Only 15% of domestic workers have paid employment

Some workers have been forced to resign in order not to pay the severance pay.

The National Union of Paid Workers of Home and Related Workers (Untha) reported that with the health emergency only 15% kept their jobs.

Lenis Quiroz, president of the union, stated that less than half are working. Now we are very concerned that there are untimely layoffs that are being passed as a voluntary resignation, in order to avoid payments of liquidations, she said.

“They are asking us to resign; There is a group that works informally, they do not have an employment contract, so they are fired more easily. But we still cannot denounce because we do not have how to mobilize ourselves ”, she pointed out.

In addition to this, employers do not pay Social Security, and they demand more hours of work.

Since the isolation began, “Marcia” has been working indoors to avoid losing her job, but now she and her colleagues work between 15 and 16 hours, which would constitute a new form of exploitation.

She also commented that they have been canceled until March. However, employers require them to stay at home if they want to receive their wages.

Of 300 female workers belonging to Untha, six have worked without returning to their homes. Also, Quiroz explained that only 20% of this group would keep their job formally, but they fear layoffs.

There are 222,000 people in the country who are domestic workers. A study by the NGO Care indicates that 72% of these workers in the country do not have legal benefits. Only 61,000 are affiliated and only 24% have a contract registered with Social Security.

Source: El Telégrafo, social networks