The Senate and the National Council for Women Society (NCWS) have advocated for the inclusion of domestic servants in the planned 70,000-naira National Minimum Wage Scheme.
The Senate Committee on Employment, Labour, and Productivity held a public hearing on a measure titled “An Act to Provide for Domestication and Registration of Domestic Workers and Employers in Nigeria.”
The Senator representing Imo West, Osita Izunaso, as well as the Acting National President of NCWS, Geraldeen Etuk, particularly argued for the inclusion of domestic servants in the proposed National Minimum Wage law, asserting that part of the provisions to be embedded in the bill is the inclusion of domestic workers (housemaids or servants) in the proposed 70,000 National Minimum Wage Law, for implementation by all employers.
“As a member of this committee, I feel strongly that part of the provisions to be included in this bill is to include the domestic workers be it housemaid or servants, in the proposed N70,000 National Minimum Wage Law,” Izunaso, the senator, stated.
“As N70,000 is projected to be the lowest wage for the lowest public workers, the same should be true for the lowest domestic workers. We will include it in the law for implementation by all employers.”
Senator Diket Plang, Chairman of the Committee, further stated that an agency will be established to implement the proposed law. According to him, the Ministry of Labour and Productivity will be in charge of the activities.