Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2024, published 113rd ILC session (2025)

Domestic Workers Convention, 2011 (No. 189) - Bolivia (Plurinational State of) (Ratification: 2013)

The Committee notes the observations of the Latin American and Caribbean Confederation of Domestic Workers (CONLACTRAHO), received on 1 September 2022. The Committee requests the Government to provide its comments in this respect.

Articles 3(2)(c) and 4 of the Convention. Child labour. The Committee refers to its 2023 observation regarding the application of the Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138), in which it noted with satisfaction that following the declaration of unconstitutionality by Constitutional Court ruling No. 0025/2017 of July 21, 2017, and the approval of Law No. 1139 of December 20, 2018, which amends the Code for Children and Adolescents, the minimum working age was raised from 10 to 14 years. However, the Committee also noted that Law No. 1139 does not specifically amend Article 129 (II), which sets the minimum age for self-employed workers at 10 years and for children in an employment relationship at 12 years and asked the Government to confirm whether Article 129, II, of the Code for Children and Adolescents is effectively inapplicable.

The Committee notes, in this respect, the information provided by the Government in its report under the present Convention on the measures taken with a view to eliminating waged child domestic labour in practice, including: (i) the production of a registration and authorization form for work for young persons, in conjunction with the Ministry of Justice and Institutional Transparency (Ministry of Justice) and the Ombuds Office for Young Persons; and (ii) the progressive implementation by the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security (Ministry of Labour) of a system of temporary mobile offices in different areas with the aim of detecting any type of work by young persons under 14 years of age. While noting the Government’s efforts to combat child labour, the Committee notes with concern that CONLACTRAHO in its observations denounces the fact that, according to 2020 information from UN Women, child labour persists in the waged domestic work sector involving girls as young as 7 years old, generally from impoverished families in rural areas or small towns who migrate to capital cities to work. The Committee also notes that the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC), in its concluding observations of 6 March 2023, expressed concern at the numerous reports of economic exploitation of children (according to a 2019 survey by the National Institute of Statistics, 83,000 children between 5 and 13 years of age work more than 40 hours a week and at night, including in hazardous conditions), particularly of Guaraní children in the Chaco region, as well as in the informal economy and in rural regions (CRC/C/BOL/CO/5-6, paragraph 44). The Committee further notes that CONLACTRAHO points out that, according to the National Institute of Statistics ongoing employment survey, in 2019 a total of 3,164 domestic workers between 14 and 17 years of age were registered. CONLACTRAHO also reports that, although the minimum age is set at 14 years, parents or guardians have the possibility of obtaining permission from the Ministry of Labour to enable children under 14 years of age to perform waged domestic work.

In its report, the Government indicates that, although it is clear that a high percentage of girls participate in economic activities, these are related to work within the family and not to waged work, and adds that family work does not necessarily constitute an employment relationship. In this regard, in view of the higher concentration of girls in the domestic work sector, the Committee emphasizes the need to address gender norms and discrimination, which increase the risk of child labour for girls in domestic work, particularly as child domestic labour is normally hidden from public view and is beyond the scope of labour inspectors, leaving children especially vulnerable to physical, verbal and sexual abuse (2022 General Survey on securing decent work for nursing personnel and domestic workers, key actors in the care economy, paragraph 655). In light of the above, the Committee strongly urges the Government to take the necessary measures, taking account of gender issues, to: (i) eliminate child domestic labour; and (ii) ensure that work performed by domestic workers who are under the age of 18 but above the minimum age for employment does not deprive them of compulsory schooling, or interfere with opportunities to participate in further education or vocational training, in accordance with Article 4(2) of the Convention. The Committee urges the Government to provide detailed information on the nature and impact of such measures and reminds the Government of the guidance on this matter contained in Paragraph 5 of the Domestic Workers Recommendation, 2011 (No. 201). In addition, taking into account the issues raised in its 2023 observation on Convention No. 138 as well as the concerns expressed by the CONLACTRAHO, the Committee asks the Government to clarify whether the national legal framework allows children under 14 years of age to be enabled to perform waged domestic work.

Article 10(1) and (3). Equality of treatment in relation to hours of work. Periods during which domestic workers are not free to dispose of their time. The Committee recalls that since 2017 it has been suggesting to the Government to consider the possibility of establishing a working day of a maximum of eight hours for all domestic workers, including those domestic workers who reside in the household for which they work. The Committee notes with regret that once again the Government has not provided information on the measures taken or envisaged in this regard. Accordingly, the Committee once again recalls that Article 10(1) of the Convention stipulates that measures shall be taken “towards ensuring equal treatment between domestic workers and workers generally in relation to normal hours of work”. Lastly, the Committee notes that the Government does not reply in its report to the other requests made in its previous comments relating to the application of Article 10. The Committee therefore once again requests the Government to take the necessary steps to establish, as for all other workers, a working day of a maximum of eight hours for waged domestic workers, including those waged domestic workers who reside in the household for which they work, and to send information on this matter. The Committee also once again requests the Government to indicate how the application of section 47 of the General Labour Act, according to which effective working hours include the time during which the worker is at the employer’s disposal, is ensured in practice in the waged domestic work sector. In this regard, the Committee draws the Government’s attention to the guidance contained in Paragraphs 8 and 9 of Recommendation No. 201.

The Committee is raising other matters in a request addressed directly to the Government.