House Workers Union Explains Wage “Coupons”

A new system aiming to insure house worker women from workplace murders has been submitted to the parliament in a new omnibus bill. 

According to this, employers (house owners) will notify authorities that they employ a house worker through internet. From now on, house workers will receive their wage in the form of coupon. 

When the house worker will redeem this coupon, 2 percent will be allocated to work safety. This system will be required for those who work more than 10 days per month. 

While house workers say that notifications via internet are facility, they add the following: “However, the picture changes after this. They are taking our rights as a worker with this coupon system.”

“It is practical to notify through internet. However, this is not making it easier for house workers, but SGK (Social Security Institution of Turkey) and employers,” said Serpil Kemalbay from İmece Women Union on the wage coupon system. 

Kemalbay said that one of their demands was to increase the work safety in the apartments. 

“With this coupon system, house workers pay the premiums of a probably occupational accident. When the house owner is free (*) from all responsibilities, why would they take precautions?” 

“Which house worker can pay premiums for non-working days?”

Kemalbay also added that the new system didn’t include an insurance premium incentives either. She predicted that house workers would work without an insurance as it is house workers’ responsibility to pay their premiums. 

“If a house worker is working less than 10 days, she is not considered as a worker. If she works for 10 days, she also has to pay for her non-working days in order to benefit from retirement and health insurance. Which house worker can afford this? 

“If no incentives are given in premiums, house workers are likely to show their working days as 10 days per month and work 20 days under the table. Then she will remain unprotected again.

“We would like to see a solution that will include worker health and occupational safety. However, this approach is aiming to turn the worker into a slave, an object. This is to tell house owners that ‘we are making things easy for you’. Those who draft this law are already keeping a house worker. It means that most of them are potential employers.

“This is not a bill about occupational safety. It is about how expenses will be paid if a house worker has an accident. However, it doesn’t foresee any measures against preventing them. The issue lies here. And the worker is paying the premiums from her pocket.The discrimination goes on. Why are construction workers insured even if they work for one day and not house workers?” (ÇT/BM)

* SGK (Social Security Institution of Turkey) imposes a payment to employers according to the fault percentage for employees and other beneficiaries in case of an occupational accident. However, this will not be applied to daily house workers. 

* Click here to read the article in Turkish.