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Labour Minister Nimal Siripala says law will provide workers EPF/ETF

06 Aug 2021

BY Pamodi Waravita The Labour Ministry hopes to introduce an Act to regulate the work of domestic workers and bring them within a proper legal framework so as to protect their labour related rights, Labour Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva told The Morning yesterday (5). “It will be a very progressive legislation which hopes to, among a number of things, grant domestic workers the right to the Employees Trust Fund (ETF) and the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) gratuity payments for long term workers, regulate their work hours, and put in place a mechanism to recognise their medical health rights,” said de Silva. Meanwhile, the Domestic Workers Union (DWU) yesterday urged the Government to bring domestic work under the existing legal framework, adding that a meeting has been scheduled between the Union and the Labour Ministry this month for a discussion regarding the matter. “Our most immediate demands are that domestic work be included in the current Wages Boards Ordinance No. 27 of 1941 as amended, and the National Minimum Wage of Workers Act No. 3 of 2016 as amended, so that domestic workers are brought within this existing legal framework. While we understand that the minimum wage stipulated by the National Minimum Wage of Workers Act is lower than what workers are often paid in domestic settings, we need the inclusion so that these workers are brought within a legal framework. In the long term, we hope that a Domestic Workers Act will also be formulated,” DWU Founder Menaha Kandasamy told The Morning. At a stakeholder meeting on 27 July, where the Labour Department, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the Attorney General’s Department had been present, de Silva had assured that necessary regulations will be brought to cover domestic workers under the National Minimum Wage of Workers Act. Kandasamy said that the over 3,800 domestic workers mobilised under the Union feel that they are a part of the labour process and as such are seeking legal protection. “Our struggle has been a continuous one since 2004 when we first started mobilising domestic workers. The recent case of the 16-year-old girl dying at the residence of a Parliamentarian shows that proactive protection is needed to ensure that such incidents do not occur in the future. Reacting after a problem will only have a minimal impact because there are so many hidden cases, like the one of this girl,” noted Kandasamy. The DWU has presented four drafts of a legal framework for domestic work on five previous occasions to various Governments, since the Union was registered in 2012. However, the continuous lobbying process is still ongoing, with the latest meeting being scheduled for next week with the Labour Ministry. Pointing out that 90% of domestic workers are women, Kandasamy stressed that immediate action is needed to ensure that they are not exploited by providing the rights to a minimum wage, paid leave, maternity leave and/or benefits, and the right to the ETF and the EPF. Earlier this month, the Police said that investigations have revealed that a girl was brought to the house of MP Rishad Bathiudeen in October 2020 as a domestic worker when she was 15 years and 11 months old. Following the incident, the Labour Department announced that it will be amending the Employment of Women, Young Persons, and Children Act No. 47 of 1956 as amended, to make the employment of any person below the age of 18 years in domestic service a punishable offence. This amendment would be done by increasing the number of forms of hazardous jobs to 71 from the current 51 forms. This incident has also raised concerns in many quarters about the need for monitoring domestic work more closely and vigilantly. The Police also said that investigations would be carried out in various wealthy households in Colombo to identify underage domestic workers in their employment. The girl, who had been admitted to the National Hospital of Sri Lanka (NHSL) in Colombo on 3 July with burn injuries, had died on 15 July while receiving treatment, the Borella Police said. Criminal investigations are underway regarding the matter and it has been revealed that 11 children were employed at the said household over the years, brought there by a broker who is suspected to be 64-year-old Ponnaiyah Pandaram, alias Shankar.  


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