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Domestic workers in the Netherlands prone to labour exploitation

Published on 19-10-2022 12:49
Domestic workers in the Netherlands prone to labour exploitation. This is one of the findings of students working in last semester’s Amsterdam Law Clinics' Fair Work and Equality Law Clinic.
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The Fair Work and Equality Law Clinic provided a comprehensive study of the health and safety at work in the personal and household services in Belgium, Italy and the Netherlands for the European Federation for Services to Individuals (EFSI).

Research methods

During their research the clinic students took a comparative and multidisciplinary perspective, considering relevant international and domestic legislation, reports and academic articles and hosted a hybrid expert meeting, with a focus on gaps in workers' protection, workers' situations during de COVID-19 pandemic and identification of best practices to improve the situation in the sector.

Best practices

Best practices identified were among others Belgium’s service voucher system through which payment and social security contributions are allocated and health and safety in the workplace fall under the service voucher company's obligations. And, in Italy, trainings are provided to strengthen the worker' abilities to combat potential risks. Contrary to these examples, in the Netherlands, where – due to its non-ratification of the ILO Domestic Workers Convention 2011 – the legal framework does not comply with the Convention and an innovative approach to ensure health and safety of domestic workers appears to be missing to date.

Download the report for the full set of findings (pdf)

Read more about the Amsterdam Law Clinics