IF DOMESTIC WORKERS DESERVE PROTECTION, WHY ARE THEY EXCLUDED

EDITORIAL:

Belize City: Saturday 13th June 2026: For years, Belizeans have been told that the Occupational Safety and Health Bill is coming.

For years, workers have waited.

For years, consultations have been held, amendments discussed, concerns raised and promises repeated.

Yet, after all this time, one of the most revealing statements about the proposed legislation did not come from the Opposition, the unions, or labor advocates.

It came from the Attorney General himself.

In defending the exclusion of domestic workers from the proposed Occupational Safety and Health framework, the Attorney General did not argue that domestic workers are not workers.

• He did not argue that domestic workers face no workplace risks.
• He did not argue that domestic workers are undeserving of legal protection.

Instead, the explanation offered was that applying the same regime to private households may be difficult and burdensome.

National Perspective Belize believes this explanation exposes the central flaw in the government's position.

The issue is not whether domestic workers deserve protection.

• Even the government appears to accept that they do.
• The issue is whether administrative convenience should determine who receives protection under the law.

We believe it should not.

A law designed to protect workers should protect workers.

• Not some workers.
• Not most workers.
• Not workers who are easier to regulate.

All workers.

• Without exception.
• Without classification.
• Without discrimination.
• Without bias.

The moment Parliament accepts that a category of workers can be excluded because enforcement presents challenges, it establishes a dangerous precedent.

• Today it is domestic workers.
• Tomorrow it could be agricultural labourers.
• The day after that it could be informal workers.

The principle would already have been established: that certain workers may be denied equal protection because government finds their circumstances difficult to regulate.

• That is not equality before the law.
• That is selective protection.

The irony is impossible to ignore.

Many domestic workers perform physically demanding tasks every day.

• They lift elderly patients.
• They handle cleaning chemicals.
• They operate electrical appliances.
• They work around hot stoves, open flames, slippery surfaces, and other occupational hazards.
• Some work long hours.
• Some work without formal contracts.
• Some work in situations where their ability to challenge unsafe conditions is limited.

If there is any category of worker that deserves legal protection, surely it is those who often possess the least bargaining power.

• A worker's rights should not depend on the address where the work is performed.
• A housekeeper cleaning a hotel room is protected.
• A housekeeper cleaning a private residence is not.
• A caregiver employed by a care facility may be protected.
• A caregiver performing identical duties inside a private home may not be.

What principle justifies that distinction?

• The labor is real.
• The risks are real.
• The worker is real.

Only the location changes.

National Perspective Belize therefore asks Parliament a simple question:

• If domestic workers deserve protection, why are they excluded?
• If government believes domestic workers should enjoy the same dignity, respect, and workplace protections as every other Belizean worker, then that belief must be reflected in the legislation itself.
• If government believes they should not be protected, then it should say so openly and honestly to the Belizean people.

What should not happen is for Parliament to acknowledge that a category of workers deserves protection while simultaneously legislating that protection away.

This is not merely a labour issue.

• It is a question of national values.

What kind of society are we building?

One where the law protects every worker equally?

Or one where protection depends on convenience, circumstance, and classification?

National Perspective Belize believes the answer should be clear.

• Every Belizean worker matters.
• Every Belizean worker contributes.
• Every Belizean worker deserves protection.

Parliament now has an opportunity to demonstrate whether it believes the same.

The Occupational Safety and Health Bill should not create first-class workers and second-class workers.

It should establish one standard, one principle, and one commitment:

That no Belizean who works for a living shall stand outside the protection of the law.

The challenge before Parliament is simple.

Correct this exclusion before the bill is passed.

Because history will not remember the explanations offered during debate.

History will remember who was protected.

And who was left behind.

"EQUALITY BEFORE THE LAW"