Child Domestic Workers in Zimbabwe

6. Conditions of Work

6 Conditions of Work Complaints At the same workshop for working children in September of 2001, the child domestic workers mentioned five problem areas; low pay; physical and sexual abuse; being required to wash the underwear of employers; inadequate or no leave; and not being allowed to enjoy facilities such as television. At a national workshop for working children in August 2003, child domestic workers complained of long hours starting early in the morning and finishing late at night, as well as no time off. Hours of work The Labour Relations (Employment of Children and Young Persons) Regulation of 1997 stipulated that children aged from 12 to 17 may be employed in ‘light work’, which is defined as not more than six hours in any one day. They are entitled to one and a half days off per week, of which at least 24 hours must be continuous.83 As we have pointed out, these regulations were amended in 1999, when the minimum age of employment was raised to 15. While strict enforcement of the legislation would result in some children losing their access to income for livelihood and for education, it is a matter of concern that many children are being required to work for hours that substantially exceed those allowed, and that some very young children are employed. We asked the children in the survey to list the tasks they performed during the day and to estimate the time spent on each. Many were unable to do this in a manner that we found convincing, and the figures that we do have are probably not accurate in many cases. In some cases, we guessed the hours spent from their descriptions of jobs. We counted all duties as work. If the child employer had to escort young children to and from school, the work is not heavy, but it is still time that the child cannot spend in any other way. The children’s responses showed the wide variation in treatment that working children receive, and indicate that some children are being badly exploited.84 Only a third of the children (32 percent) worked 63 for six hours a day or less. Nearly half of those we recorded (44 percent ) were working for more than eight hours a day, the normal maximum allowed for adults. Although the majority of those still in school had light work loads, this was not always the case.85 Ten (30 percent) of those in school were working six or more hours a day and five were working over eight hours a day, apart from their schoolwork. One child listed as the first thing he disliked about his work, Not finding time to read, or even the time for school… I do not find time for schoolwork. We discussed hours of work with a group in Gweru. Although they knew that children under fifteen are not by law supposed to work in employment for more than six hours a day, they felt that this was unrealistic. Based on their own experiences, they proposed a maximum of six hours a day for children under 13, eight hours a day for children in the 13 to 14 age group, and ten hours a day for children aged from 15 to 17. We asked the children whether they get time off to rest and nearly half (43 percent) said that they did not.87 One commented that she was only able to rest when the employers were out. In their complaints about the way their employers treat them , seven complained at the amount of work they had to do (one commenting that there was no time to rest), one complained of no time for schoolwork, one complained of not being allowed to play, and one complained of no time to talk to others. Over half said that they do not have a chance to play with other children.88 Adult domestic workers are required by law to have one and a half days off a week, of which one day must be 24 hours continuously. Forty-four of our sample (31 percent) said that they did not get days off,89 while others commented that they get only Sunday off. One child complained that even on her off days, she was given chores to do before she was allowed to go. Forty-nine, or 34 percent of the sample, claimed that they were not allowed to be off duty on public holidays. Some of the children were...