The Working Women Centre Timor-Leste urges the government to create a specific law to regulate and protect the rights of domestic workers because under the Labour Law there are no articles about the rights of domestic workers.
Board President of the Working Women Centre (WWCTL) Lorenço Tito Ximenes Lopes said the demands relate to Article 2, which says domestic workers would be regulated through special legislation, so the government has the responsibility to create the law.
“In the next three years, we will advocate with SEPFOPE to create a law to give special protection to domestic workers because in the Labour Law, it mentions they will create it,” said WWCTL President Lopes in Balide, Dili.
He said they would discuss the issue in the organization’s strategic plan, on how to advocate for the government to consider the rights of domestic workers.
On the other hand, the Director General of the Secretary of State for Professional Training Policy and Employment (SEPFOPE) Jacinto Barros Gusmão said the legal team were elaborating a draft decree law to regulate and protect domestic workers, including Timorese workers abroad.
“We want it to be approved this year so next year it can be implemented, now we’re making a legal effort, especially for domestic workers,” he said.
The Director General acknowledged that the minimum salary was not implemented properly, especially for domestic workers, and it was difficult to control when people work without a contract.
