The precarious situation of domestic workers in the light of Turkish labour law and ILO Convention No. 189Gizem Sarıbay ÖztürkThe precarious situation of domestic workers in the light of Turkish labour law

This article explores and problematises the precarious situation of domestic workers in Turkey from two perspectives: one being the characteristics of domestic workers; the other their exclusion from the scope of Labour Law No. 4857. The first part of this article maps the definition of domestic work and domestic workers. It then describes the characteristics and problems relevant to this field. Afterwards, it examines ILO Convention No. 189, which can be determined as the basic regulation for domestic workers, and analyses which Law regulates their labour rights in Turkey. It concludes with how the law for domestic workers should be regulated. On the basis of this analysis, it is suggested that labour protection for domestic workers should be expanded either by revising Labour Law No. 4857 or by legislating a completely new, and specific, law. Moreover, it is remarked that the problem is not only deprivation from legal regulation but also the existence of a gap between the formal legal entitlements of domestic workers and their treatment in practice.