Considering the tasks they perform, household service helpers deserve more than just the minimum wage, according to a Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) official.

DoLE Undersecretary Rosalinda Baldoz said the government is committed to adopt an international convention on decent work and a Magna Carta for domestic workers.

“The extent to which DOLE has given its commitment as a reliable partner in the Philippine campaign for decent work should speak for itself,’’ she said.

“Household service workers should not be minimum wage-earners, they deserve more than that,” Baldoz said.

DoLE earlier supported the move of local and migrant workers’ groups and non-government organizations (NGOs) to adopt a new international treaty for decent work, which will ensure the protection of the more than 1 million Filipino migrant domestic workers and an estimated 1.7 million local household workers.

The country’s response to the International Labor Organization (ILO) questionnaire on the need for an international convention will be deliberated during the ILO Conference in Geneva next year.

Under the Labor Code of the Philippines, domestic or household service is defined as “service in the employer’s home which is usually necessary or desirable for the maintenance and enjoyment thereof and includes ministering to the personal comfort and convenience of the members of the employer’s household, including services of family drivers.”

Maids, cooks, yayas (nannies) drivers, and all-around helpers are the primary categories of domestic helpers.

The law also mandates that live-in domestic helpers are entitled to lodging, food and medical assistance. Helpers earning over P1,000 per month, on the other hand, must be enrolled in the social security system.

DoLE data showed that the current monthly minimum wage for domestic helpers is P800 in Manila and highly urbanized cities, P650 in other chartered cities and first-class municipalities, and P500 for those in other municipalities.

Abroad, domestic workers are paid US$300 at the minimum in most Middle East countries.

The DoLE had earlier proposed, through a memorandum of agreement (MoA) with various host countries in the Middle East to upgrade the salary of these workers to US$400.