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Strengthen the contract; Modify the Labor Law;
(Beirut, October 30, 2020) – Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said today that the Lebanese State Council, the country’s highest administrative court, has dealt a severe blow to the rights of migrant domestic workers by suspending implementation of a new standard employment contract. The standard contract, which the Labor Ministry adopted on September 8, 2020, included new protections for migrant domestic workers, including critical guarantees against forced labor, and could have been an important first step towards abolishing the abusive sponsorship system. .
On September 21, the Union of Owners of Domestic Workers Recruitment Agencies filed a complaint with the Shura Council, asking the council to suspend the implementation of two decisions issued by the Minister of Labor to adopt the new unified contract for domestic workers. migrants and limiting the percentage of allowable deductions an employer can deduct from a worker’s wages. The house, which is equivalent to the national minimum wage, does not exceed 30 percent. On October 14, the Shura Council ruled in favor of the recruitment agencies, arguing that the two decisions did “serious harm” to the interests of these agencies. The council did not refer to the rights of migrant domestic workers, which Lebanon is obligated to protect under international law.
The regrettable pattern of violations against migrant domestic workers under the sponsorship system must end. The Lebanese authorities, including the judiciary, have a duty to protect the rights of these workers rather than to protect a system that facilitates exploitation, forced labor and human trafficking.
“The unfortunate pattern of violations against migrant domestic workers under the sponsorship system must end. The Lebanese authorities, including the judiciary, have an obligation to protect the rights of these workers rather than to protect a system that facilitates exploitation and exploitation. forced labor, “said Diala Haidar, Lebanese campaign manager for Amnesty International And Human Trafficking.”
There are an estimated 250,000 migrant domestic workers working in Lebanon. The vast majority of women come from countries in Africa, South, and Southeast Asia, including Ethiopia, the Philippines, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. They are excluded from the protection of Lebanese labor law and their situation in the country is regulated through the kafala system, a restrictive immigration system consisting of laws, regulations and customary practices that link the legal residence of migrant workers with the employer. .
Human Rights Watch has documented YAmnesty International, and many other organizations, have seen over the years how the kafala system gives employers significant control over the lives of workers. This resulted in a plethora of violations, including non-payment of wages, forced detention, and excessive hours of work without days off or breaks; Verbal, physical and sexual abuse. Those who left their employers without “permission” ran the risk of losing their legal residence in the country and face arrest and deportation. The previous contract provides an exception for domestic workers in extreme cases of mistreatment, where the burden of proof falls on the self-employed, leaving the workers in a relationship, even in cases of forced labor.
According to the International Labor Organization, approximately 90 percent of migrant domestic workers working in Lebanon are employed through an agency. Recruitment agencies in Lebanon hire female workers through partner offices in the countries of origin or through their representatives abroad. Their business model is based on charging their employers high hiring fees of between $ 1,000 and $ 3,000. The International Labor Organization has found that employers are often unsure what fees cover. It also found that there is wide variation in hiring fees, depending on the employer’s income and the worker’s nationality.
Both Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch documented abuses by recruitment agencies. Some offices demanded that employers pay them the salary for the first months, instead of the worker, in violation of the worker’s rights. Some workers also reported that they were subjected to physical and verbal abuse, forced labor and human trafficking at the hands of recruitment agencies.
Migrant domestic workers have long suffered under the abusive sponsorship system in Lebanon. Lebanon must comply with its international obligations, include migrant domestic workers in labor legislation and end the sponsorship system.
The Union of Owners of Workers’ Recruitment Offices considered that migrant domestic workers are specifically exempted from the labor law, so their relationship with the employer is governed only by the Law of Obligations and Contracts as long as it does not conflict with ” public order, public morals and general provisions “. He also considered that the standard contract violates the principle of contractual freedom, since both parties must have the ability to decide on the terms of the contract, even if they must be linked by a minimum wage. The ruling of the Council of State did not take into account the rights of women workers and the imbalance of power between the two parties.
Lebanon is one of only two countries in the Middle East that host large numbers of migrant domestic workers, but it does not have any laws regulating their relationship with their employer and providing them with adequate protection and rights. Lebanon is obliged under international human rights law to ensure that migrant domestic workers and migrant workers receive protections equivalent to those enjoyed by other workers under the law.
The contract is the only legal document that migrant domestic workers possess in Lebanon. Lebanon has a standard contract for migrant domestic workers since 2009, but the 2009 version lacks significant safeguards against forced labor, does not comply with international human and labor rights standards, and was adopted before the Convention on Domestic Workers. Home of the International Labor Organization 2011.
The new unified contract aims to correct the power imbalance and grant the workers the main labor guarantees originally granted to the rest of the workers, such as the 48-hour work week, the weekly rest day, the payment of overtime, the annual and sick leave salary, and the adoption of the national minimum wage. With some deductions allowed for room and board. More importantly, the new contract would have allowed workers to terminate their contract without the consent of the employer, thus dismantling a significant abusive aspect of the sponsorship system.
“Migrant domestic workers are among the most marginalized groups in Lebanon,” said Aya Majzoub, a Lebanon researcher at Human Rights Watch. “With the country’s economic collapse, exacerbated by the repercussions of the Covid-19 virus epidemic, its already precarious situation has gone from bad to worse. But instead of providing more protection and dismantling the system that allows these workers to be exploited, the Shura State Council seemed to prioritize interests. Narrow commercial recruiting offices. “
It is unclear what defenses the Labor Ministry has provided, or whether it plans to appeal, as a Labor Ministry official declined to comment on this matter.
Human Rights Watch found that the Lebanese judiciary does not protect domestic workers or hold employers accountable when they violate basic workers’ rights.
The Lebanese parliament should urgently amend the labor law to include migrant domestic workers. The Lebanese authorities should urgently take further steps to dismantle the sponsorship system, including ensuring that migrant workers are not dependent on their employers for their legal status in the country.
Diala Haidar concluded: “Migrant domestic workers have long suffered under the abusive sponsorship system in Lebanon. Lebanon must comply with its international obligations, include migrant domestic workers in labor law and end the sponsorship system. “.
