Decent Work for Filipino Domestic Workers: Rethinking law and policies to protect the welfare and promote the rights of the kasambahay

This thesis examines the legislative and regulatory reforms contained in Republic Act No. 10361, more popularly known as Batas Kasambahay, in order to determine if it is capable of expanding the rights and improving the working conditions of an estimated 2 million-strong domestic work sector in the Philippines. The global status of domestic workers is analysed first to demonstrate the widespread practice of excluding domestic workers from the scope of many country’s national protective labour law regimes. This practice exposes domestic workers to many types of abuse and exploitation at the hands of their employers. It also underscores the very low regard for domestic work, which many believe as a type of ‘unproductive work’ because it involves tasks that are traditionally performed by female members of the household and are customarily unremunerated. The thesis shows that domestic work in the Philippines had similar status to that of domestic workers globally: largely excluded from coverage by labour regimes, deeply entrenched in the informal economy, predominantly performed by women and commonly by migrants from rural areas of the Philippines to the cities, vulnerable to abuse and exploitation, and a target for human trafficking.
   
   In order to address the many problems and inherent vulnerabilities faced by domestic workers worldwide, the International Labour Organization (ILO) published the Domestic Workers Convention, 2011 (No. 189). The Philippines is the first country in Asia to ratify Convention 189 in 2012, and Republic Act No. 10361 was enacted the following year. These two significant instruments and saw the introduction of the most sweeping reforms in the way domestic workers are regulated and protected in the country.
   
   Prior to the analysis of the Batas Kasambahay, the thesis analyses protective labour laws contained in the Philippine Labor Code and Civil Code. The research finds that the level of rights and entitlements afforded to domestic workers were much lower than those for other workers in the private sector. There is also sufficient evidence which suggests that these laws, albeit inadequate, were largely ignored. Ensuring compliance with these low minimum standards was problematic because of the weak enforcement tools due to lack of adequate funding. The thesis demonstrates the inadequacy of the old laws to protect domestic workers especially in the areas of wages, working hours, and social security membership. The analysis of these now defunct laws provides a useful yardstick to analyse and assess improvements in the employment conditions enacted in the new law.
   
   Republic Act No. 10361 contains new and improved workplace rights and entitlements that have the capacity to effect meaningful change in the lives of all domestic workers in the country. Whilst the new law complies with most of the provisions contained in ILO Convention 189, this research identifies a number of areas for improvement and recommends actions for the Philippine government to take to further strengthen the protections available to domestic workers. Finally, in evaluating the compliance and enforcement mechanisms contained in the Batas Kasambahay, the research establishes that the law relies too heavily on civil penalties and recommends the use of more persuasive approaches to promote compliance with the provisions of the new law. There is the added problem that the enforcement mechanisms applicable to other workers are the vehicles for enforcing the new law and the thesis identifies serious deficiencies in these enforcement mechanisms and makes further law reform recommendations aimed at assisting domestic workers to receive fair employment conditions and have decent work.