6. CONSIDERACIONES ÉTICAS
8.1. HISTORIA DE LA MEDICINA FAMILIAR
Historically, in South Africa, White employers have been oppressive towards their Black employees. This is because of the apartheid system that sought to maintain racial segregation between Whites and Blacks. Thus, White employers in the domestic work sector are historically known to be repressive towards their domestic workers (Cock, 1989). This is the only way in which employers deal with the challenges experienced with their domestic workers (Cock, 1989; Grant, 1997; Ginsburg, 2000). Conversely, this study found that sister-employers tackle the challenges arising from hiring their sister-employees through thoughtfully talking to them. Maria shares how she addresses the challenges associated with having her sister as a domestic worker. She emphasises the need to be cautious (no shouting at her sister-employee). She admits:
“Yes it is challenging having my sister working for me, because it is difficult to apply formal rules since we are related. But we talk about everything without shouting at each other for the sake of our familial relations” (Maria, September
2018).
Maria observes that to have her sister working as her domestic worker has its challenges, notably her inability to apply formal rules as an employer would, since they are related. She alludes to some challenges without providing details. Nonetheless, she contrasts that she and her sister talk about everything without shouting at each other, to protect their familial relationship. It is clear that in familial domestic work
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environments, challenges are addressed through sister-employers talking to their sister-employees. This approach challenges the historical stigma attached to employers in the domestic work sector (Dilata, 2010; Tolla, 2013).
Similarly, Sarah shared that she addressed the challenges emerging from having her sister as her domestic worker by avoiding shouting at each other, opting to talking about everything. In this regard, Sarah notes that:
“Having a family member working for me is a problem, because my sister takes advantage of not doing her job well knowing that I will not shout at her, but in most cases we talk to each other without me shouting at her, because she is my sister, we are family after all” (Sarah, September 2018).
Sarah underscores that employing her sister as her domestic worker is challenging. This is because her sister sometimes takes advantage of their familial relationship by not doing her work well. Nonetheless, Sarah emphasises that she does not shout at her sister; instead, they talk about it – because they are related. The narratives of Maria and Sarah demonstrate that familial domestic work engenders challenges for sister-employers. However, they talk to their sister-employees instead of shouting at them to preserve their familial relations. This challenges the portrayal of the historical employers of domestic workers. The former are known to treat their domestic workers poorly and would not hesitate to fire them (Ginsburg, 2000). Even though, as revealed in Chapter 4, sister-employees keep quiet about their challenges, it is clear that familial domestic work has hidden challenges – despite the relatedness between sister- employees and their sister-employers.
5.6. Conclusion
The experiences of sister-employers have been discussed in detail. The hiring of kin as domestic workers is conceived as an act of helping sister-employees to provide for their families. Familial domestic work is based on reciprocal care, as sister-employers are assisted with domestic duties, while sister-employees receive a financial compensation to provide for their families. The reciprocity of familial domestic work is further reflected through sister-employers’ trust in their sister-employees in terms of taking care of children and household duties. Although familial domestic work is reciprocal, it is still associated with the challenge of constantly negotiating the
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dynamics of simultaneously being an employer and a sister. Sister-employers have a close relationship with their sister-employees. This manifests through the sharing of problems and helping each other. Yet, having their sisters working as their domestic workers is challenging for sister-employers, because they find it difficult to reprimand their sister-employees. This is due to the imperative for sister-employers to respect their sister-employees and ensure that their children do the same. The complications of hiring kin as domestic workers are further reflected in the negotiation of working conditions – notably employment processes, the signing of contracts, and the determination of wages – in a family context. Familial domestic work has challenges that sister-employers address through talking to their sister-employees. Initially, the experiences of sister-employers in family domestic work challenges the historical stigma of employers in the domestic work sector.
Familial domestic work broadly humanises employers and domestic workers alike. This is because the relationships between sister-employers and sister-employees are negotiated in familial contexts. This further decolonises the historical workplace relations in the domestic work sector. Thus, humane principles of respect and reciprocal care can be adopted to rehumanise the domestic work sector in South Africa. Conversely, the familial domestic work sector illustrates capitalism’s consequences on family relationships, because it is based on monetary value. Nevertheless, family relations generally prevail in the familial domestic work context.
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