Sedacca, Natalie; (2021) Domestic Labour and Human Rights - Challenging the Exclusion of Domestic Workers. Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).

Text Final PhD Thesis - Domestic Labour and Human Rights- Challenging the Exclusion of Domestic Workers - Natalie Sedacca - Student Number 17046382 - 5 August 2021.pdf - Submitted Version Access restricted to UCL open access staff Download (2MB)

Abstract

Domestic workers, who perform labour such as cooking, cleaning and care for children and the elderly in private households, are a distinctively vulnerable section of the workforce. The thesis identifies and analyses reasons for exclusion of domestic workers – formally and in practice – from labour law protection, and critiques this exclusion on the basis of human rights standards. It focuses on: a lack of, or limitations to, workplace inspection; the application of minimum wage legislation and working time limits; visa regimes as they affect migrant domestic workers’ position and ability to enforce rights; and strategies for improving rights. The analysis proceeds through an in-depth study of two countries, Chile and the UK. It includes first hand qualitative empirical research from each, which sheds light on the effects of legal regimes on workers’ lived experiences, as well as perceptions of the impact and limitations of legal protections by experts in the field. The thesis argues that an understanding of ‘labour rights as human rights’ is a valuable framework for challenging domestic workers’ exclusion and integrates a feminist critique of the public / private sphere divide. It breaks this divide into two key concepts: ‘lack of accountability’ in the private sphere – manifested in issues such as the lack of workplace inspection in domestic work – and ‘devaluation’ of work in the private sphere, which is illustrated clearly by low pay and exemptions from the minimum wage. The thesis applies this normative framework through a detailed examination of two specific rights: the right to work and the right to a private and family life.

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