Paying your maid less can land you in prison
Tamil Nadu Issues Notification Fixing Minimum Wage For ‘Unskilled’ Domestic Workers
Ekatha.Ann@timesgroup.com 02.08.2018
Paying your domestic help even a rupee less than ₹37 per hour for doing daily chores like sweeping, washing utensils and mopping can land you behind bars.
Enforcing labour reforms in the unorganized sector, the Tamil Nadu government in a recent notification has fixed ₹37 per hour as the minimum hourly wage of ‘unskilled’ domestic workers, while the remuneration for skilled workers like home nurses and semiskilled helps like cooks and gardeners have been set at ₹39 and ₹38 per hour respectively.
The rate for an entire day’s chores (eight hours), including washing clothes and utensils, sweeping and mopping the floor and babysitting, has been fixed at a minimum of ₹6,836 a month, while qualified home nurses should get at least ₹8,051 for similar hours. The remuneration for those who stay with their employers – skilled, unskilled and semi-skilled – is 10% higher than this.
The notification said the minimum wage was fixed based on recommendations from an eight-member committee headed by the deputy commissioner of labour, Coimbatore, after various meetings with domestic workers’ unions, labour inspectors and employers. “From January to June last year, we travelled to 10 districts and held discussions with domestic workers associations to understand their needs,” said a member of the committee. Besides interviews, the team also factored in the average consumer price index in Chennai city in 2015 while fixing the rate, she said.
While Tamil Nadu, along with Kerala, Rajasthan and Punjab, has been lauded for including domestic helps in the schedule of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948 – entitling these workers to file cases before authorities concerned in this regard – Tamil Nadu has lagged in fixing a minimum wage.
Advocate David Sunder Singh, who deals with labour issues, said workers can seek legal recourse for labour and human rights violations. “If an employer pays less than an agreed sum, it is a labour issue. If an employer pays less than the minimum wage, it is a human rights violation,” he said. The burden of proof rests with the employers. Singh quoted a 1982 SC order which said if a person receives less than the minimum wage, it amounts to forced labour. The employers can be tried under the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976, Minimum Wages Act, 1948 and IPC Sections 370 and 374, which invite imprisonment of up to seven years with fine. “Even an oral agreement will suffice as evidence,” said Singh.
While the government has no clue about the number of domestic workers in TN, unions estimate it to be around 18 lakh, a majority of them are in the semi-skilled category.
The notification has evoked mixed reactions from employers and domestic workers.
Valarmathi of National Domestic Workers’ Movement said the minimum wage was too little. “When the government asked us for recommendation, we had suggested ₹75 per hour. The wage they have fixed now is what we had suggested in 2010. What we need is a living wage not a minimum wage,” said Valarmathi whose association has 2,000 members in Chennai. Although the notification said dearness allowance would go up with the increase in consumer price index, union leaders were sceptical. “Although the revision should be done annually, industrial workers don’t get it. The domestic sector is unmonitored” said T A Latha, head of south Chennai Metropolitan Domestic Workers’ Union, which has 5,000 members. She cautioned against minimum wage being used as a yardstick. “Employers shouldn’t pat themselves when they see they pay more than the minimum wage,” she said. Residents now pay between ₹2,000 and ₹6,000 a month for an hour’s work.
Employers, on the other hand, have appealed to the state for more specific guidelines. “It would have helped had the government specified how many days off workers are entitled to and when we are allowed to deduct their salary. Some of us bear with shoddy work and extended periods of leave because we find it difficult to find a replacement,” said T Mohan, a resident of Virgumbakkam.
Tamil Nadu Issues Notification Fixing Minimum Wage For ‘Unskilled’ Domestic Workers
Ekatha.Ann@timesgroup.com 02.08.2018
Paying your domestic help even a rupee less than ₹37 per hour for doing daily chores like sweeping, washing utensils and mopping can land you behind bars.
Enforcing labour reforms in the unorganized sector, the Tamil Nadu government in a recent notification has fixed ₹37 per hour as the minimum hourly wage of ‘unskilled’ domestic workers, while the remuneration for skilled workers like home nurses and semiskilled helps like cooks and gardeners have been set at ₹39 and ₹38 per hour respectively.
The rate for an entire day’s chores (eight hours), including washing clothes and utensils, sweeping and mopping the floor and babysitting, has been fixed at a minimum of ₹6,836 a month, while qualified home nurses should get at least ₹8,051 for similar hours. The remuneration for those who stay with their employers – skilled, unskilled and semi-skilled – is 10% higher than this.
The notification said the minimum wage was fixed based on recommendations from an eight-member committee headed by the deputy commissioner of labour, Coimbatore, after various meetings with domestic workers’ unions, labour inspectors and employers. “From January to June last year, we travelled to 10 districts and held discussions with domestic workers associations to understand their needs,” said a member of the committee. Besides interviews, the team also factored in the average consumer price index in Chennai city in 2015 while fixing the rate, she said.
While Tamil Nadu, along with Kerala, Rajasthan and Punjab, has been lauded for including domestic helps in the schedule of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948 – entitling these workers to file cases before authorities concerned in this regard – Tamil Nadu has lagged in fixing a minimum wage.
Advocate David Sunder Singh, who deals with labour issues, said workers can seek legal recourse for labour and human rights violations. “If an employer pays less than an agreed sum, it is a labour issue. If an employer pays less than the minimum wage, it is a human rights violation,” he said. The burden of proof rests with the employers. Singh quoted a 1982 SC order which said if a person receives less than the minimum wage, it amounts to forced labour. The employers can be tried under the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976, Minimum Wages Act, 1948 and IPC Sections 370 and 374, which invite imprisonment of up to seven years with fine. “Even an oral agreement will suffice as evidence,” said Singh.
While the government has no clue about the number of domestic workers in TN, unions estimate it to be around 18 lakh, a majority of them are in the semi-skilled category.
The notification has evoked mixed reactions from employers and domestic workers.
Valarmathi of National Domestic Workers’ Movement said the minimum wage was too little. “When the government asked us for recommendation, we had suggested ₹75 per hour. The wage they have fixed now is what we had suggested in 2010. What we need is a living wage not a minimum wage,” said Valarmathi whose association has 2,000 members in Chennai. Although the notification said dearness allowance would go up with the increase in consumer price index, union leaders were sceptical. “Although the revision should be done annually, industrial workers don’t get it. The domestic sector is unmonitored” said T A Latha, head of south Chennai Metropolitan Domestic Workers’ Union, which has 5,000 members. She cautioned against minimum wage being used as a yardstick. “Employers shouldn’t pat themselves when they see they pay more than the minimum wage,” she said. Residents now pay between ₹2,000 and ₹6,000 a month for an hour’s work.
Employers, on the other hand, have appealed to the state for more specific guidelines. “It would have helped had the government specified how many days off workers are entitled to and when we are allowed to deduct their salary. Some of us bear with shoddy work and extended periods of leave because we find it difficult to find a replacement,” said T Mohan, a resident of Virgumbakkam.
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