Complaints, ignorance and ministry surround the pilot plan for the regulation of domestic workers that began a month and two weeks ago, which would provide data on employers and workers in this sector, as a neuralgic step towards the vindication of this trade in the Dominican Republic.
The announcement of the formalization of domestic service gave these employees hope that they would be guaranteed a minimum monthly salary of RD$10,000vacations, health insurance and enjoy an old age pension.
For these purposes, the Ministry of Labor contracted services of advertisement for home registration campaignas well as for its creation for more than RD$1 million, as confirmed by Listín Diario through the Comprehensive Data Monitoring and Analysis System of the General Directorate of Public Contracts (DGCP).
This monitoring instrument details that this ministry acquired these services under the modality of minor purchases and exception processes that reach the amount of RD$1,656.263.99 million, to spread the word about this pilot registration plan.
On the portal it was possible to see that the Spanish consulting company “Llorente & Cuenca Dominicana SRL” was the one that won the tender for an amount of RD$1,237,363.99 million, for the execution of an advertising campaign on the results of the decisions regarding domestic work.
Likewise, the Ministry of Labor carried out two other procedures, under an exception process, to publicize this registry, which amounts to RD$418,900.
The exception process aims to make purchases and contracts of goods, services and works in the following situations: “unpredictable”, “immediate”, “concrete” and “proven”according to the DGCP.
This regulatory institution of these processes establishes that “it is not possible to apply the selection procedures established in the Law in a timely manner, under an exceptional procedure, which allows expediting the purchase or contracting, based on objective and urgent reasons.”
confused employers
However, despite the Government’s effort to publicize the provision and call on employers to register your domesticsthere is still a lack of information among employers.
Such was the case of Adelaida Peña Mejía, who lives in the Bella Vista sector of the National District and has two maids to do the housework.
Peña Mejía expressed that this process lacks formalityexplaining that although it is open to proceed with registration, they do not know where to go to request information in this regard.
“The process is there, but it cannot be done, there is nowhere to go, and I wonder: who is reporting? Who guides you? Until when do I have to register? Will they give me a fine?…I don’t see formality…”, the lady expressed to this medium.
While Altagracia Tavera, who resides in Invivienda de Santo Domingo Este, said that she will not register her worker, acknowledging that she does not have legal documents.
“Carminia (domestic) has been with us for many years, but she has no papers, so I am not going to regulate her because it will be worse. Of course, I pay her more than the minimum, she eats and sleeps here at home and I give her what she needs without problems, because she is part of the family,” Altagracia said.
Likewise, Katherine Gómez, a neighbor of the Naco sector and who has an employee, stated that she was unaware that this type of work had to be regulated.
“But what domestic registry are you talking about? For what?… I don’t think I have to do that, because mine goes once a week”, questioned the citizen.
Government does not respond
Faced with this scenario of doubts and uncertainty, DAILY LIST A month ago, it asked the Ministry of Labor for data on the number of domestics registered to date on its platform https://domesticas.mt.gob.do. However, the response was silence.
Unofficially, it transpired that the information related to domestic work in that entity is handled with “hermeticism.”
The president of the Association of Committees of Consumer Housewives and Users of Services (Acacdisna), Ana Vertilia Cabrerainformed this newspaper in recent days that they have accompanied all these workers over the years in the fight to demand their rights, as well as the need to make a real uprising of the employees in this sector.
He also advanced that the population of these workers is close to 200,000and that for this reason it becomes urgent to carry out a survey to know precisely how many there are in the country.
Five months ago
The Government announced five months ago the mechanisms to formalize these workers.