Izvestia: Household staff in families face the risk of abuse from their employer domestic staff in Russian families. These people, who are sometimes called servants in the old fashion, face abuse and even crime on the part of their employers.
“The difficulty is in the specifics of the job: it is necessary that the nanny is suitable for the family, so that the ideas about upbringing and other basic concepts coincide. But the financial interests of the parties are diametrically opposite: the employer wants to pay the nanny as little as possible. As they say, a canary for a penny so that she sings and does not eat, “said Irina Gurenkova, the owner of the Assistant recruiting agency.
According to her, abuses can happen in the opposite direction, but if the nanny breaks the contract usually unknowingly , then the owner deliberately, for example, does not pay and fines. However, in most cases there are attempts to find a compromise.
Natalya Linkova, the founder of the Babushka for an Hour service, added that the risks for employees in this area remain high, despite the fact that its legalization began in 2017. She noted that nannies and caregivers face sexual harassment and assault. Also, non-payment of the money promised when hiring remains a constant problem. The situation was especially aggravated during the coronavirus pandemic.
The expert explained that an important aspect to ensure safety is the legal formalization of relations between staff and families. Another guarantee is the installed surveillance cameras.
Experts add that the greatest number of abuses are exposed to foreign citizens. Agencies and nannies themselves use blacklists of employers to at least somehow insure themselves.
Earlier, the Kirovsky District Court of Volgograd sentenced a 35-year-old local woman to nine years in prison, who beat her 69-year-old nanny to death. 4 year old son. The woman was found guilty under article 111 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“Intentional infliction of grievous bodily harm, dangerous to human life, resulting in the death of the victim through negligence”). She fully admitted her guilt in the death of the pensioner.