Learn about the new rights of domestic workers

The Council of Ministers has approved, at the proposal of the Ministry of Labor and Social Economy, the Royal Decree regulating the protection of safety and health in the field of household services.

The decree includes risk assessments of homes where the activity is carried out, prevention training, medical check-ups and an adequate supply of materials for the performance of their work.

With this regulation, an end is put to "a historical grievance that granted care and work in the home a secondary role, undervalued in economic and social terms. At the same time, it places Spain as a country at the forefront of regulations regarding prevention of occupational hazards for domestic workers." The regulation has had dialogue with trade union organizations and representative platforms of the sector.

In fact, the special regulation enjoyed by this group has served to "shelter more flexible hiring and termination formulas, with regulations on working time and working conditions opposed to the right to equality and non-discrimination, in addition to excluding them from important aspects of social protection."

This royal decree ends a path that "values work in the home as a fundamental pillar for society and that began with the approval of a special subsidy in the pandemic caused by COVID-19, the recognition of the right to contribute for unemployment benefits and the ratification of Convention 189 of the International Labor Organization" on domestic workers.

Prevention of occupational hazards

The right to safety and health at work has been defined, taking into account that domestic workers carry out their work in homes that lack a business entity of the employer, the private sphere where the services are provided, and the plurality, in certain cases, of employers, delimiting the terms and guarantees that were recognized in this right.

The right to health surveillance is recognized, which may include a voluntary medical examination, unique for each worker, even when providing services on behalf of several employers.

Employers are taken into consideration for their personal characteristics or disability that may prevent them from directly assuming preventive obligations, as they may delegate them to a person in their personal or family environment.

To facilitate the materialization of these new rights and not impose any burden on families and employers, the necessary public instruments are made available:

• The Ministry of Health will promote the inclusion of the free performance of medical examinations in the portfolio of common services of the National Health System.
• The National Institute for Safety and Health at Work will develop a free tool that will facilitate employers' compliance with obligations related to risk assessment.
• The INSST will also develop a Technical Guide for the prevention of occupational hazards in domestic work.
• A Protocol in case of harassment developed by the INSST will be made available to workers.
• To guarantee the right to free training, the State Public Employment Service (SEPE) will publish a free tool.

The employer must provide domestic service workers with adequate work equipment for the performance of their duties and take the necessary measures to ensure that its use can be carried out safely.

The right of workers to stop work in case of serious and imminent risk is regulated, without this entailing any harm to the worker.

Home Help Service

The Royal Decree also includes home help services (SAD), the special characteristics of this activity, which takes place in private homes, require a specification to include the protection of safety and health. The people in charge of evaluating occupational hazards must carry out the evaluations with face-to-face visits to the homes where the care activity is carried out.

Modifications may be introduced in the home when the company obtains the consent of the owners of the home in advance and as long as they are necessary to guarantee the most adequate protection against the risks of the job, in accordance with the risk assessment.