Campaign highlights au pair exploitation

Au pairs across Ireland are working up to 70 hours a week for as little as €80, a new alliance of au pairs and other domestic workers has said.

The Labour of Love (LoL) campaign is being spearheaded by the domestic workers action group of the Migrant Rights Centre of Ireland (MRCI).

The group has 900 members and says there is widespread exploitation and abuse in the au pair sector – a sector dominated by young women with little or no English.

The MRCI says there has been a “dramatic increase” in the number of young women coming to Ireland to study English and to live with Irish families, providing childcare in exchange for board and wages.

Employing au pairs, which is less expensive than paying for formal childcare, is increasingly attractive to families, given the high cost of the latter.

Aoife Smith of the MRCI said though many families treated au pairs well, the centre had seen a steady increase in the number of women coming to them having been exploited.

‘Vulnerable’

Those from outside the EU were “particularly vulnerable,” she said. “There is a very large number of young women coming from Brazil.”

The LoL campaign is calling for the introduction of a dedicated employment permit for domestic work as well as a campaign to inform au pairs and host families about their rights and obligations.

Ms Smith said though au pairs were covered by employment rights legislation, most au pairs and many host families did not know this.

“These young women are working in excess of 40, 50, 60 or even 70 hours weekly for very little pay and they are afraid to leave even the most exploitative situations because they are at risk of being left homeless.”

‘Fraction of minimum wage’

Jane Xavier, domestic worker spokeswoman with the MRCI said despite the legal protections au pairs had, they were being “used for full-time, flexible childcare and domestic labour for a fraction of the minimum wage”. This was “unacceptable” in 2015, she said.

Maria, from Brazil, is leaving Ireland today after five months here. She said she had been working as an au pair, which involved taking care of one boy and doing all the housework. She said she received only €150 for 50 hours per week.

She asked her boss about overtime but was told she had no rights and was required to be 100 per cent available. “I am not a slave. I am a worker and I have my dignity,” she said.