No Employment Without Agreement: Karnataka's Draft Domestic Workers' Bill

The Karnataka Domestic Workers (Social Security and Welfare) draft bill prepared by the state Labour Department prohibits employment of domestic workers without agreement and mandates paying minimum wages to them.

Employers or service providers or agencies contravening the provisions of the Act can be punished with a maximum of three-months' prison term and fine, as per the draft bill.

For the draft bill published on Wednesday, citizens have a month's time to give suggestions and raise objections.

As per the draft bill, no domestic worker shall be employed without an agreement in writing entered into between the employer and the worker.

Such an agreement shall follow the minimum labour standards laid down in the model employment agreement prescribed under the rules, it said. The model employment agreement shall specify the name and other particulars, nature of work assigned to the worker, hours of work, wages and other benefits to which the worker is entitled, including the welfare fee and other contributions.

Over all working hours shall not exceed forty-eight hours in a week, as per the draft bill, which provide for one full day holiday or staggered half day holiday twice a week.

They are eligible for reasonable working hours, periods of rest, annual paid leave and maternity benefit, it said.

The draft bill provides for the state government to fix the minimum rate of wages payable to the domestic workers by their employer and revise it periodically, with no discrimination in the rates paid to men, women and adolescent worker.

The draft bill mandates registration of domestic workers, employers and service providers.

If a worker is illiterate and a migrant, the service provider, placement agency and employer must register such persons within a month of the commencement of employment.

While employers have been mandated to register within a month of employing a domestic worker, service providers must register within a month of the commencement of the Act, and in case of a change of employment or migration, the worker shall inform the registering authorities within 30 days of such a change.

The draft bill also provides for constitution of the Karnataka State Domestic Workers Social Security and Welfare Board, which will administer and monitor the Domestic Workers Social Security and Welfare Fund, and also to advise the government on matters related to the effective implementation of the Act and Rules.

The fund shall have fees that are collected from registration of domestic workers, employers, service providers and placement agencies including platforms, and up to 5 per cent of welfare fee collected from them periodically.

The board will have equal representation of domestic workers, employers, service providers and placement agencies and government authorities.

Under the penal provisions, the draft bill states that those sending girls/women employees to any place for immoral purposes, abusing or illegally confining domestic workers or providing any child as a domestic worker will serve a prison term of 3-7 years and a fine up to Rs 50,000.

The draft defines "domestic worker" as a person employed to do domestic work, either directly or indirectly or through a contract or a digital platform, whether part-time or full-time or as a replacement worker, for remuneration for one or more employers by staying at the household premises or otherwise and includes casual, temporary, piece meal, gig work and includes migrant workers.

An Employer has been defined as one who engages domestic workers to perform any work, part-time, full-time, live-in or otherwise, directly or through a recruitment agency or a platform.

Employers will include the head of the household, anyone with ultimate control over the household and so on. 

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