All Workers Should Have the Same Rights, Decides This Country

Spain has decided to grant domestic workers the same labor and social security rights as any other employees, adopting a law that aligns with international labor standards to ensure better wages and protect the health and safety of the members of this sector.

This change in the country’s legislation favors mainly women as female domestic workers make up 95% of the sector’s 370,000 employees.

Spain’s Council of Ministers has drawn up the legislation in partnership with trade union organizations and domestic workers’ groups that have been advocating for such a change in the law for decades. Under the new legislation, domestic workers’ right to unemployment benefits is recognized – granting employers an 80% rebate on their contribution to unemployment benefits – and the protection in cases of employer insolvency or bankruptcy is guaranteed, and so is their right to health and safety protection. In an effort to apply some provisions from the International Labour Organization’s Violence and Harassment Convention, 2019 (No. 190), dismissing employees of this sector without a just cause will no longer be tolerated, and gender-based occupational illnesses will be thoroughly studied.