Brussels, 06/07/2011 (Agence Europe) - With the publication of a study on Tuesday 5 July, the Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) of the EU spoke out against the exploitation and ill-treatment of illegal migrants employed as domestic workers in the EU27. Most of these workers are women, a particularly vulnerable group, says the FRA. The agency particularly criticises excessive working hours, low salaries and a lack of compensation for any accidents in the workplace they may have suffered.
“From the fundamental rights perspective, it is key to improve the situation of all domestic workers in the EU - whether they reside regularly or irregularly in an EU member state”, said FRA Director, Morten Kjaerum. “It is up to the governments to decide what labour force to bring into a country from abroad. But once a person is in the country and employed in spite of being in an irregular situation, core labour law and human rights standards must apply”, he added.
The FRA report is based on a series of interviews with domestic workers, civil society organisations and unions in 10 member states (Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Spain and Sweden).
The main conclusions of the report criticise, amongst other things, the under-regulation of domestic work, the poor state of health of certain workers and also their lack of access to justice when they are victims of abuse, due to fears of being thrown out of the country.
The agency therefore makes a raft of recommendations to the member states, for example guaranteeing these workers a minimum wage, paid holidays and sickness pay. It also suggests extending supervision by employment inspection services to domestic work. The agency is also proposing targeted migration programmes, to respond to demand for domestic work which cannot be covered by the available labour force and with the objective of facilitating the access of these workers to a regular migration status. Lastly, the agency wants access to justice to be facilitated, by giving greater support to unions and associations engaged in fighting abuse. (S.P./transl.fl)