Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala Law Reforms Commission has submitted a draft bill for the formation of a welfare board for home nurses and domestic workers (വീട്ടുജോലിക്കാരുടെ (നിയന്ത്രണവും ക്ഷേമവും) ബിൽ 2021).
The draft bill, submitted to the government, has also recommended making registration mandatory for agencies recruiting home nurses and domestic helps. Such agencies should register themselves with the welfare board.
The draft bill, submitted to the government, has also recommended making registration mandatory for agencies recruiting home nurses and domestic helps.
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The draft Domestic Workers (Regulation and Welfare) Bill, 2021, has also recommended stringent punishment — a fine or imprisonment — for agencies and house owners assigning other jobs to home nurses and domestic helps. It also mooted the setting up of council to address grievances.
The bill also recommended the government to assign an inspecting officer in the rank of assistant labour officer to conduct checks on agencies and houses on receiving complaints.
The commission, with Justice K T Thomas as its chairman and Sasidharan Nair as the deputy chairman, said the bill was to check the exploitation of home nurses and domestic workers, comprising mostly women.
Other norms
•A fixed salary should be paid besides allowance for additional work. The employees should be provided decent accommodation/resting place. Their job and health security should be ensured.
•The recruiting agencies should be registered with the welfare board. The board will grant them registration for five years after necessary inspection. The registration could be renewed by remitting a fee. Those running unregistered agencies will invite a fine of up to Rs 10,000 or imprisonment for a year.
• The agencies should keep a record of the employees' details such as their health condition and experience. The agencies should also provide a letter describing the job and terms and conditions to both the employee and the house owner. Agencies could take 10% of the total wage of the employee as service charge. Breaching this norm would invite a fine or Rs 10,000 and imprisonment of up to one year.
• If the house owner is directly employing the worker, s/he should provide a letter describing the terms and conditions. Breaching the norm would also invite a fine or Rs 10,000 and imprisonment of up to one year.
A seven-day termination notice should be provided to the employer.
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• A seven-day termination notice should be provided to the employer. The salary during the notice period should be provided. Complaints and disputes should be sorted out through the proposed Disputes Redressal Council.
• Children aged below 15 should not be appointed. Those aged between 15 and 18 could be employed with the written consent of their parents.
Composition of the board
The recommended nine-member welfare board will have representatives of the government, employers and domestic workers. Those aged between 18 and 62 could be the members of the board, and beneficiary contribution could be made till the age of 65.
