In a House There Are No Hours – a Comparative Study of the Regulation on Working Time for Domestic Workers in Thailand and Sweden

Abstract: This paper explores the extent to which working time legislation in Thailand and Sweden protects the right to decent working time for domestic workers. This is examined through a comparative analysis of the national working time legislation in the two countries and the parameters of decent working time established in international labor law. This is the basis for a subsequent discussion on the regulation of working time in domestic work from a materialist feminist perspective. The research questions posed include: what is the content of the right to decent working time in international labor law? To what extent does national labor law regulate and protect the right to decent working time for domestic workers in Thailand and Sweden, and what similarities and differences are there between Thailand and Sweden in this regard? How can a lack of consideration for this right in Thai and Swedish labor regulation be understood from a materialist feminist perspective? To answer these questions, the paper provides a legal dogmatic analysis of the content of the right to decent working time in international law, examining international labor standards and other parameters established by the International Labor Organization (ILO). It also examines the regulation of working time in domestic work in Thailand and Sweden, to conclude that the right to decent working time for this group of workers often is insufficiently protected in the national legislation. Some groups of domestic workers work longer hours than general limitations on working time permit, while other groups are excluded from the scope of protective labor legislation. The concluding part of the paper is a discussion on the failure to regulate and protect the right to decent working time in domestic work from the perspective of materialist feminist theory. The last chapter is a discussion on working time legislation for domestic workers in relation to the different roles of women in the international division of labor and patriarchal and racist notions inherent in the capitalist system that, according to materialist feminist theory, have led to a general devaluation of women’s work.