The household worker

According to definitions of the responsibility and scope of work of household workers they may clean homes, plan and cook meals, do laundry, administer the household account books, care for children, and perform numerous other duties, such as gardening and household maintenance.

Now that are more responsibilities than I ever imagined a household worker will be looking after specially given their status in society where in some posh eating houses and clubs this person who contributes so much for a household is not even allowed to enter the premises and if his or her employees make the mistake of taking him or her along they have to let him sit outside on a stool like a child punished for bad behavior.

In the more aristocratic establishment there are even signs spelling out the restrictions on household workers.

The whole thing and this process of thinking took a tumble when as you might remember there was a flood of Filipina maids and people were competing to be the next to hire that status symbol.

The security people and even some senior staff at these establishment could not identify this fair skinned well-dressed foreigner as maids and many of them enjoyed the food shoulder to shoulder with their employers.

While this section of society lives in a state of anonymity its numbers are mind boggling. As per to ILO estimates, there are at least 8.5 million domestic workers in Pakistan, the vast majority of whom are women and young girls. In some cases this is a heredity occupation which passes from mother to child.

Women household workers in many cases bring their young girls with them to work. The reason is twofold. In many cases it is not safe to leave young girls at home and then the girl becomes an apprentice of sorts learning her mother’s trade and gets prepared to take her place when she is too old to carry out the hard work that entails such a job.

All this of course deprives the young girls from getting a formal education of any kind and contributes to the large number of uneducated population in the country.

Household workers have endured prolonged neglect and maltreatment due to the absence of legal recognition. It was after many years of campaigning that some laws were enacted to protect the rights of home based workers.

The Punjab Assembly passed the Home-Based Workers Act in 2023 while the Islamabad Capital Territory Workers Act was passed in 2021.

In spite of the laws and political activism by women organizations household workers and especially women continue to be mistreated by the powerful elements in society.

There are frequent incidents of sexual harassment, physical violence and mistreatment of all sorts by employers who in some cases behave like they are living in medieval times and their household servants are slaves to be treated as they wish.

Most vulnerable are the live in household helps especially young girls who are cut off from their families for weeks and therefore cannot inform their parents and in some cases it is too late with fatal results.

As can be gauged from the near poverty like situation in which these household workers barely survive there is no fixed minimum wage for household workers.

Usually, it is a paltry sum which is further reduced due to overhead costs like transport, etc., leaving very little for the hard working household worker.

Some people realizing the rising costs of transport are considerate enough to give extra money for transport and some smart workers pool in to hire rickshaws on a monthly basis where in a three-seater they can somehow fit in five and even six passengers.

Another large segment of household workers are drivers and Chowkidars. Most of these are employed in posh areas of the country. It must be said that as far as Karachi is concerned it has been a fruitful and positive experience.

Majority of these have served their employers well, looked after the children they ferry to and from school and guarded the houses with dedication. I do not recall any incident in which any of these workers were engaged in any crime. Majority of these come from Northern areas of Pakistan and are hardworking, honest and dedicated to their tasks. We owe them a debt of gratitude for restoring our faith in our countrymen.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024