Every day is the same for Rosa. She always gets up at the same time, tidies and cleans the rooms, and prepares meals for the elderly woman she cares for. She sleeps with one eye open, since she finds it difficult to fall asleep knowing that ‘yayita’ could need her at any moment. Before going to bed, her balm consists of a video call with her family across the pond.
She works as an intern or, in other words, her place of work is also her place of residence. Although she studied Tourism Administration and worked for the Ministry of the Environment of Peru, a little over a year ago she decided to emigrate and come to Spain. “Everything you went and did in your country of origin counts for nothing once you get here,” says Rosa, 53 years old. She also does not have the freedom to choose where to work, since she is in an irregular situation and she must wait at least two years to be able to request social roots.
Rosa is one of the 40,000 women who, according to a report by Oxfam Intermón, work as inmates in Spain. The latest data from the Active Population Survey (EPA) reveal that almost 600,000 people are dedicated to domestic and care work employed by private families, and almost half of these are migrants. Of the total, 89% are women.
A little over a year ago marked the first anniversary of the Government’s approval of ILO Convention 189, a historic milestone aimed at ending the discrimination that affects these women. The regulations marked a significant change, since domestic workers were no longer the only sector excluded from rights such as unemployment benefits or FOGASA and protection against dismissal without just cause. According to sources from the Ministry of Labor, a total of 10,729 subsidies and contributory benefits have been recognized until the month of September.
“This law did not happen overnight. It took us more than a decade to make it happen,” recalls Carla Davies, migrant woman and president of the Mujeres con Voz association. The entity, born in Getxo 11 years ago, promotes meetings between “diverse women” with the aim of “empowering us” and “weaving networks of mutual sisterhood.” Approximately, more than a thousand women pass through Mujeres con Voz every year, either to participate in their workshops, or request labor and/or psychological advice. Now, Carla
The group was excluded from the right to unemployment for years, a situation that the European court recognized as unfair after a complaint from a worker from Vigo. “I was embarrassed that the politicians came out to celebrate it with great fanfare,” says Ramona Fernández, an activist in the independent union Sindillar and a cleaning worker.
In fact, Royal Decree Law 16/2022, validated by Congress, did not have retroactive effects and the subsidy began to be quoted from October 1, 2022 to date. “Many colleagues have been fired and have not been able to access unemployment benefits for not having contributed for a year, despite having been working for more than 20 years,” she says indignantly.
Despite the progress, “the majority of women—between 90 and 95%—that we advise are in an irregular administrative situation and, therefore, the agreement does not affect them,” explains Manuela Fernández, legal advisor at Sindillar. The care and home sector is often the only possible avenue of work that migrant women find until they can regulate their situation.
“My first job was taking care of a girl, but as a boarder. I had to get up at 5 in the morning, I didn’t have hours to rest, I cooked, I cleaned… It was very heavy. They paid me 600 euros a month,” explains Rosa, who continues working as an intern but her conditions have improved.
“The Immigration Law requires living in hiding for three years. Once that time has passed, if you do not have a work contract with the minimum wage of 40 hours, even if you can justify three years of registration, you cannot regulate your situation due to roots,” details Ramona Fernández. “It’s not just getting the contract, it’s getting it while you are in an irregular situation and the employer who wants to hire you is willing to wait between six and eight months (the processing time) to do it,” adds Manuela Fernández.
Until 2012, the domestic work sector was regulated under a special employment regime. From that year on, it was integrated into the general social security regime, although under a special system. “Even though the regulations have changed, this special system continues to exist and there are differences in terms of social security,” says legal advisor Manuela Fernández.
Along these lines, the two big problems facing the sector are the contribution by sections and the lack of integration of the contribution gaps. In the home sector there are pre-established sections according to what is charged. If a worker earns between 775.01 and 939 euros, she contributes for 858 euros and the entire calculation is done by that number. “On the one hand, the colleagues who are earning 939 euros have a benefit lower than what would correspond to them because they have contributed for an amount lower than their real salary and, on the other, there are women who are contributing more each month than what they are entitled to. corresponds,” explains Fernández. In addition to the sections, contribution gaps are not integrated into pension calculations either.
Until September 9, 2022, domestic workers were excluded from occupational risk prevention laws. However, with the entry into force of the Royal Decree of 2022, this exclusion was revoked. Now, both employers and domestic service employees must comply with safety regulations, although the regulatory development has not yet clarified the specific content of these obligations. “The decree has elements that intrinsically go against the physical and mental health of domestic workers,” explains Manuela Fernández.
The working day of domestic workers must not exceed 40 hours per week. However, there is a specificity that affects inmates: the hours of presence. It is the time (maximum of 20 hours per week) in which the caregiver is at the employer’s disposal and must be paid or compensated with breaks. In turn, the overnight stay at home “is neither remunerated nor regulated.” Although the worker sleeps during those hours, the reality is that she “has to be alert for what may happen during the night.”
“We have colleagues who work more than 60 hours a week, what happens to the lives and physical and emotional health of these women?” asks the activist. And Rosa responds laughing on the other end of the phone. “I try to take advantage of the hours outside of work to study and do something productive for myself,” she says, as she is learning Catalan while living in Barcelona. At the same time, Sunday is her holiday of the week, which she sometimes changes to a Saturday to be able to participate in union workshops along with the rest of her colleagues or to attend demonstrations.
There were several months when her weekends consisted of staying awake caring for an elderly woman with dementia for 48 hours straight for 300 euros a month. “I couldn’t sleep, I had to pay attention to her all the time.” The Sindillar union understands that domestic work goes “against a dignified life,” but they do not support its abolition because it is the place where many colleagues live who have no other place to live. At least, without providing public policies for access to housing.
“The lack of state intervention in the area of ??dependency is, ultimately, what sustains the precariousness of many workers and many families who juggle taking care of their dependent loved ones,” says Manuela Fernández, who demands better management of care policies.
While the restructuring of the care model does not arrive and the precariousness of workers becomes chronic, unions advocate for information to avoid situations of abuse or even consider reporting if the woman is in a situation of labor exploitation.
Be that as it may, the president of Mujeres con Voz remembers that “women are precarious because someone is making them precarious.” “We entrust the care of our loved ones to someone with a standard of living that we would not wish for ourselves, our parents or our children. It is crucial to inform not only those who experience this situation, but also those who perpetuate these circumstances,” she says.
