Need for national policy on home-based workers stressed

by P. Krishnaswamy

HomeNet Sri Lanka has made recommendations to the Government on the need for a national policy on Home Based Workers (HBW), who are estimated to be the largest section of workforce in the country. This has been done in an effort to protect their rights as workers and to improve their socio-economic development, Chairman of the organisation, HomeNet Dilanthe Withanage said at a recent media conference in Colombo.

The recommendations for a national policy were prepared in consultation with stakeholders such as HBWs, organisations working with HBWs, the Government, private sector, NGOs and civil society organisations, he said.

HBWs in Sri Lanka can be considered as one of the most vulnerable sectors and are mostly represented by women. Although their contribution to the national economy is comparatively high, it is not recognised either quantitatively or qualitatively, Withanage said.

HBWs refer to persons who are not formally employed, but work either from their own homes or premises which are outside the premises of the persons for whom they produce certain goods or services of economic value, he said. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) definition of HBWs refers specifically to the workers on piece rate with a defined employer and does not include those that produce directly for the market, he said.

The International Labour Conference of the ILO at its 86th session in Geneva in June 1996 adopted a Convention (No.177) and a recommendation (No.184) concerning home-based work. The terms of the convention and the recommendations are aimed at providing basic social protection of HBWs and also for the adoption, implementation and periodic review of a national policy in each country on HBWs. These two instruments further focus on important provisions such as health, safety, social security and welfare, Withanage said.