Personal Household Services (PHS) are provided within the household, mostly by women, mainly working part time, with relatively low skills and often from a migrant background. It is a rapidly growing sector where a large share of the work is done informally. PHS workers are often precarious workers with low wages, long working hours, lack of privacy and less or no social protection. They are also vulnerable to physical, verbal, or even sexual abuse by their employers. Characteristics like gender, race and citizenship status (many are illegal immigrants) exacerbate their vulnerability. This vulnerability has been underlined in recent month because of the corona crisis, in which many PHS workers lost their jobs. The precariousness of PHS workers is to an important extent due to the limited visibility, monitoring and regulation of the sector. Improving this situation is high on the agenda of trade unions, certain governments, as well as of the EU and the ILO.
This webinar will present the results of a comparative research project on PHS in ten EU countries, namely, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Spain, Germany, France, Finland, Czech Republic, Slovakia and the UK. It has analysed from a comparative and multidisciplinary perspective, the existing public policies and social partners' strategies towards personal and household services in these countries. It also discusses how legal regulation, public policy, and social partners’ actions should be adjusted to improve job quality and reduce informality in the PHS sector.
The webinar will be held on Zoom. To register for the webinar, please send a mail with your name and affiliation to: pao-arbeidsrecht@uva.nl. You will then receive a link to connect to the webinar.
15:00. Welcome and introduction. Speaker: Ana B. Muñoz (Carlos III Madrid).
15:05. Comparative analysis of PHS regulation and policies. Speaker: Francisco Javier Gómez Abelleira (Carlos III University)
15.20. The British case. Speaker: Erica Howard/Eleonore Kofman, School of Law, Middlesex University.
15.30. The Spanish case. Speaker: Gema Quintero (Carlos III University).
15:40. Feedback from practice. Speaker: Alicia Novalvos (ASPD, Asociación Española de Servicios Personales y Domésticos).
15:50. Questions.
Invitation PHS Quyality Webinar June 25, 2020
Abstract: Personal Household Services (PHS) are provided within the household, mostly by women, mainly working part time, with relatively low skills and often from a migrant background. It is a rapidly growing sector where a large share of the work is done informally. PHS workers are often precarious workers with low wages, long working hours, lack of privacy and less or no social protection. They are also vulnerable to physical, verbal, or even sexual abuse by their employers. Characteristics like gender, race and citizenship status (many are illegal immigrants) exacerbate their vulnerability. This vulnerability has been underlined in recent months because of the corona crisis, in which many PHS workers lost their jobs. The precariousness of PHS workers is to an important extent due to the limited visibility, monitoring and regulation of the sector. Improving this situation is high on the agenda of trade unions, certain governments, as well as of the EU and the ILO.
This webinar presents the results of a comparative research project on PHS in ten EU countries, namely, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Spain, Germany, France, Finland, Czech Republic, Slovakia and the UK. It has analysed from a comparative and multidisciplinary perspective, the existing public policies and social partners' strategies towards personal and household services in these countries. It also discusses how legal regulation, public policy, and social partners’ actions should be adjusted to improve job quality and reduce informality in the PHS sector.