50% wage hike proposed for domestic, apartment workers

Bengaluru: Monthly expenditure of households, resident welfare associations (RWAs), apartment owner societies, paying guest facilities and hostels, among others, is likely to see a sharp rise if all goes as per the latest draft notification issued by the labour department. The notification has proposed to revise the monthly salaries of various workers catering to these sectors.
As per officials in the labour department, the last revision under Minimum Wages Act, 1948 was in 2016-17.

“In the last five years, many changes have happened and the cost of living has increased considerably. There have been demands from labour unions to revise minimum wages. Based on several factors, we have notified the proposed revision of salaries of labourers from various sectors,” explained a senior official from the department.
Going by the draft notification, a copy of which is available with TOI, the department has proposed to raise by 30-50% the monthly salaries of domestic workers, including maids, nannies, cooks/kitchen assistants, car drivers, apartment supervisors/managerial staff, gardeners, lift operators and watchmen.
The department has given two months’ time for stakeholders to file objections, if any, to the proposal. The quantum of revision varies with the category of jurisdictional municipal bodies. The hike in salaries will be the most in Bengaluru and city corporation limits; it will be minimal in smaller towns.
“The highest revision of salary, 45-50%, is for domestic maids and cooks, followed by other unskilled labourers like assistants or gardeners,” a senior labour commissioner explained.
The draft notification has for the first time considered all genders on a par. “Regardless of the gender, male, female or others, all employees shall be treated equally in wages,” it said.
Officials said a working day comprises eight hours. “Anyone working beyond will be eligible for overtime. This apart, employers have to revise dearness allowance on an yearly basis, keeping in mind the average of the consumer price index. Also, if anyone is at work on his or her weekly off or during festive holidays, they should be given twice the day’s salary,” they pointed out.
Trade unions have hailed the initiative. Geeta Menon, joint secretary of Domestic Workers’ Rights Union, said: “The proposed revision looks good. But when it comes to enforcement, we hardly see any effective implementation. But this revision establishes that all these professions are recognised by the government. We also demand that the government set up a grievance-redressal cell for domestic helps.”
A member of the PG Associations of Bengaluru said, “It will be easier for us to comply with any revision only if we do business to that extent. Post-Covid, students have chosen to vacate PGs and due to remote work arrangement, working professionals too have left. When business itself has collapsed, how can we give them a 40 to 50 per cent hike?”
The Bangalore Apartment Federation (BAF) supported the revision, while acknowledging that this would eventually be transferred to individual households’ monthly maintenance bill. Vikram Rai, general secretary, BAF said: “As labourers, they are all integral to our lives and need a better working environment. At the same time, it is also equally important to know about the parameters on which the labour department revised the salaries. None of us was consulted during the process.”