Paid Domestic Work in Iceland – from informal to formal

Sammanfattning: The demand for domestic work has increased in Europe since the 1990´s due to decreasing welfare services, increasing demands for performance in the labour market and financial ability to pay for domestic work. In addition, the free flow of labour within the European Union and the EEA-area meets these demands when labour force from the poorer areas become available for households in countries with better economies. No research is available in Iceland on the extent of paid domestic work or the situation of domestic workers but there are strong indications that the trend is similar to the European trend. This thesis sets out to research the legislative position of domestic workers in Iceland with special attention to the concerns raised by the International Labour Organization. These concerns regards the areas of vulnerability due to the special conditions for domestic workers, where the workplace is a private household and the worker is isolated from others in same position. The market is to a great extent informal which makes the situation of domestic workers even more challenging and the need for change alarming. The legal position of informal domestic workers is compared to the situation of formal domestic workers and models for converting an informal market to a formal market are introduced. The Icelandic legislation regarding domestic workers is found to be outdated and an offspring of long gone society. However, formal domestic workers are protected both by fundamental rights and labour legislation with some exceptions regarding working hours and working environment. Fundamental rights are applicable to informal domestic workers but they are in a difficult situation for claiming those rights. The interest in turning an informal market to a formal market is great and the experience from Sweden is applicable to Iceland. In addition there are some existing models in the Icelandic labour market and tax legislation that can be proven useful. In changing the legislation, special attention must be shown to groups such as teenagers, au pairs and migrant workers as well as the culture in Iceland of youngsters participation in the labour market.