Bangalore: “Kothiyo me kaam karna kutte ki zindagi barabar hai” (Working in people’s houses is akin to a street dog’s life).

This comment by M*, 37, a part-time domestic worker with no access to the toilet, food, filtered water or a place to sit in her employer’s home, appears in a new study on women domestic workers based in Delhi-NCR and Jaipur, Rajasthan. The study, titled ‘Caring Hands, Fragile Health: Unravelling Women’s Occupational Health & Well-being in Domestic Work’ was conducted by Delhi-based non profit Jagori that has worked to empower domestic workers for 15 years.

In addition to confirming that Indians practise everyday casteism in their homes through segregation and exclusion, the report shows a clear relationship between the working conditions and 25 common health issues faced by domestic workers. Up to 30%, or nearly one in three women, said that their work impacted their health negatively. It led to pain, weakness and difficulty performing tasks. Some 41% of the women surveyed said they had “multiple health issues”.

Nearly one in four domestic workers told interviewers they had no access to toilets at their place of employment; 25.8% were prohibited from using the same utensils as their employers; 40% were prohibited from using the same furniture as their employers. Respondents often used the phrase ‘malik’ (master) rather than employer.

A majority of the 524 respondents surveyed were Hindu migrant workers, of which 36.8% belonged to a scheduled caste. “A substantial proportion of WDWs (women domestic workers) were Dalit. However, it was surprising to discover that they were not restricted from kitchens and some were even hired as cooks,” the report noted. Some respondents, who had no access to the food that they cooked or vessels in which to eat it, told interviewers that employers allowed them in the kitchen because they ‘had to get their work done’.

Lack of basic facilities at the workplace had dramatic health ramifications. Due to the lack of access to toilets, 33% respondents experienced discomfort since they could not change their menstrual aid during their long work day. They suffered from vaginal infections, swelling, foul discharge, rashes, and burning sensations. Forty percent could not change their menstrual aid in their employer’s toilet. Some 22.9% said they went back home to put on their menstrual aids if they got their period at work.

“Imagine working for 10 years and not having access to a toilet for your long work day during all this time,” lead researcher Jushya Kumar told Article 14, pointing to the direct correlation between work conditions and health, only exacerbated by the living conditions of domestic workers and the fact that they must execute the same cooking and cleaning tasks at their homes too.

Despite the fact that those who work in Indian homes don’t have access even to basic amenities—17.7% said they had no access to food and water at the workplace and 12.8% said they didn’t get leave even when they were sick—an overwhelming 80.5%, when asked if they were satisfied with their working conditions, replied ‘Yes’.

“They think that at least they have a job because of which they are able to support their families,” said Kumar. “There’s so much precarity in their jobs, they find themselves highly replaceable so when we talk about job satisfaction, in their mind it is more about having a job.”

Bending, Standing, Working

“(They come to us with) fractures, injuries like cuts/burns (from utensils, knives and cutters), body pain, fever, hypertension, dehydration in summers, arthritis, backache, diabetes, stress, skin issues due to Lyzol, phenyl,” a doctor at a public clinic in Jaipur is quoted as saying in the study.

The Jagori study demonstrated the overlap between activities such as sweeping and mopping, cooking, dusting and washing utensils to the percentages of respondents who reported health issues, such as body pain, blood pressure, diabetes and abdominal pain.

63% of respondents reported discomfort due to bending.

53.2% reported discomfort due to standing for long hours.

32% reported discomfort due to working for long hours without food.

30% reported discomfort due to the use of cold water for cleaning even during winter.

21% reported discomfort due to working with chemicals.

The report used the word ‘discomfort’ to include fatigue, weakness, joint pain, body ache, acidity, dizziness, skin discolouration, allergies, stiffness in fingers and toes and breathing difficulties. “Respondents also mentioned getting cuts, burns and electric shocks and falling off heights while working,” the report said.

Bending was the most hazardous factor with 63% of those reporting that they felt discomfort, fatigue, weakness and dizziness and chronic pain in their back, knees, legs, hips, neck and arms as a result of constant bending at work. Respondents also said that over a period of time, this has caused difficulties in sitting down and standing up.

Though most employers were oblivious to the pain of their domestic workers, two cases stood out: an employer who took her domestic worker to a physiotherapist and paid the bill, and another instance where an employer massaged her domestic worker who was in pain.

More common was the experience of the 55-year old who said that when she complained of severe back pain due to bending, her employer replied, “Jawaan dhundh lenge agar nahi karna toh” (We will find a younger worker if you don’t want to do it).

Yet respondents of the study perceived these hazards as being part of the job.

