A new code of practice states that those employed in other people's homes are entitled to the same rights and protection as all other employees.
Minister for Labour Affairs Tony Killen today unveiled the Code of Practice for Protecting Persons employed in other People's Homes. The code was agreed upon as part of the Framework Social Partnership agreement Towards 2016.
The code encourages the employer to respect the rights of his employee under the Employment Equality Acts 1998 and 2004 and the Equal Status Acts 2000 to 2004.
Under the new coade an employer must now supply his employee with written details of the hours of work, the rate of pay and the list of duties to be undertaken. Further written description must be given of the places of work, the annual leave and rest breaks allowed to the employee.
The code also states that the employer must provide a payslip to the employee with details of the payment intervals (weekly, fortnightly or monthly), the rates of pay per hour, any overtime payments made, all PRSI and PAYE deductions from the salary and any other deductions made by the employer.
The dignity and privacy of the employee must also be respected according to the code. If the employee is resident in the employer's house, a suitable and secure room with a bed must be provided. If the employee is made to share a bedroom with other employees, this must be agreed in advance.
The code also states that the employer is not entitled to withhold any personal documentation belonging to the employee such as their passport, visa, identity cards or bank statements. The employer may keep copies of such documents as security but is not entitled to hold on to the original documents.
Business and employers' group Ibec said today that the code would help to clarify and confirm the existing rights of workers.
Ibec director Brendan McGinty said "those working in other people's homes are of course entitled to the same safeguards provided to workers elsewhere in the economy, and this code aims to ensure this is the case in practice".
Ictu described the code as a "major step forward in defending the most vulnerable amongst us" and said it hoped that the code would "signal the end of some the more outrageous, Dickensian practices which these very vulnerable workers - predominantly foreign and female - were expected to tolerate."
Trade union Siptu called for the establishment of a Joint Labour Committee (JLC) to set minimum pay and conditions of employment for domestic workers.
Rhonda Donaghey of the union's Domestic Workers Support Group welcomed the code of practice but said the Government should take this initiative onto the "next stage".
"The majority of domestic workers are migrant women - many of whom experience unethical recruitment practices, underpayment, or non-payment of wages and harassment by employers," she said.
"In launching the code of practice, Minister Killeen acknowledged that the code is one step in stamping out exploitation of workers. The second step should be the establishment of a Joint Labour Committee."
The Domestic Workers Support Group of Migrant Rights Centre Ireland said that although it was encouraged by the code, it was "only aspirational".
"An employer's behaviour will only change when there are enforcement mechanisms in place," said a spokesperson.