Domestic workers training manual launched

A Domestic Workers' Training Manual to serve as a reference for both domestic workers and their employers has been launched by LAWA Alumnae Incorporated (LAWA-Ghana).

Inside the handbook are fundamental instructions on how to conduct proper housework, ranging from food and hygiene to domestic accidents.

It also contains a section devoted to communication between the domestic workers and their employer, and an extract from the manual on the rights and responsibilities of domestic workers.

LAWA-Ghana is a non- governmental organization comprising a group of female lawyers who undertake some legislative advocacy projects to promote women's economic and social rights in Ghana.

It developed the guide to provide domestic workers with basic knowledge in caring for a household with the hope to formalize their labor practices.

A nationwide research in 2003 by LAWA revealed that domestic workers are usually females who are denied basic human rights and do not engage in any form of contract and even when they do, it is usually done through agencies.

Many do not receive any wages, let alone plan for the future through the Social Security and National Insurance Scheme, (SSNIT).

Thus, the need for legal reform and advocacy to ensure that employers benefit from employing domestic workers and the latter's rights also protected at their workplaces.

Domestic workers play a large role in Ghana's infrastructure, both inside the home and out. With the increase of women entering the workforce, the demand for domestic workers is ever increasing.

The escalation of domestic work employment has encouraged many people to join the labor field. The workers come from a variety of backgrounds and education, and often begin work without training.

Mrs. Sheila Minkah-Premo, member of LAWA-Ghana, feared that many domestic workers lack knowledge of appropriate domestic maintenance, and hoped the manual will provide them with proper assistance.

"Some employers experience challenges with their workers, and are unsure of the relationship they should have with their employees," she said.

She encouraged open communication between the counterparts, as instructed in the manual.The Metropolitan Director of the Ghana Health Service, Dr. John B. K. Yabani, stated that, "Health is not made in the hospital, health is made in the home." "If everyone is well informed about what we should do, we are on our way to achieving health."

Based on this , the manual offers instructional sanitation guidelines and hygiene requirements for workers. Minkah-Premo hopes to keep in step with other countries that had adopted regulations that insure the rights of domestic workers.

Ghana's domestic workers play a large role in the economic system, and LAWA-Ghana is devoted to improving their work and securing their rights.

LAWA-Ghana stated their appreciation of the stakeholders and policy makers that made production of the manual possible.

Their guidebook is the first of its kind, and LAWA-Ghana is hopeful it would increase the prosperity of domestic workers across the country.