“They did not identify the tasks they performed as hazardous. The responsibility taken by employers for these hazardous conditions was minimal–with both WDWs and their employers not considering the safety of WDWs as the primary responsibility of the employer,” the report said, adding that this unwillingness to take responsibility for the safety of domestic workers was a constant thread through the study.

Even ‘supportive employers’ didn’t step up beyond providing hot water during winter and basic first-aid and painkillers for cuts and aches respectively.

“Respondents shared that many employers told them to “be careful” when they sustained any accident-related injuries. This indicates that they did not take responsibility for the safety of the WDW, or did anything to rectify the situation. For example, when WDWs got electrocuted by appliances, rarely did employers get the power source or appliance repaired.” the report said.

Some 30.7% of the domestic workers surveyed had worked during their pregnancies, many until the ninth month and rejoining shortly after childbirth.

“Ek ghar toh delivery ke 10 din baad hi bula liya thaa. Main aur chhutti karna chahti thi par nahi maane,” a 39-year-old part time domestic worker said. (One employer called me back to work after 10 days of delivery. I wanted to be on leave a little longer, but they did not agree).

Many domestic workers said they neglected their health because they didn’t have the time and because they didn’t get the leave to do so. The fear of job loss hung like a dark cloud over all their heads.

When one domestic worker asked for financial support for her medical treatment, her employer replied, “Bas kar, humaare kacche bhi utarwaayegi kya?” (Enough is enough. Do you expect us to give you our underwear too?).

Home, A Hazardous Workplace

Research on domestic workers has shown that one reason their work is not recognised as formal employment despite the fact that the country has about 50 million domestic workers, is that this work occurs within private homes rather than at a ‘workplace’. Paid domestic work is excluded in several acts such as the Minimum Wages Act, 1948; Payment of Wages Act, 1936; Workmen Compensation Act, 1923; Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act of 1970; and Maternity Benefit Act, 1961.

Thus a large unregulated community of mostly female workers across the country finds itself with no viable recourse to justice. They continue to be at the mercy of employers whose stories of cruelty and abuse surface only when they are extreme.

In March 2023, the Gurgaon police arrested a couple for allegedly torturing and assaulting a minor girl from Jharkhand who lived and worked at their home. “The girl had injuries on several parts of her body—face, arms, hands and feet. On one of her arms, her skin had been burnt,” a police officer told The Indian Express.

The couple would beat the minor regularly, and often deprived her of food. The teenager said she was tortured with a rope, sticks, a blade, hot iron tongs and matchsticks. She added that she was choked and routinely disrobed.

The Jagori report found that 47% of the women they interviewed had experienced some form of violence. Some 7% respondents reported facing workplace sexual harassment such as lewd or suggestive remarks, indecent exposure, attempts to solicit sexual favours, molestation and showing of porn. The report called for a comprehensive National Legislation for Domestic Workers and registration of domestic workers and their employers.

Though the The Sexual Harassment of Women At Workplace or POSH Act, 2013, outlined a structure for local complaint committees to be set up by the district officer for women in the unorganised sector, Jagori found that these were not active and that the women had no knowledge about them.

The report highlighted how countries in the region are far ahead in progressive legislations for domestic workers. Singapore’s Employment of Foreign Manpower Act, 1990, gives migrant maids the right to insurance, medical care, and accommodation, specifying that it should be “sufficiently ventilated”. In Thailand, the Ministerial Regulation 2012 No. 14 ensures that domestic workers get a weekly holiday, annual leave, sick leave and overtime.

Philippines’ decade-old Batas Kasambahay, 2013, ensures domestic workers mandates minimum wage, at least three adequate meals a day, rest periods, social security coverage and the right to join a labour organisation. It protects domestic workers against abuse, debt bondage, and of child labour. It asks employers to facilitate learning opportunities for their domestic staff. “The employer shall adjust the work schedule of the domestic worker to allow such access to education or training without hampering the services required by the employer,” the act said.

Vietnam’s Labour Code 2019 specifies that an employer must enter into a written employment contract with a domestic worker. The contract must outline wage payment, pay period, daily working hours, notice period and “clean and hygienic” accommodation. The code asks employers to “respect the honour and dignity of domestic workers”.

The Jagori report underlined the importance of recognising the labour of domestic workers and their contribution to the GDP. “They deserve decent work and workplaces free of violence. The need of the hour is a gender- transformative discourse that will go beyond mere protection of WDWs to accord dignity to the work done by millions of women,” the report said.

[* Name changed]

(Priya Ramani is on the editorial board of Article 14. Courtesy: Article 14.com, a joint effort between lawyers, journalists, and academics that provides intensive research and reportage, data and varied perspectives on issues necessary to safeguard democracy and the rule of law.)