Until now subject to an exceptional regime, hundreds of thousands of domestic workers will have rights identical to those of other employees in Spain and in particular will no longer be able to be dismissed without justification (AFP / Archives / Mauro Pimentel)
Until now subject to an exceptional regime, hundreds of thousands of domestic workers will have rights identical to those of other employees in Spain and will no longer be able to be dismissed without justification.
Spain, which has been pinned on this subject by European justice, “balances a historic debt vis-à-vis domestic workers”, declared Tuesday the Communist Minister of Labor Yolanda Diaz after the adoption by the government of a decree putting an end to the “discrimination” of which they were victims.
This reform allows domestic workers to benefit from unemployment benefits, from which they have been excluded until now, by making it compulsory for employers to contribute to a dedicated fund from 1 October.
It also puts an end to a mechanism that allowed private individuals employing domestic staff to terminate their employee’s contract without justification.
Domestic workers will finally benefit from guaranteed “protection” in terms of health and will be able to have access to training systems allowing them to “improve their professional opportunities” and “their working conditions”, according to Ms. Diaz.
This reform was announced at the end of March by the left-wing government, in response to a decision by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), which had deemed Spanish legislation “contrary to European law”, preventing domestic staff to benefit from unemployment insurance.
This provision, defended until then by Madrid in the name of the “specificities of this professional sector”, is an “indirect discrimination based on sex”, women represent more than 96% of domestic workers in Spain, had insisted the Court.
In a press release, the UGT union on Tuesday welcomed the end of the exceptional regime enacted by the government.
This is a “historic breakthrough”, he said, promising to continue to fight for the rights of domestic workers, often “of foreign nationality” and in particular Latin Americans.
“After years of struggle, domestic workers will become workers with rights”, welcomed Carolina Vidal López, confederal secretary of CCOO (Workers’ Commissions), which estimates that 600,000 people work as employees of house in Spain.
Around 200,000 would not be declared and will therefore not benefit from this reform, according to the union.
© 2022 AFP
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