d)

the

elimination

of

discrimination

in

respect

of

employment and occupation.

3. In taking measures to ensure that domestic workers

and employers of domestic workers enjoy freedom of

association and the effective recognition of the right to

collective bargaining, Members shall protect the right of

domestic workers and employers of domestic workers to

establish and, subject to the rules of the organization

concerned,

to

join

organizations,

federations

and

confederations of their own choosing.

ARTICLE 4

1. Each Member shall set a minimum age for domestic

workers consistent with the provisions of the Minimum

Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138), and the Worst Forms of

Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182), and not lower

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