New law to regulate Morocco's domestic services industry
2009-03-13
Housekeepers and other domestic staff across Morocco are hopeful that a new bill will lead to substantive reform of the historically informal sector.
By Sarah Touahri for Magharebia in Rabat – 13/03/09
 [Sarah Touahri] Employers of child labour under the age of 15 will be punished under the proposed law. |
Domestic labour in Morocco may soon be regulated, if the employment ministry completes a draft law that would set guidelines for the first time in this sizable sector of the economy.
Article 4 of the Labour Code states that "Employment and working conditions for domestic workers employed by the head of the household are covered by a special law", but this law does not yet exist.
The new bill – expected to appear before Parliament during the April legislative session – is intended to fill this gap in the law. The government's aim is to afford the same rights and protections to domestic employees as other workers, and to impose stiffer penalties on violators of child labour laws.
Those employing home staff under the age of fifteen, or who have no approval to act as a guardian for girls between the ages of 15 and 18, will be punished.
Also included in the new bill are salary guidelines for domestic workers. Maids and other staff must be paid at least 50% of the statutory minimum wage of 1,800 dirhams per month.
Additionally, employers may require a one-month probationary period for new employees, renewable only once. After this, they must formalise work arrangements, including a legally binding contract that guarantees the salary and the term of employment.
The employee must be allowed time off of at least 24 hours per week, as well as annual paid leave. The amount of leave must not be less than one and a half days for every month worked.
Maids are eager to enjoy these expanded rights. At the moment, the sector is in a state of anarchy. Employees often work for years without recognition and without any decent recompense. Jamila Bahja, 32, has worked as a maid since age 12. "I've spent my life wandering from one house to the next," she said. "The monthly salary is never more than 600 dirhams and I'm not entitled to any time off."
Bahja added that domestic work needs to be recognised. "We're human beings too, and we have rights."
Some workers are sceptical about the implementation of the future law. "Who can guarantee that the law will be enforced properly?" asked Salawa, 24. "I really hope things will change; at least we'll have a basis for demanding our rights."
In addition to the stiffer regulations, Moroccan authorities are also working to raise awareness about exploitation and child labour.
Since 2007, a programme called "Inqad" has addressed the realities of domestic work for young girls. According to the social development ministry, this programme has borne fruit; members of the public are beginning to speak up about the mistreatment of housekeepers.
Minister for Social Development Nouzha Skelli told Magharebia that the problem of child labour – particularly domestic work for young girls – is one of the government's top priorities. She said the problem has many related causes, including poverty and education.
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acharif moulay abdellah bouskraoui Posted 2009-03-13
Morocco is a state of law. Morocco is under the aegis of His Majesty Mohamed VI, who will do his best to guarantee the dignity of all Moroccans. The law is our emblem, and as such it will be zero-tolerance for the mistreatment of any domestic worker. Every Moroccan has the right to live freely and with dignity.
Jawad Posted 2009-03-14
I think this is a great step toward recognizing this class of workers who are mistreated and abused and underpaid for the hard work they do. The problem in Morocco is that the rule of law that dominates most democracies does not fully exist in Morocco and it will be hard to monitor certain activities by the households who utilize this maid service and even reinforce this law when it is violated. I am hopeful that Morocco is heading in the right direction and we should be more supportive than critical. Let's hope for the best for Morocco and its people.
hicham Posted 2009-03-19
This policy is in the right place. Politicians must keep up their work seriously. Officials should assume their responsibility in the failure of this initiative. The only thing which is not accepted by the people is words without action. I encourage this policy. We are proud of it although we live abroad. Salam.
guillaume Posted 2009-04-10
I agree with you.
aqachmar soumia Posted 2009-04-11
After reading the contents of this article, I can say it's nothing big. In my opinion, and I manage a housework and domestic services company, I note that 90% of our clients (that is: our employers) are quite sophisticated and treat their housekeepers well. Accordingly, playing the martyr to their employers by hounding them about their employees only slows down the real establishment of the rights they desire. It should be noted that there are two types of domestic personnel: live-in and not live-in. For live-in housekeepers and cooks receiving room and board, their right to 24-hours of weekly leave must be taken into consideration. Some employers do not recognise their right to 24-hours of weekly leave. They look for employees who only request 24-hours of leave every two weeks on the pretext that it is unreasonable to give them weekly leave of 24 hours. Moreover, we must think about social security deduction, which the employers take out to the tune of 50 to 100 dirhams per month and deduct from their income. And, there are deductions the employee pays directly to public institutions. The right to retire would be a lot more logical than inclining towards hiring young people, because the young people could just as easily demand the right to an education in domestic services since not everyone gets to go to school. Domestic work is a profession like any other, yet it goes unappreciated even to this day. Copying the West is not a good thing, because their laws create many more thugs and delinquents than we have ever had in our Arab and Muslim countries. The proof is there: all those good old housekeepers are now just cooks.
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