NCJ Number
194065
Date Published
2002
Length
136 pages
Annotation
This report documents the legal discrimination and daily exploitation encountered by domestic workers in Guatemala, along with the pregnancy-based sex discrimination female workers endure in the apparel manufacturing export sector (maquiladora).
Abstract
This report is based on research conducted by the Women's Rights Division of Human Rights Watch from May 26-June 26, 2000, in Guatemala City and its surrounding area, as well as Chimaltenango, a city some 50 kilometers from the capital, where maquilas have been established. In the course of the investigation, investigators took the testimonies of 37 maquila workers and 29 domestic workers. Representatives of organizations that provide direct services to both types of workers were also interviewed. The investigators found that domestic workers in Guatemala, the vast majority of whom are women and girls, do not enjoy equal protection under the law. The labor code effectively excludes domestic employees from basic labor rights. Unlike most other workers, domestic workers are denied the nationally recognized right to the 8-hour workday and the 48-hour work week; they have only limited rights to national holidays and weekly rest, and in most cases are denied the right to employee health care under the national social security system; they are also denied the right to be paid the minimum wage. The maquila industry, especially apparel manufacturing, often requires women to reveal whether they are pregnant as a condition of employment. Maquilas often deny workers who become pregnant their full maternity benefits under Guatemalan law. Maquilas also routinely obstruct workers' access to the employee health care system to which they have the right to belong, either by not enrolling them or, if the worker is enrolled, denying her the necessary certificate and time-off to visit a health facility. On paper Guatemala has embraced its international human rights obligations to protect women from discrimination in the labor force. In practice, however, Guatemalan women and girls cannot count on their government to ensure the full exercise of their rights. Forty-two recommendations for addressing this situation are directed at the Guatemalan government, maquila owners and management, the Guatemalan apparel business umbrella organization, multinational corporations that subcontract to maquilas in Guatemala, the International Labor Organization, and the United States Government. Appended Guatemalan Ministry of Labor response to inquiries, example of a job application, practices of maquilas and affiliated U.S. Corporations, a list of maquilas and their responses, and a list of U.S. corporations and their responses