Mexico’s supreme court orders domestic workers formalized

MEXICO CITY (AP) - Mexico’s Supreme Court has declared unconstitutional the optional nature of enrolling domestic workers in the social security system and given the government three years to build a system making it mandatory.

It would be a dramatic change for Mexico’s more than 2 million housekeepers, gardeners, cooks and drivers. The change would not only mean employers pay into the country’s social security system, but the workers would gain access to Mexico’s public health system.

A statement from the court Wednesday said the current system results in discrimination, especially for women who represent nine of 10 domestic workers in Mexico.

The court called on the social security administration to implement a pilot program by the first half of 2019 and to have a functioning obligatory system in place in three years.