Uncovering labour exploitation in state-funded domestic care
by Dr Caroline Emberson (Nottingham University Business School and the University of Nottingham’s Rights Lab)
New research, recently published in JCMS, examines the detection of labour exploitation within domestic care services. In the article, I identify a range of municipal activities including whistleblowing procedures; care-worker professionalisation; the expansion of employee’s roles and inter-agency data analysis. Yet my findings show that significant gaps still exist in the regulation of labour exploitation among domestic workers, particularly in relation to live-in care workers who are usually beyond the reach of national labour inspectorates.
I investigated municipal practices in four European countries: France, Italy, Sweden and The Netherlands. These countries allow paired comparison of practices in different welfare regime trajectory types. For example, long-term care in France and Italy has evolved from a tradition of conservative familialism – where the family is seen as the main support provider. Whereas in Sweden and The Netherlands, welfare services have followed universalist egalitarianism principles: where the state aims to provide access for all those in need.
In each of these different contexts, I asked: what actions have municipal government and other regional actors taken to mitigate the risks of labour exploitation among domestic care workers and what barriers remain?
These are important questions. Policy instruments such as Article 4 of the European Convention on Human Rights and the Council of Europe Convention on Action Against Trafficking in Human Beings (ECAT) place human rights protections at the centre of European policymaking. Recent horizontal policy developments open up the possibility for the development of public procurement mechanisms to achieve these social policy aims. However, legal scholars have identified both risks and dilemmas for the state as it attempts to leverage its role as a ‘buyer’ to improve human rights. EU regional governments, sometimes in the guise of the local municipality, are important procurers and administrators of domestic care, a service which is, increasingly, delivered in the home. What role do these local municipalities play in guaranteeing the working conditions of these increasing numbers of domestic care workers?
My findings reveal a significant gap in labour enforcement regulation among domestic care workers. At the time of writing, in every case care workers’ conditions were beyond the scope of the respective national labour inspectorates, who are forced still to view the domestic setting as a private domain.
In addition, the governance activities that have emerged among regional state actors, particularly at the municipal level also warrant improvement. While initiatives to enhance individual agency are more commonly reported in traditionally familial welfare regimes, collective actions are described more frequently in countries with a more universalist approach to care provision. Importantly, my findings from the studies conducted in The Netherlands and Sweden do suggest that municipal roles to combat labour exploitation are starting to emerge. However, in France and Italy greater emphasis was placed upon enhancement of the agency of individual workers within an environment that placed significant cultural reliance upon a cohort of individualised domestic workers. Furthermore, in Sweden and The Netherlands, my informants placed greater emphasis on the collective response of municipal actors. These practitioners engaged with professionals in other national bodies to identify and eradicate labour malpractices.
In each of the countries I studied, my informants had no doubt that the phenomenon of exploitation was real. However, even where municipal engagement to address these problems was at its most extensive, collective action could be hampered by legacy legislation.
Two specific examples emerged at the time of the research. The Netherlands Regulations for Home Services prevented ratification of the ILO C189 Domestic Workers Convention, 2011, which aims to provide conditions for domestic workers that are no less favourable than those of other workers. My second example comes from the Swedish case study. Here, while much sophisticated gender-blind legislation is in force, my informants reported that labour enforcement legislation was still relatively immature and failed to recognise the most severe forms of labour exploitation, referred to in some third countries as modern slavery.
Despite these legislative gaps, findings from the studies conducted in The Netherlands and Sweden show that those in municipal roles are starting to change their practices to combat labour exploitation. This is an important and significant finding. In Amsterdam, specialist anti-trafficking coordinators have been appointed and the responsibilities of other front-line workers widened, including those in fire and building safety roles. Likewise, in Sweden specialist regional coordination roles have been introduced in the municipality of Jonkoping to support the gender equality aims of the Swedish Gender Equality Agency. Unfortunately, the regulatory gaps in labour inspection noted earlier mean that the enforcement activities of these role-holders remain focused predominantly on communal workplaces such as the factory. Scrutiny of the domestic sphere remains off-limits and this, coupled with resource limitations, continue to make it difficult for these municipal employees to uncover exploitation in the home.
The EU and its member states clearly have a duty not only to protect, but also to respect, human rights in the domestic care services that they fund. Municipalities with responsibility for the oversight of services of this type across the EU must act to ensure that the working conditions of domestic care workers are acceptable. To do this, the EU should consider how to address the regulatory loophole that precludes labour inspection within private households. Where legacy legislative regimes persist, EU members states should review and amend national legislation to provide equal rights for domestic care workers and work to ratify ILO convention C189. Where domestic workers’ contracts remain largely informal, as was the case in Italy, my informants suggest that member states should also consider the introduction of employer incentives to encourage formal contracting. As academics, we could usefully improve our understanding of the gendered nature of labour exploitation and, hence, appropriate labour standards enforcement actions.
Dr Caroline Emberson is Assistant Professor in Operations Management at Nottingham University Business School in the United Kingdom and a member of the University’s Rights Lab research group. Her research interests include modern slavery, especially in the supply chains of long-term care. She has consulted widely, giving evidence to UK Government and House of Lords Inquiries and the Canadian Government. Follow Dr Emberson on Twitter.
