Colombia. The labor reform, filed less than a month ago, requires that domestic workers' contracts be written, not oral, and obliges employers to deposit them with the Ministry of Labor so that it can know them and follow them up.

According to the Large Integrated Household Survey of the National Department of Statistics (DANE), in 2019 approximately 687,000 people worked in paid household services, of which 95% were women. The same survey in 2017 found that 61% of domestic workers earned less than a minimum wage, and that 77% received food as payment.

It is worth noting that as confirmed by the Ministry of Labor "a domestic worker is considered to be any natural person, who provides his services to households in tasks such as cleaning, cooking, washing." Faced with the aforementioned problems, the issuance of Decree 721 of 2013, which regulates access to family allowance for domestic workers. The entry into force of Decree 2616 of 2013, which allows contributions to pension and occupational risk systems for those who work for periods of less than one month, contributing for weeks worked, has also had an impact on this population group.

In relation to this, Fenaseo in mid-March, published in its media "Notiaseo" that "more than half of the women who are engaged in domestic work can not save. This was revealed by a study carried out by Hogarú, which offers cleaning services for hours or days, to make visible the socioeconomic reality of the domestic cleaning market. Although in Colombia there are greater advances in the remuneration of domestic work, compared to other countries such as Mexico, this still presents issues."

To which the Association added: "56% of women engaged in domestic work do not have enough income to save. 24% save between $10,000 and $50,000; 13% save between $50,000 and $100,000; 5% between $100,000 and $200,000, and 2%, more than $200,000. The main destination of savings is the purchase of own housing, with 59% of the results. 12% save to fix up their home. And 1% to set up their own business."

What are the modalities of affiliation to the social security system for domestic workers?

There are two modalities:

Full-time: For domestic service employees who work the full month, Decree 721 of 2013 applies "which regulates the affiliation of domestic service employees to the Family Allowance System" and affiliation and contributions to the general social security system is governed by the general provisions, contained in Law 100 of 1993 and its complementary decrees.

Part-time: For the purposes of affiliation and contributions to the general social security system, domestic service employees who work for a period of less than one month and who earn less than a monthly minimum wage benefit from the application of Decree 2616 of 2013 "by means of which the social security contribution is regulated for dependent workers who work for periods of less than one month".