The law through the platform. Regulating paid domestic work in Argentina.

POBLETE, LORENA

Varsovia (virtual)

Congreso; Labour Law Research Network 5th Conference; 2021

In 2013, following the approval of the ILO Convention 189, Argentina enacted a new legislation for regulating paid domestic work. The new law recognized to domestic workers the same labor and social security rights acknowledged to employees. Since then, innovative enforcement mechanisms were deployed to ensure compliance with the law. However, still the majority of domestic workers are informal workers (76%).One year later, in 2014, the first digital platform for services of households was established in the country. The platform functions as an intermediary on the hiring process, matching employers with domestic workers. Do to the existing legislation on domestic work, employers and domestic workers must subscribe a labor contract. While most of the literature on platform work argues that platforms contribute to increasing precarious labor relationships, this study shows an opposite picture. The platforms, through various technical devices, contribute to the translation of the law in everyday practices. Analyzing the ways in which the platform interferes?directly or indirectly?in the labor relationship, the paper shows how the platform contribute to the introduction of the law as a tool for the regulation of paid domestic work. The empirical data used for this research includes 20 interviews with domestic workers and a survey of 350 cases conducted in 2020.