III. Legal Framework

Moroccan Law

Morocco’s Labor Code sets 15 as the minimum age for employment. Employing children under the age of 15 is sanctionable by fines ranging from 25,000 to 30,000 dirhams ($2,811 to $3,373). In the case of repeated offenses, the fine may be doubled, or the employer may be sentenced to prison for up to three months.[92] Employers who physically abuse child domestic workers are subject to prosecution under Morocco’s Criminal Code. For example, individuals who willfully injure a child or deprive a child of food or care can be imprisoned for one to three years, and adults who have custody of a child and perpetrate such abuse may be subject to two to five years’ imprisonment.[93]

On December 29, 2004, Morocco issued a decree outlining specific forms of dangerous work prohibited for children under the age of 18. On November 16, 2010, it issued a revised decree, further elaborating types of labor that are prohibited for children. The new decree added new elements relevant to child domestic workers, for example, exposure to dangerous biological agents or other dangerous chemicals (for example, harsh chemicals that may be used for cleaning), carrying weights above 8 kg (for girls age 15) or weights above 10 kg (for girls 16 and 17); tasks that expose females to the risk of falling or slipping; or tasks where the person has to squat or bend over constantly.[94] It does not specifically prohibit children from performing domestic work.

Domestic workers are excluded from Morocco’s Labor Code and therefore do not enjoy many of the basic rights extended to workers in the formal sector and in agriculture. Under the Labor Code, other workers are guaranteed a minimum wage (with one set for industry, trade and other professions, and another set for the agricultural sector), enjoy a standard work week of 44 hours (for non-agricultural workers), with a daily work period not to exceed 10 hours. Employees must also receive a full day of rest each week.

In 2006, the government began preparing a draft law to regulate domestic work. The law was approved by the Government Council on October 12, 2011, and submitted to Parliament on October 27, 2011. Following elections in November 2011, the new government decided to re-examine it.[95] In May 2012, the Minister of Employment and Professional Training, Addelouehed Souhail, told Human Rights Watch that adopting the law was a “priority” for his ministry and for the government,[96] but at the time of writing, the law had not yet been adopted.

Like the existing Labor Code, the draft law explicitly forbids the employment of children under the age of 15 as domestic workers, and specifies that any individual employing a child under the age of 15 for domestic work may be subject to a fine of 25,000 to 30,000 dirhams ($2,811 to $3,373). Repeated offenses are punishable by fines of 50,000 to 60,000 dirhams ($5,622 to $6,746) and imprisonment of one to three months. 

New provisions in the draft law that are not included in existing law include required authorization by a guardian for the employment of children between 15 and 18 for domestic work, and fines of 25,000 to 30,000 dirhams ($2,811 to $3,373) for intermediaries and any person who employs a child between the ages of 15 and 18 without the authorization of their guardian.

The draft law also specifies working conditions for domestic workers generally, which affect children who are above age 15 and thus legally able to work. For example, the draft law states that domestic workers should not be given work that involves excessive danger, exceeds the capacity of the worker, or could affect morally accepted behavior. However, the specified fines for violating this provision are very low: only 300 to 500 dirhams.

Other key provisions of the draft law include the following:

• A requirement for an employment contract, signed by both the worker and employer and deposited with a labor inspection office;
• A weekly rest period of 24 consecutive hours;
• Annual paid holiday of a day and a half for each month of work;
• Rest during national and religious holidays and time off for family events;
• Compensation in the event of dismissal after at least one year of service.[97]

The draft law is a welcome effort to extend labor protections to domestic workers. However, the draft law is not fully in compliance with the ILO Convention 189 Concerning Decent Work for Domestic Workers (“Domestic Workers Convention”), a new international labor treaty adopted in 2011 to establish international standards for domestic work. For example, the Domestic Worker Convention specifies that working hours for domestic workers should be equivalent to those for other sectors. Although the Moroccan Labor Code sets 44 hours per week as the limit for other workers, the draft law does not set any limits to the hours of work for domestic workers. 

The Domestic Workers Convention also specifies that domestic workers should enjoy minimum wage coverage where it exists. The draft law, in contrast, states that wages for domestic workers should not be less than 50 percent of the minimum wage for the industrial sector. In meetings with Human Rights Watch, officials from the Ministry of Employment and Vocational Training explained that “in-kind” payments to domestic workers, including food and accommodation, could account for the remaining 50 percent. The convention, however, specifies that payments in kind should be a “limited” proportion of domestic workers’ remuneration, and the recommendation associated with the convention further specifies that a limit should be set on in-kind payments to allow a salary necessary for the maintenance of domestic workers and their families.[98]

The proposed law allows the accumulation of weekly rest (for up to two months), yearly leave (for up to two years) and the postponement of a worker’s entitled rest for national or religious holidays. Such accumulation provisions can lead to workers being legally forced to work for long periods without breaks, impeding their right to adequate rest. ILO Recommendation 201 accompanying the Domestic Workers Convention recommends that weekly rest not be accumulated for more than 14 days.[99]

