Domestic workers in Bengaluru ‘exploited’, face long working hours and low wages: report

Representative Image: Domestic Workers in Bengaluru Exploited

Photo: iStock

Bangalore: In Bengaluru’s unorganised work-from-home workplaces, many workers, mostly women from underprivileged and migrant families, face challenges such as long working hours, low wages and exploitation. The legislative policies formulated to empower the unorganised workforce have reportedly failed to reach this community.

Another domestic help, Chaitra (name changed), is in a similar situation. Due to long working hours, she can visit her hometown Thiruvannamalai only once a year and takes three to four days of leave. She said that when she asked for a bonus during Diwali, she was told, “How can you ask for extra money when you are already getting breakfast and tea?” according to the Deccan Herald report.

Talking about legislative mechanisms, domestic workers in areas under the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) are entitled to a minimum wage of between Rs 17,300 and Rs 19,500. However, when Deccan Herald spoke to many domestic workers, they found that most of them were not even aware of the minimum wage provision.

The Deccan Herald report said that domestic workers constitute less than 10 percent of the 55 lakh workers in Bengaluru’s unorganised sector. Of them, 2,32,916 are registered with e-Shram, a national database for unorganised workers. So far, only 2,473 labour ID cards have been issued for domestic workers in Bengaluru Rural and 9,519 in Bengaluru Urban.

Maitreyi Krishnan, member of the All India Central Council for Trade Unions (AICCTU), noted that a domestic worker who has been harassed cannot seek redress without the support of a trade union. This is because domestic workers do not have legal backing to formally establish an employer-employee relationship, the Deccan Herald report added. Krishnan said, “The threat of dismissal is high if the worker questions her employer or demands a bonus, which forces her to opt for submission instead of revolt,” as quoted by Deccan Herald.

Geetha Menon, Joint Secretary of the Domestic Workers Rights Union (DWRU), stressed the need to establish the identity of domestic workers as employees, not as an essential element of slavery. She said, “More often than not, the employer seems to feel justified in treating the worker almost like a serf,” as quoted by Deccan Herald.

The report further found that many workers said they were treated like “extended family,” given clothes and sweets, and medicine if they fell ill. Unions are calling for households to be officially recognized as workplaces and for employment relationships to be formalized, moving away from informal arrangements that rely on “favors.”

Assistant Labour Commissioner AC Thammanna said that cases registered under the POSH Act are managed by a Local Complaints Committee under the District Administration. He explained, “If an inquiry into sexual harassment is initiated by this committee, both the complainant and the employer can challenge it. This is where the Labour Department steps in,” the DH was quoted as saying.

Meanwhile, Rajesh Joseph of the School of Development at Azim Premji University noted that in large apartment complexes, the entries and exits of domestic workers are recorded along with the names of their employers. He stressed that the government should formalise the employee-employer relationship. He also called for stronger social security mechanisms to help domestic workers avoid financial dependency on employers during emergencies.