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PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC: We the organisations undersigned express our disagreement with the terms of the Law on Domestic Workers [Ley de Trabajadores del Hogar] as approved by Congress on 6 May and we call upon the Government to undertake a review of it on the following grounds: 1. It gives legitimacy to the gender-, race- and class-based discrimination which domestic workers have historically suffered. it is clearly in breach of the Constitution and international agreements on human rights, and it makes a mockery of the National Agreement in which the State commits itself to securing better working conditions for domestic workers and adequate protection of their rights. 2. Domestic work satisfies the definition of a commercial relationship of employment in that it involves the personal provision of services of a remunerated and subordinate nature; it has nevertheless been treated in an unequal manner without reasonable justification, constituting a case of legal discrimination. At present such work is subject to the legal provisions of Supreme Decrees 23 D.T. of 30 April 1957 and D.5.002‑TR of 1970, which already recognise obligatory social security, an annual length of service bonus equivalent to 15 days remunerated work, 15 days paid leave and one day's rest per week. In 1997, referring to this legislation, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights of the United Nations called upon the Peruvian State to improve the working conditions of this group of workers. 3. Contrary to what has been reported by the communications media, the text approved by Congress does not alter the position of the domestic worker in law, quite the opposite in fact, it gives legitimacy to the discrimination referred to above. Even the "half bonus" is a violation of their rights as all workers are entitled to a full length of service bonus equal in amount to their salary. In addition: * It does not recognise the right of non-resident ["cama afuera"] domestic workers to 8 hours daily work. The recognition given to the work of resident ["cama adentro"] employees is confined to "ACTUAL" ["EFECTIVO"] work, so that the employer is able to make use of an employee's services however he/she chooses over the course of a 24 hour day. This is in obvious contravention of Art. 25 of the Constitution. * It fails to recognise the right to minimum remuneration, in contravention of Art. 24 of the Constitution. * It fails to recognise the right to membership of a trade union, in contravention of Art. 28 of the Constitution. * It ignores the requirement for there to be a "written contract of employment" confirming the existence of the relationship of employment and preventing abuse. * It fails to make legal provision for the right to education of boy and girl children and young people in employment, thereby repudiating the obligation for them to be provided with education subject to a timetable appropriate to their age. 4. We therefore demand that the Peruvian State reverse the manifest movement in the direction of restricting the employment rights of the country's working class (domestic workers, employees of small businesses, etc.) with a view to complying with its domestic and international commitments to promote and protect of the human rights of ALL persons. Centro
de Capacitation de las Trabajadoras del Hogar - CCTH
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