hankyoreh

Illustration by Jaewoogy_rna@naver.com.

Legislation to protect people who provide domestic services (Act on the Employment Improvement of Domestic Workers) has been in effect since June 2022 in Korea. The legislation defines “domestic workers” as workers who perform “tasks necessary for maintenance and management of family life, such as cleaning, laundry, and kitchen work performed in the house,” as well as those who provide “protection and nurturing of household members.”

Domestic services were first divided into household work and nanny work in the early 2000s. The logic for this division was that each type of domestic work requires a specific set of attributes and skills, and to task one person with both types of work would be excessive. Professionally, the industry started to separate the two spheres of domestic work around 2005, when the number of only children started becoming more pronounced. Parents with only children tend to focus more attention on their only child, and the domestic service industry adapted to their demands. 

This change is reflective of general trends of professional categorization throughout history. The Korean Standard Classification of Occupations (KCSO) was established in 1963. It has since undergone eight major revisions based on changes to the structure of the domestic industry, changes in the way people work, and various international metrics. 

During the first revision in 1966, the domestic workers were divided into “household maids” and “domestic service persons.” A household maid was someone who “helped housewives perform various chores such as cleaning and laundry.” Household maids had subcategories of “kitchen maids,” “seamstresses,” and “nannies.” 

Other domestic workers, such as private tutors, fell under the category of “domestic service person.” The KCSO’s second major revision in 1970 created a new category of “domestic service worker.” This category included not only household maids and nannies but also maids who worked at inns and even people hired to help actors with their costumes. This revision broadened the concept of “domestic service worker” to apply to people who did not work in private households, such as those employed by inns and restaurants. 

The fifth KCSO revision in 2000 went back to separating domestic workers employed in private households and workers employed in businesses such as inns and restaurants. The sixth revision in 2007 created the categories of “domestic chores helpers” and “infant rearing helpers.” The second category of workers differed from “nannies,” who acted as wet nurses who would breastfeed babies. “Infant rearing helpers” would not provide services like breastfeeding, and only looked after children. They were basically babysitters. 

Filipino caregivers taking part in the trial program for hiring foreign domestic helpers arrive in Korea on Aug. 6, 2024, via Incheon International Airport. (Baek So-ah/Hankyoreh)

The pilot project to bring in foreign “caregivers,” set to begin in September, and involves 100 workers from the Philippines who entered the country on Aug. 6. Yet the spectrum of their professional duties remains vague, leading to concerns that they may be overworked. All of them have a Caregiving NC II certification, meaning they’ve received over 780 hours of training on child care, child-rearing, and emergency aid. 

Last year, the South Korean government tried to dump both domestic duties and child-rearing duties on these workers, but opposition from the Filipino government caused a suspension in negotiations. The Philippines places a clear divide between household duties and child-rearing duties, a distinction that the South Korean government tried to erase. 

Eventually, the South Korean Ministry of Employment and Labor and the Filipino Department of Migrant Workers reached an agreement and signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) stating that helping a child get dressed, bathing a child, changing diapers, feeding a child, and cleaning a child’s room constitute “caregiving assistance to children.” 

However, a worker employed under this category may be required to perform “incidental and light household management activities for cohabiting family members” based on the needs of the family that employs them. Such “incidental” duties may include, according to the government-selected service provider Daerijubu, doing laundry for adult members of the household, washing their dishes, and cleaning the floor with a mop or vacuum, after six or more hours of work. Meanwhile, taking out trash and cooking food for adult household members does not fall under “incidental” work, according to Daerijubu. Yet it’s still unclear as to what the “additional services” will entail, creating the possibility of conflicts between worker and employer. 

“It seems like the people who made this policy are unaware of the actual working conditions and division of labor in the field,” said Cho Hyuk-jin, a researcher at the Korea Labor Institute. 

“If an employer demands additional services from the domestic worker and the worker agrees, then the employer should pay additional compensation. It is the state’s responsibility to form guidelines about such situations,” Cho added. 

Furthermore, in government educational videos about the program, the narrator says, “The Filipino people smile and laugh a lot, and are not easily angered. They are a bright and friendly people.” 

In light of this video, is it overreacting to express concerns about domestic workers being subjected to emotional labor on top of their professional duties?

By Hwang Bo-yon, editorial writer

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