The precarious working conditions of domestic workers in Brazil are being discussed today in the Human Rights Commission of the Chamber of Deputies.
According to data from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), 18% of the Brazilian labor force is engaged in domestic work. Over 90% are women, and only 27% have signed working papers.
For the Minister of the Superior Labor Court, Lélio Correia, the labor court system must affirm a commitment to ensure the rights of domestic workers, since they represent more than six million workers in Brazil.
According to Correia, this was the category that grew the most in the past five years, another reason they deserve to have their occupational situation recognized.
“Domestic workers are not their masters’ servants. They are workers, and they have their rights, which need to be respected,” he remarked.
Domestic workers currently have the right to an extra month’s salary, advance notice, retirement benefits, a prohibition against salary cuts, a paid weekly day off (preferably on Sunday), and 30 days of annual vacation time.
Agência Brasil