Time for responsibility: employers of domestic work, let’s organise!

How can household employers contribute to building a fair and equitable domestic work sector?

In the Netherlands, more than one million households rely on domestic workers to care for their children, their homes and their loved ones. Yet this work remains undervalued and excluded from full recognition. Nonetheless, employers see its value firsthand and generally want those they trust with what matters most to them to have dignified and stable working conditions. But these employers navigate this responsibility largely alone – without collective support, shared frameworks, or a recognised status that reflects the weight of what they take on. This evening explores how employers can organise to make that possible. Inspired by experiences from Italy, France and Spain, and marking the launch of the Vereniging Huishoudelijk Werkgevers, we ask: how can we organise to secure rights and dignity in domestic work for all?

Together with Tesseltje de Lange Vereniging Huishoudelijk Werkgevers, Professor of European Migration Law, Centre for Migration Law, Radboud University Nijmegen Malu Villanueva Secretary of the FNV Migrant Domestic Workers Union Aude Boisseuil General delegate - European Federation for family employment & home care (EFFE)

This programme is co-funded by the European Union.