Domestic workers

Finland ratifies the Domestic Workers Convention (No. 189)

Finland is the 17th ILO member State and the fifth European country to ratify this instrument, which seeks to improve the working and living conditions of tens of millions of domestic workers worldwide.

News | 08 January 2015
On 8 January 2015, the Government of Finland deposited with the International Labour Office the instrument of ratification of the Domestic Workers Convention, 2011 (No. 189). Finland is the 17th ILO member State and the fifth European country to ratify this instrument, which seeks to improve the working and living conditions of tens of millions of domestic workers worldwide. This ratification brings to 105 the total number of Conventions ratified by Finland, which places it at the 7th position among the countries that have ratified the highest number of ILO Conventions.

In transmitting the instrument of ratification, Ambassador Päivi Kairamo, Permanent Representative of Finland to the United Nations Office in Geneva, stated: “Finland considers Convention 189 an important instrument. It aims at improving the legal protection of domestic workers worldwide. In particular, the Convention improves the situation of some of the most vulnerable groups of workers such as migrant workers as well as domestic workers living in the household. These workers are often women. In order to comply with the provisions of the Convention, Finland amended its own legislation to guarantee domestic workers as far as possible equal treatment in the labour market compared with workers in other sectors”.

In receiving the instrument of ratification of Convention No. 189 by Finland, the Director General of the ILO, Mr Guy Ryder, stated: “Today the Government of Finland joins the rank of ILO members who commit to ensure that persons performing domestic work, who are often excluded by national labour legislation, enjoy the same basic labour rights as other workers in terms of, inter alia, hours of work, weekly rest days, paid holidays, minimum wages and social security coverage, including maternity protection. Convention No. 189 also calls on ratifying Members to develop and implement measures for labour inspection, enforcement and penalties with due regard for the special characteristics of domestic work. I trust that other countries will follow in the very near future the example of Finland to maintain the momentum to ratify and implement Convention No. 189, thereby paying to domestic workers worldwide a deserved tribute for their enormous contribution”.

More information on Convention No. 189 and ILO’s work on domestic workers may be found at /global/topics/domestic-workers/lang--en/index.htm