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DE RUEHCL #0435/01 1221119
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 021119Z MAY 06
FM AMCONSUL CASABLANCA
TO RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6563
INFO RUEHRB/AMEMBASSY RABAT PRIORITY 7562

C O N F I D E N T I A L CASABLANCA 000435 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
PLEASE PASS TO LABOR 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/25/2016 
TAGS: LAB MO PGOV PHUM
SUBJECT: LEGAL GUIDELINES FOR MOROCCAN DOMESTICS IN THE 
WORKS 
 
REF: 05 CASABLANCA 00686 
 
Classified By: Principal Officer Douglas C. Greene 
reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: More than two years after adopting a new 
Labor Code, Morocco is finally working to plug a gaping 
hole left by the Code, a hole through which thousands of 
children slip each year.  Morocco's Director of Labor, 
Abdelaziz Adoum, confirmed to laboff this week that a draft 
proposal of a new law regulating domestic work is currently 
being reviewed by Moroccan labor unions for comment.  The 
proposed law is aimed at regulating all domestic 
employment, with special guidelines for workers between the 
ages of 15 and 18.  While there is no mention in the 
proposal regarding the issue of workers under the age of 
15, the hope is that by finally regulating the sector 
Morocco's problem with exploitation of minor girls as 
domestics or "petite bonne" will be indirectly addressed. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) In 2004, Morocco adopted a Labor Code that 
standardized issues including hours of work, minimum wage, 
and social security.  The code makes clear that it is 
illegal to employ children under 15 years of age, however, 
it lacked any guidelines for domestic help where a great 
majority of minors are employed.  In fact, Article Four of 
the Labor Code stated that the domestic sector would be 
addressed in proposed separate legislation. That 
legislation is now on the way.  End Summary. 
 
--------------------------------- 
Better Than Nothing, But Not Much 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (U) Morocco's minimum wage or SMIG, is nowhere near a 
living wage and the new guidelines for domestics cut that 
in half, bringing the minimum wage for these employees to a 
mere 950 dirhams a month, or approximately USD 100.  In 
addition, the SMIG is based on a forty-four hour work week, 
a far cry from the 67 hour weeks of most young domestics. 
The draft also proposes a six day work week instead of the 
normal seven for domestic help, as well as 21 vacation days 
a year after the first year of service, similar to other 
salaried employees.  The draft proposes more importantly, 
the requirement of a legal agreement between the two 
parties that outlines the rights and responsibilities of 
each, a copy of which is to be filed with an office 
established for that specific purpose. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Perhaps the most radical proposal, and the one 
that will be the most difficult to enforce, will be the 
establishment of a team of inspectors who will visit homes 
that employ domestics age 15 to 18 every three months in 
order to inspect working conditions.  Labor Director Adoum 
explained to laboff that one way the GOM is considering 
easing the resistance to the inspection teams entering 
domiciles is to make the majority of the inspectors 
women.   Adoum told laboff that the GOM believes using 
female inspectors will allow easier entry into the sanctity 
of the home, still a woman's domain in Morocco.   He also 
expressed his belief that girls may be more open to 
speaking up to a woman about any difficulties they may be 
facing in the homes, the main reason behind the visits. 
Unfortunately, many of these girls, as young as six or 
seven, find work through family members or agencies who 
take a commission from the employer and a cut of the girls 
salary.  The girls are then pressured to stay in the 
arrangement no matter what the conditions of employment or 
risk retaliation by the facilitator. 
 
--------------------------------- 
But A Step In the Right Direction 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶5.  (C) Adoum confided to laboff that he understands that 
this measure will not end Morocco's problem of domestic 
servitude for minor children. He is optimistic, however, 
that it will soon regulate the situation in up to forty 
percent of all households with domestic help, at least 
alleviating the problem.  He confidently predicted that the 
draft will be ready for approval by the end of the year. 
 
---------------------------- 
The Reality of the Situation 
---------------------------- 
 
¶6.  (U) Currently, according to a 2005 report published by 
UNICF, Morocco has approximately 600,000 children between 
the ages of seven and 15 working illegally.  According to 
E 
 
the report, 42 percent are girls, the majority of whom work 
as domestics.  The number of child domestics in Casablanca 
alone is estimated to be approximately 23,000, most of whom 
are illiterate and work an average of ten to twelve hours a 
day seven days a week.  Most of these girls work for 
pennies a day and many never even see a salary at all since 
it is handed directly over to a parent, guardian, or 
agent. 
 
------- 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Morocco's problems with child labor in general 
and child domestics in particular have plagued the country 
recently and were highlighted as a serious problem in this 
years Department of State Human Rights Report.  While the 
issue is being highlighted in the media more and more, and 
is becoming a frequent topic of conversation among the 
socially aware in cities like Casablanca and Rabat, the 
majority of the population still find nothing wrong with 
the practice.  In recent conversations with a variety of 
intelligent, educated Moroccan acquaintances, laboff was 
told repeatedly that these children are better off working 
as a domestic for a kind employer than they would be at 
home, a prevalent attitude in Casablanca.  Obviously, 
regulating a sector that has always been informal will be a 
huge challenge for Morocco and will entail not only a 
change in Moroccan law but an adjustment in the cultural 
mind set as well.  If the law passes, however, it will join 
other dramatic ideological reforms working their way into 
Moroccan law, such as the recently adopted Labor and Family 
Codes. 
GREENE