The Senate and the National Council of Women’s Societies (NCWS) are advocating for the inclusion of domestic servants in the proposed N70,000 National Minimum Wage Scheme.
This call for inclusion came from both institutions during a public hearing on a bill seeking to provide for the domestication and registration of domestic workers and employers in Nigeria. The hearing took place at the National Assembly in Abuja.
The bill, sponsored by Senator Babangida Hussaini (APC Jigawa North West), was discussed during the session organised by the Senate Committee on Employment, Labour, and Productivity, chaired by Senator Diket Plang (APC Plateau Central).
Senator Osita Izunaso (APC Imo West) highlighted the Senate’s support for the inclusion of domestic servants in the National Minimum Wage Scheme during his remarks at the public hearing.
“As a member of this committee, I feel strongly that part of the provisions to be included in this bill is to include domestic workers, be it housemaids or servants, in the proposed N70,000 National Minimum Wage law,” he stated.
“As N70,000 is being planned to be the lowest wage for the lowest public workers, so should it be for the least domestic workers. We are going to put it in the bill for implementation by all employers.”
However, Senator Izunaso suggested that the focus of the bill should shift from domestication and protection to the registration and protection of domestic workers and their employers.
Similarly, the Acting National President of NCWS, Mrs. Geraldeen Etuk, argued for the inclusion of domestic servants in the proposed National Minimum Wage law.
During an interview on the sidelines of the event, the bill’s sponsor, Senator Babangida Hussaini, expressed appreciation for the general support the bill received from various stakeholders, including the Minister of Labour.
Hussaini however expressed doubts about the practical implementation of the additional scope of including domestic workers in the national minimum wage.
“There is no point in making a law that cannot be implemented, but I’m happy that the majority of stakeholders at the public hearing supported the bill and by extension, the proposed law,” he said.
Earlier in the session, Senator Diket Plang, the Committee Chairman, remarked that an agency would be set up to implement the proposed law, with the Ministry of Labour and Productivity driving the operation from the onset.
