Psychoscial risks in domestic and cares employment

Abstract

In the field of domestic employment, allusions to the particularities of the workplace are recurrent, as the employer's private address, as the main reason for the lower level of legal protection that, in comparative terms, characterizes its specific regulation, as well as the persistent and insurmountable difficulties to advance in a supposed equalization with the rest of the workers. In this sense, the aspects on which this pejorative treatment affects are diverse, and very relevant, but there is no doubt that it is the sphere of occupational health that presents one of the largest flanks open to criticism. Specifically, apart from the significant physical risks to which they are exposed in the exercise of their work, the special incidence in these workers of risks of a psychosocial nature stands out, as revealed by the high rate of deterioration of mental health that is observed, much higher than in other sectors of activity. The current regulatory framework, however, is clearly insufficient to face this problem, since it is inhibited when it comes to articulating an adequate response to the challenges posed in the preventive field. Therefore, only through regulatory reforms that had as a reference the simultaneous application of ILO Conventions 189 and 190, could an improvement in the design of effective legal protection mechanisms with the capacity to preserve the mental health of this relevant group of workers.