Diplomats and Domestic Workers

Worldwide, domestic workers employed by diplomats suffer abuses ranging from wage exploitation to trafficking offenses. Diplomats are government officials who serve their governments abroad and are generally able to apply for visas enabling domestic workers – often from third countries – to accompany them on their foreign assignments.

Because domestic servants working for diplomats work behind closed doors – cleaning, cooking, and caring for children – they can become invisible to the neighborhoods and communities they live in. Domestic workers brought into a country by diplomats face potentially greater isolation than other workers because of language and cultural barriers, ignorance of the law, and sheer distance from family and friends. They work for government officials who may appear to them to hold exceptional power and/or influence. The resulting invisibility and isolation of such workers raises concerns about the potential for diplomatic employers to ignore the terms of their employment contracts and to restrict their domestic workers’ freedom of movement and subject them to various abuses. Because diplomats generally enjoy immunity from civil and criminal jurisdiction while on assignment, legal recourse and remedies available to domestic workers in their employ – and the criminal response otherwise available to the host government – are often significantly limited.

The U.S. government has undertaken a number of steps to reduce the vulnerability of domestic workers employed by diplomats to all aspects of labor exploitation, including trafficking offenses. Some questions any government might ask itself in order to prevent abuse and offer protection are as follows:

• Do you instruct your government’s diplomats assigned to duty overseas about the treatment to be accorded their domestic workers and the repercussions for any abuse or exploitation of such workers?

• Do you hold your own diplomats accountable for their treatment of domestic workers?

• Do you provide domestic workers of diplomats with information about their rights and how to obtain help if they need it in a language and format that they understand?

• Are domestic workers able to legally transfer to another employer?

• Do you allow domestic workers to remain legally in your country to pursue legal remedies against a former employer?

• Do you require the employment agreement between diplomats and domestic workers include mandatory provisions that include, for example, the requirements they be paid the minimum wage and not be deprived of possession of their passport?

• Is the employment agreement reviewed by anyone within the government prior to the issuance of a visa to the domestic servant?

• Do you require the domestic servants of diplomats to be paid in a manner that permits reliable accountability for deposits and withdrawals?

• Have you taken any steps to advise domestic workers employed by diplomats of their rights once they are working in your country?