Unpaid and overworked: How ILO C189 could change lives like Sylvia, a domestic worker
A domestic worker. Kenya has yet to ratify ILO C189.
What you need to know:
- Sylvia, a young woman from Kisii County, moved to Nairobi with dreams of a better life as a domestic worker, only to face exploitation and unfair treatment.
- Her struggles highlight the urgent need for Kenya to ratify the ILO Convention No.189, which aims to protect domestic workers' rights.
Sylvia left home in Kisii County last year, excited about a new working life in the capital city of Nairobi.
Life at home was unbearable. She is an orphan who has grown up to know her grandmother as her mother and father. Her parents died when she was a year old, her grandmother told her.
Attending school was tough. Her peasant grandmother struggled to educate her up to Standard Seven.
“I wanted to finish school and be a primary school teacher. I wanted to teach English, but my grandmother couldn’t afford my education,” she says.
“I’m grateful though for her sacrifices and efforts. She gave her all, but that’s how far she could go.”
She had been out for nearly five years doing casual farm jobs to meet her needs and support her grandmother.
“Those jobs are intermittent and only available after the rains. On a good day, I’d earn Sh500; that means working from 7am to 6pm. It’s tough. On a bad day, earning even a Sh50 is a major challenge,” she details.
She, however, didn’t work on Saturdays and Sundays. During these days, she either went to church, rested, or performed family chores.
The day her aunt informed her of an opportunity in Nairobi, she sprang to grab it.
“My aunt is a greengrocer in Nairobi. In January this year, she told me a woman with three children was looking for a helper to look after the children, and the job would earn me Sh12,000,” she says.
“I didn’t think twice. I was happy. That was good money. My aunt sent me fare and I travelled the day after.
“In terms of treatment, she was good. She never shouted at me and hid food like other employers on the estate where we lived. Three colleagues on the estate used to complain about it.”
Sylvia says the problem with her employer was that she never paid her in full. She says she always lamented how hard it was to raise the children alone, having separated from her husband.
“She’d give me Sh3,000 or Sh4,000 with a promise of clearing the debt before month’s end. She didn’t. That went on for six months,” she says.
“Furthermore, I never rested a single day. I worked seven days a week from 5am to midnight. There are days my back would be so stiff and I’d feel like I was going to die.”
Worried about her health and mounting arrears, early July, Sylvia informed her aunt of her predicament, and she immediately removed her from the employer.
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She is now lending her aunt a hand at her greengrocer’s, hoping that she will soon find a better employer.
Such mistreatment as partial payment and denial of time off or rest hours are some of the ills that the International Labour Organisation Convention No.189(C189) seeks to address.
Article 10 of the Convention requires states to ensure domestic workers like Sylvia are treated well from being paid for the work done, compensated for working overtime, and allowed to rest on a daily and weekly basis.
They should also be offered paid annual leave, which should be in accordance with national laws, regulations or collective agreements, taking into account the special characteristics of domestic work.
Kenya doesn’t have a specific law on domestic work since it hasn’t ratified the convention.
The Cabinet Secretary for Labour and Social Protection, Dr Alfred Mutua, said on Wednesday that he is “preparing a Cabinet paper to push the ratification”.
The Labour ministry had last year scheduled to have the convention ratified by March 20 this year. That never happened.
Domestic workers' stakeholders say the ratification of the convention is long overdue and the process ought to be expedited.
“The delays affect domestic worker's welfare,” said Grace Ngugi, the executive director of the Dhobi Women Network.
“The government must be intentional in protecting the rights of the domestic workers.”
Gender and development expert Chryspin Afifu affirmed that a decent work environment for domestic workers would set Kenya on the path to sustainable economic growth.
“The ratification of ILO C198 represents a significant step in protecting vulnerable workers from exploitation and reducing income inequality,” he says.
