Counterbalancing the Legislative Precariousness of Domestic Carework in Switzerland through Civil Rights 鈥� Potentials & Limitations of the Human Rights-Centred Approach in the Swiss Context
Conf茅rence avec Gabriela Medici, doctorante, Universit茅 de Zurich, et chercheure 茅tudiante au Laboratoire de recherche sur le droit du travail et le d茅veloppement, Facult茅 de droit, Universit茅 McGill. S'inscrit dans la s茅rie de conf茅rences Travail, Migration et D茅velopement, pr茅sent茅e par la Chaire Oppenheimer en droit public international et par le Laboratoire de recherche sur le droit du travail et le d茅veloppement. Madame Medici examinera l'effet du discours international en mati猫re des droits de la personne sur le droit du travail pour le cadre r茅glementaire et constitutionnel de la Suisse et sur le travail des travailleurs domestiques immigrants.
R茅sum茅 (en anglais seulement)
The European Union鈥檚 extension of free movement to Switzerland has led to an increasing number of Eastern European women providing care for the elderly in private Swiss households. These migrant care workers operate in an informal or 鈥渟emi-legal鈥� setting often associated with precarious working and living conditions.
This presentation will relate the growing international discourse on the impact of human rights on labour law to the current Swiss constitutional and labour regulatory framework for domestic workers. Over the past years, the discourse has begun to recognise core labour rights in the form of positive state obligations to regulate and implement traditional civil rights guarantees (such as the right of privacy and family life, personal and economic freedom, the prohibition of servitude and forced labour) as well as procedural guarantees and the prohibition of discrimination. Unlike social and economic human rights guarantees, these rights are firmly enshrined in the Swiss constitution and in justiciable international human rights instruments 鈥� especially in the ECHR.
I argue that this development contributes towards understanding and counterbalancing the current legislative precariousness of migrant caregivers in Swiss households. I also discuss the limitations of using this approach to advance their protection and empowerment, as it can only address some very fundamental issues and could lead to further victimization of domestic caregivers.
Gabriela Medici is a doctoral candidate, under the supervision of Professor Regina Kiener, at the Faculty of Law, University of Zurich in Switzerland. She is currently a Graduate Research Trainee at the Labour Law and Development Research Laboratory, 香蕉视频 Faculty of Law, under the supervision of Professor Adelle Blackett, funded through a Mobility Fellowship of the Swiss National Science Foundation.