NGOs have also criticized the draft law for not including mechanisms to identify and remove child domestic workers from illegal, exploitative, or abusive work situations, and for not providing them with rehabilitative services.[100]

International Law

Several international instruments relate to child domestic work, including the following:

Convention on the Rights of the Child: Morocco ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child in June 1993. The convention states that children have a right “to be protected from economic exploitation and from performing any work that is likely to be hazardous or to interfere with the child’s education, or to be harmful to the child’s health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development.”[101] The convention requires governments to take appropriate legislative, administrative, social, and educational measures in this regard, and especially to provide for a minimum age of employment, appropriate regulation of work hours and conditions of employment, and appropriate sanctions to ensure enforcement.[102]

The Committee on the Rights of the Child last reviewed Morocco’s compliance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 2003. The Committee said that it was “deeply concerned” at the situation of child domestic workers in Morocco and urged the government to take all necessary measures to prevent and end the practice of children working as domestic servants, through a comprehensive strategy.[103]

The government of Morocco submitted its third periodic report on compliance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child in mid-2012. The Committee will likely review the report in 2013.

Worst Forms of Child Labor Convention: Morocco ratified the ILO Convention 182 Concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labor (“Worst Forms of Child Labor Convention”) on January 26, 2001. The Convention obliges all ratifying states to “secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour as a matter of urgency.”[104] It is one of the most widely ratified labor conventions, with 174 states parties.

The Convention prohibits “slavery or practices similar to slavery, such as the sale and trafficking of children,” “forced or compulsory labor,” as well as “work which, by its nature of the circumstances in which it is carried out, is likely to harm the health, safety or morals of children.” [105] Exactly what constitutes such types of work is left to be determined by states parties, in consultation with employer and worker organizations and in consideration of international standards, in particular the ILO Worst Forms of Child Labor Recommendation. This recommendation, also adopted in 1999, outlines factors which should be considered in determining the worst forms of child labor. Of particular relevance to child domestic work, the recommendation suggests that work “which exposes children to physical, emotional or sexual abuse” and “work under particularly difficult conditions, such as work for long hours or during the night, or work which does not allow for the possibility of returning home each day” should be considered among the worst forms of child labor. [106]

In 2011, the ILO Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations noted measures taken by the Moroccan government to implement the Worst forms of Child Labor Convention, but expressed its deep concern at the “exploitation” of children under the age of 18 as domestic workers in conditions similar to slavery or under other hazardous conditions. The Committee reminded the government that work done under such conditions should be eliminated as a matter of urgency and also urged the government to adopt the domestic worker bill as a matter of urgency. It requested the government to take immediate steps to conduct thorough investigations and robust prosecutions of persons who subject children under age 18 to forced or hazardous domestic labor and urged that “sufficiently effective and dissuasive penalties are imposed in practice.”[107]

Domestic Workers Convention: In June 2011, members of the International Labour Organization voted overwhelmingly to adopt ILO Convention 189 Concerning Decent Work for Domestic Workers (Domestic Workers Convention), the first international treaty to establish global labor standards for domestic workers.[108] Under the Convention, domestic workers are entitled to the same basic labor rights as other workers in their country, including weekly days off, minimum wage coverage, limits to their hours of work, overtime compensation, social security, and clear information on the terms and conditions of work. The convention obliges governments to take measures to protect domestic workers from violence and abuse, and to regulate private employment agencies that recruit and employ domestic workers.

Regarding children, the Convention requires governments to set a minimum age for domestic work that is in line with the ILO’s Minimum Age Convention[109] and Worst Forms of Child Labor Convention, and to ensure that domestic work performed by children under the age of 18 but above the minimum age of employment does not does not deprive them of compulsory education or interfere with opportunities to participate in further education or vocational training.[110]

To provide further guidance to states, the ILO also adopted a non-binding Recommendation 201 Concerning Decent Work for Domestic Workers (Domestic Workers Recommendation). The recommendation urges states to identify types of domestic work that, by their nature or the circumstances in which they are carried out, are likely to harm the health, safety, or morals of children, and to prohibit and eliminate such child labor.[111] The recommendation also urges states to take special measures to protect domestic workers above the minimum age of employment but below the age of 18, including by: 

• strictly limiting their hours of work to ensure adequate time for rest, education and training, leisure activities and family contacts;
• prohibiting night work;
• placing restrictions on work that is excessively demanding, whether physically or psychologically; and
• establishing or strengthening mechanisms to monitor their working and living conditions.[112]

Morocco voted in favor of adoption of the Domestic Workers Convention at the International Labor Conference in June 2011, but as of October 2012, had not yet ratified the Convention. The Minister of Employment and Vocational Training, Addelouehed Souhail, told Human Rights Watch in May 2012 that as soon as Morocco adopts its domestic law on domestic workers, it will ratify the Domestic Workers Convention.[113]