A survey conducted last year by the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) and the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed that of the 1.4 million Filipinos working as kasambahay, only 2.5 percent have written employment contracts. 

National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC) Executive Director Maria Criselda Sy said this means only 35,455 have written employment contracts which are required under the law.

"The lack of written employment contract for us is worrisome because we already have this law (Kasambahay Law) for seven years," she said in an online forum Wednesday.

"Inspite of the advocacies that have been done with the contract for the kasambahay to make sure that all the provisions of the law are complied with, it is not being done," added Sy.

The survey also revealed that 83% of the 1.4 million are not covered by any social security benefit and 2% shouldered/paid for entire premium contribution without employers sharing in the cost.

Some live-in domestic workers (36%) also work 7 days a week, without the benefit of a rest day.

Other key findings in the survey released by the NWPC are the following: of the 1.4 million domestic workers, 72% or over a million are on live-out arrangement; about 4% or 49,000 are child domestic workers, 4,900 of whom are below 15 years old; the average monthly salary of domestic workers is P4,141, ranging from P2,681 in BARMM to P5,958 in NCR, and only 41% of domestic workers are aware of  the Batas Kasambahay.

Last month, concerned DoLE offices studied the results and committed to look into alternative frameworks for more effective enforcement and implementation of the law given the existing policy on privacy of homes.

Labor Secretary Silvestre Belo III has also ordered the convening of the Domestic Work Inter-Agency Committee to study the survey results and identify measures to address gaps in the implementation of Batas Kasambahay and related rules and guidelines as indicated in said results.

Also to be taken into account are strategies to encourage more domestic workers to organize and provide clearer methodology for setting the sector’s minimum wage, including compensation for overtime and stand-by time. Also to be addressed is the need for advocacy initiatives to raise domestic workers’ awareness of Batas Kasambahay.
 
DoLE said it will also lobby with other government agencies to continuously update relevant data on domestic workers as basis for policy and program development, strengthen compliance in terms of domestic workers’ registration at the local level and improve their social security coverage particularly for those with multiple employers.