2020•07•26 Macau
Author: Sophie Zinser (UNU-CS)
Published by: South China Morning Post
As Covid-19 barrels across the world – impacting both high- and low-income earners in the global labour market – new estimates by the International Labour Organisation reveal that 55 million domestic workers
globally, 37 million of them women, are at risk of unemployment.
While individuals with economic security can use technology to work from home, domestic workers suddenly face difficult conditions amid changing restrictions. Many have been forced to stay in home quarantine with employers. Others have been fired unexpectedly, unable to return home or inform their families of their whereabouts.
Learning about Covid-19 regulations and their labour rights in a foreign country deepens the challenge. In certain cases, workers’ rights are being further constricted by employment contracts, which essentially give employers full discretion over workers’ movements amid the pandemic.
Op-ed available here.