‘Success of Kasambahay Law depends on employers’

MANILA, Philippines - Now that the Domestic Workers Act or Batas Kasambahay has taken effect, Senator Loren Legarda said that its success would largely depend on the cooperation of household employers.

Legarda, a co-author and co-sponsor of the law, said that household employers have a great responsibility in ensuring that all the requirements provided by the measure are complied with for the benefit of domestic workers.

“The enactment into law of the Batas Kasambahay is a major step in according decent working conditions, fair compensation, and sufficient benefits to our domestic workers, but the greater challenge is ensuring that employers will abide by the law,” Legarda said.

Among the provisions of the law is the need for employers to register their domestic workers with their respective barangays.

Legarda noted that only workers who are performing domestic work on an occupational basis such as househelp, nursemaids, nannies, cooks, gardeners and laundry persons are covered by the law.

This means that part-time employees are exempted from the coverage of the measure.

The law also requires the signing of a contract between the employers and the employees in a language understood by both.

The contract should contain details about the domestic workers’ duties and responsibilities, period of employment, hours of work, compensation and authorized deductions.

For the National Capital Region, which includes Metro Manila, the minimum monthly salary for domestic workers is pegged at P2,500. Those in chartered cities and first-class municipalities will have a minimum monthly pay of P2,000 while the rest will receive P1,500.

The domestic workers are also entitled to a 13th month pay, membership in the Social Security System, PhilHealth and Pag-Ibig Fund.

They would also be given at least five days paid leaves per year as an incentive.

“Through this law, we have taken that major step in treating our kasambahays as workers and not servants. This is a clear yardstick for equality in the country, and this heralds better things to come for other marginalized sectors,” Legarda said.

Legarda also expressed concern over the continued hiring of children as domestic workers in various countries, including the Philippines.

She cited the report of the International Labor Organization, which stated that 10.5 million children around the world work as domestic workers and that 6.5 million of these are between the ages of five and 14.

“It is lamentable that there are children who are forced into domestic work, doing household chores in their employer’s home instead of going to school. It is a sad fact there are children who are forced to work to support their families and are deprived of their childhood and their right to education,” Legarda said.