Domestiques

Domestiques, in English usually called domestic workers, are people employed in private households to perform tasks related to maintaining a home. Common duties include cleaning, cooking, laundry, child care, elder care, shopping, and general household management. They may work for a single family or several households, and can be employed as live-in or live-out staff.

Domestic work is often informal or insufficiently regulated, affecting wages, hours, and rest. Live-in workers may face isolation and dependence on employers; migrant workers may encounter visa constraints, language barriers, and limited access to social protections, making them more vulnerable to abuse or exploitation.

International and national laws address domestic workers in varying ways. The ILO's Domestic Workers Convention (C189), adopted in 2011, calls for minimum wage, limits on working hours, weekly rest, overtime pay, and social protection. Yet enforcement is uneven and many countries lack comprehensive coverage. Some jurisdictions provide protections through ordinary labor laws, special domestic-worker statutes, or bilateral agreements with sending countries.

The field has historical roots in traditional households and has grown with urbanization and cross-border migration. Today, millions of people work as domestic staff worldwide, with large migrant flows from poorer regions to wealthier economies. The sector is especially prominent in the Gulf states, parts of Europe and North America, and urban centers in other regions. Remittances from domestic workers contribute to household income and development in sending countries.

In French, domestique or domestiques refers to a household servant; in English, domestic worker is standard. The term domestiques is sometimes used in historical or literary contexts and within some languages to distinguish live-in staff from other workers.