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Preface 
The ILO is presently considering the adoption of a new international norm on decent work 
for domestic workers. In June 2010, the first discussion towards the adoption of a 
comprehensive standard (a Convention supplemented by a Recommendation) took place at 
the 99
th
session of the International Labour Conference. The second and final discussion is 
foreseen in June 2011. 
Decent work for domestic workers means recognizing that they are real workers, that 
is, like other workers with labour rights. This entails acknowledging the proximity and 
personal relationship between domestic workers and their employer, while reaffirming the 
compatibility of domestic work with the employment relationship. The proposed new 
international standard on domestic work is aimed at providing minimum protection to a 
workforce that has long been excluded from labour and social protection but plays a 
valuable role in families and societies. Domestic workers provide essential housekeeping 
services and look after the children and elderly members of other people‘s households. 
However, they typically earn low wages and often work for long, unlimited hours, lack 
social security coverage, do not belong to a workers‘ organization or trade union, and are 
vulnerable to abuse and harassment. They are predominantly women who are migrants or 
belong to historically disadvantaged communities, which partly explain the persistent 
undervaluation of their work and their exclusion from legal entitlements that other workers 
enjoy. 
Working time is one aspect of domestic work that has generally been excluded from 
national labour regulation, even in countries where domestic workers are covered by other 
legal entitlements. The result is that working hours of domestic workers around the world 
are among the longest, the most precarious and the most unpredictable. A recurrent 
argument is that the working time regulation which applies to all workers cannot be easily 
extended to domestic workers because of the very nature and specific circumstances of 
their work. 
The present study examines the nature of working time in domestic work and the 
working time arrangements of different categories of domestic workers, while suggesting 
possible frameworks for the regulation of working time. The paper introduces a Model 
Law that could serve as a resource for the design of regulatory measures on working time 
in domestic work. The Model Law is grounded on the principle of ―framed flexibility‖, 
which permits reconciling the flexibility needed in many domestic jobs, while 
simultaneously offering sufficient protection to domestic workers. It is hoped that this 
paper will provide insights to a topical debate on smart and meaningful regulations for 
decent working time for domestic workers. 
Manuela Tomei, 
Chief, 
Conditions of Work and Employment Programme, 
Social Protection Sector. 
 

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Conditions of Work and Employment Series No. 27 
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