Domestic workers exploited, says EU
The report, which examined 10 EU states, told of one Irish family who lied to their Philippine home-help for more than six years, telling her they were applying for a work permit for her, but never bothered.
She had two children during that time and they fired her at the end of both pregnancies so they wouldn’t have to pay her. In the end she had to try to make a living from several jobs, such as cleaning, looking after an elderly person and babysitting.
The report by the EU Fundamental Rights Agency said she was trapped by a combination of broken promises by her employers, her ignorance of what she could do to regularise her position, new regulations that make it more difficult for migrants to receive work permits and changes to the law on the parents of Irish-born children.
The numbers of people working as domestic helps throughout the EU is unknown but estimated to run into millions. The report points out that while they are illegally in a country, they are entitled to their fundamental rights.
One person in her mid-30s from sub-Saharan Africa explained that despite Ireland having clear legal provisions on the living conditions of live-in domestic workers, the reality can be much different.
“I have my own bedroom which I share with the third child who was about one-and-a-half years by the time I arrived. I was sleeping with him in my bed,” she told the interviewers.
Several migrants, some in Ireland, reported being paid far less than the legal minimum wage and being refused overtime despite working up to 18 hours a day. One woman in her mid-40s from south-east Asia working in Ireland said: “One time I asked ‘how about my excess hours?’ and then they said ‘no, you stay here, live-in here, so that is enough’.”
In Ireland irregular migrants are not entitled to public healthcare services other than in an emergency and Ireland is one of three countries that charges for emergency care.
A woman who has children faces even more problems as their long and irregular working hours making it very difficult to care for their own children.
One woman working in Ireland said she was excluded from public creches, kindergartens or schools and cannot afford private childcare. Some are forced to send their children back to family members in their country of origin while some try to bring their children to work if its allowed creating concerns for their health and safety, as pointed out by the Family Resource Centre in Gort, Co Galway.
Many of these women worry about being expelled from the country and so are intimidated by employers, or mistrust police and institutions so do not go about seeking to regularise their situation or report labour law violations.
A number of them, including some in Ireland, reported stress-related psychological or psychosomatic problems such as ulcers, anorexia, sleeplessness, nervousness, migraines and memory problems.
“They were caused by insults or bad treatment by their employers, by a lack of privacy and long working hours,” the report said.
“However the permanent situation of insecurity resulting from their struggle for survival was also a contributing factor.”
Migrants Rights Centre Ireland said it was about more than laws and rights.
“A lot of the problem comes into the respect and the dignity — people do not respect the workers so they do not afford them their legal rights and entitlements.”
