Layoffs in the North, where many housekeepers and babysitters no longer want to take buses and metros for fear of contagion and no longer go to work. In fact, giving up the post, often returning to their country of origin. Regularization in the Center-South, where instead the fear of checks on the national quarantine has pushed many families to contract those people who had perhaps been at home for years but in the black. The first category of workers affected by the economic consequences of Coronavirus is that of domestic workers.
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Two million domestic workers
Two milesorn of workers, in 60% of cases hired without a contract
. People who take care of our children, our old people, our homes, and are not protected by the blockade of layoffs which affects all other workers for two months. That can be sent away almost on two feet, in some cases eight days’ notice. And that now they hope in the good heart of their employer, who in some cases continues to pay their wages even if they no longer come to the house.
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Government aid
But good heart doesn’t rule it
. So the real hope is the compensation he spoke of in the interview with the Courier the Minister of Labor Nunzia Catalfo. A sum that should be lower than the € 600 per month provided for self-employed workers. But that has not yet been defined.
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In Milan, layoffs for domestic workers and babysitters increase
To measure the first effects of Coronavirus
in this sector, Assindatcolf, the union association of domestic employers, that is, of families that hire domestic workers, babysitters and carers. In Milan, after February 23 and compared to the same period last year, there was an increase in layoffs of 12%. And this is because, explains the secretary Teresa Benvenuto, many collaborators have returned to their country of origin and have not been replaced. With families locked in the house there is less space. In some cases, but not always), even less need.
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Rome, hiring increases
In Rome, always in the same period, there was an increase
of hires equal to 30%. Only once out of three are they replacements, that is, housekeepers or babysitters who are taken to replace those who have left. In other cases, it is a question of regularization, of contracts made to people who have actually worked with that family for years. How come right now, given that this is one of the areas where black is most common? To reach the workplace, also housekeepers and babysitters must have self-certification with them indicating not only where they live but also the address of the office, in this case the house where they work. And several families – perhaps overestimating the effectiveness of the controls, perhaps not – thought that by a simple check on the street on the housekeeper we could go back to that illegal employment relationship with all the risks involved. Hence the choice to put in order. A warning: both Milan and Rome data are considered partial but indicative. This represents the trend not only of the two cities but also of the relative geographical areas, the North on one side, the Central South on the other.
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A hundred euros also for domestic workers and babysitters?
One thing remains to be clarified
. From reading the decree that the government has fielded to help 14 million workers, it appears that the contribution of 100 euros net for those who continued to work on the spot in March without choosing smart working, also for domestic workers. In reality there are interpretative doubts. In any case, that sum should not be paid by families, since the bonus would take the form of a discount on taxes. So what? In most cases, housekeepers and babysitters do not pay taxes because they are below the minimum annual income threshold, 8 thousand euros, the so-called no tax area. They should submit the tax return, which anyone in the no tax area not required to do, just to be entitled to this discount. But the mechanism perhaps too complicated.
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