INFORMAL SECTOR: Domestic Sector Work experiences

1. II Working Group Meeting of the XIV IACML INFORMAL SECTOR: Domestic Sector Work experiences San Jose, 9 May 2007 Yadira Martínez Flores Ministry of Labor

2. MAIN SEGMENTS GROUP IN THE INFORMAL SECTOR. • Owners or employers of micro companies that employ a reduced number of workers and/or trainees. • Self employed workers that work alone or with employees without remuneration. Covers mainly to independent workers and is the largest segment of the informal sector. • Full or part time employees. That includes salary employee, without a contract, that works occasionally or in regular basis, including members of the family, without remuneration, and the trainees, home employee and paid domestic workers .

3. INFORMAL SECTOR IN NICARAGUA • The informal sector in Nicaragua represents 60.4% of the Work force. Fuente: XXII Encuesta de Hogares para la Medición del empleo Urbano Rural. Nov. 2006

4. COMMUNITY, SOCIAL AND PERSONAL SERVICES, REPRESENT THE 20.8% OF THE WORK FORCE. (W.F) • Women are more likely to take jobs in commerce, manufacturing and services, than in construction and transportation. • Domestic workers go unnoticed and its number is underestimated because, in the national statistics, they seldom are accounted for. Fuente: XXII Encuesta de Hogares para la Medición del empleo Urbano Rural. Nov. 2006

5. WAGES GAP Fuente: XXII Encuesta de Hogares para la Medición del empleo Urbano Rural. Nov. 2006

6. SOCIAL SECURITY AFILIATIONS. 26% of the persons that obtained a job, affiliated to the Social Security (INSS).

7. PUBLIC INVESTMENT TO SUPPORT THE MODERNIZATION OF THE INFORMAL SECTOR POLICY. • The investment policies and resources must distinguee among the following: • The activities of the productive units that have some capacity of growing and accumulating. (viability) • The state Hill be able to provide support services in the area of financing, technical assistance, training, promotion, etc. in order to improve the productivity conditions and income and…………………… • The policies lead to the informal units of subsistence of self-employed workers, family members without pay. The measures to take will be mainly of an assistance nature and, thus, will provide occupational mobility and/ or geographical towards occupation/territories with a grater potential. In order to obtain this, will be used all the tools available at hand (training, financing, etc.)

8. SOCIAL SECURITY POLICIES • To soften and guaranty the supply of social protection, in such a way that those groups may be provided of services according to their income, and that the cost differential may be subsidized by the government or gropus of workers with higher income.. To promote voluntary insurance, micro insurances and other health care and pension measures. • The promotion of voluntary insurances, micro insurances and other measures of medical assistance and non contributive pension (disability and retirement) must be promoted as a complement to proposed productive support policies, and a as fundamental social expense policy and fight against poverty. • To compromise to and increased control of social security policies enforcement, in order to enforce the affiliation to the Social Security system and minimize the tax evasion among the the companies (including small and micro companies) All this must be oriented as part of a consensual effort in order to promote social responsibilities of the companies.

9. INSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL PROCEDURE. Special regulations in regard to the domestic servants working shift. • The CT dedicates a chapter for certain special working conditions , including domestic service. • Domestic service workers are those that offer own services to a person or family • In their home, full or part time, without a direct profit for the employer (company, private or public office, business, etc.) • Minimum wage corresponding to Community Services, social, domestic and personal are C$1,264.00 or US$70.00. • The domestic workers salary includes, in the cases that it may apply: food and room. It represents 50% of the salary that is perceived in cash. • Domestic employees have the right to twelve hours to rest, eight of which must nightly and continues hours They have as well the right of a free day a week for each six days worked. • The employer has the obligation to affiliate the employer in the social security system. Failing to do so, the employer will take responsibility for it.

10. ESPECIAL CIRCUNSTANCES • The majority of the domestic workers work under or in virtue of verbal agreements and, consequently, • High and mobility of workforce. • Uninterrupted shifts, they suffer exhaustion due to overwork and stress. • Low affiliation rate to the Social Security.

11. INCREASE OF COVERAGE OF SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFITS TO THE DOMESTIC WORKERS

12. COMPLIMENTARY ACCIONS • Broad campaigns of social communication lead towards the encouragement to employers to affiliate their workers to the Social Security system. Among those initiatives the following: • Continuous monitoring and inspection of the work place in order to certify the compliance of the Social Security Law. • Right of health coverage for children of the • To extend the coverage, from 6 to 12 years of age, for the children of the insured. • As and improvement, The SS extended coverage for the treatment of gynecological and breast cancer, for insured women. • Opening a new medical facility, in the Atlantic coast, extending assistance to the areas of Siuna, Rosita and Bonanza. Native population.

13. INTERISNTITUTIONAL COOPERATION • Cooperation agreement between the INSS and MITRAB. Increased joint efforts in order to guarranty the compliayance of the obligations of the employers to affiliate their domestic employees to the SS system.

14. SOME PRELIMINARY RESULTS • The health insurance for maternity, according to the Social Security Institute statistics, offers coverage to close to 1 million persons, among the insured, beneficiaries and retirees. • The same coverage, towards the total population, went for 5.4%, in 1998, to 14.5%, in 2006. • In the industry sector, commerce and domestic sector, in 1998, 80,169 insured had coverage. In 2006, that figure was of 150,161, an increase of 87%, without including their dependants.

15. THANK YOU FOR INFORMAL SECTOR: Domestic Sector Work experiences San Jose, 9 May 2007 Yadira Martínez Flores Ministry of Labor dait@ibw.com.ni