"Domestic work in Egypt: A push toward formalization" 27 May 2025

While Egypt’s economy often draws attention for its large infrastructure and booming tech sector, a vital yet overlooked part of the economy persists quietly: domestic work. Rooted in informal and traditional hiring practices, this sector faces challenges, including lack of transparency and workers’ protection...

Domestic work in Egypt has long been rooted in informal, traditional hiring practices. Historically, Egyptian families relied on personal networks or intermediaries, often rural-urban migrants or brokers, to recruit domestic workers, most of whom were women from unprivileged backgrounds...

Domestic workers face serious challenges that need urgent attention. A 2022 study by Alternative Policy Solutions (APS) uncovered troubling conditions for both live-in and live-out domestic workers. The research revealed that 78% of live-in workers endured workdays exceeding 11 hours, with nearly half laboring more than 15 hours daily...

Many domestic workers are hired through employment agencies. While some agencies have their own policies, such as sick leave and systems for handling complaints, none of them are fully governed by the Ministry of Manpower and Immigration...As a result, these agencies operate outside the scope of labor inspections and largely without direct accountability...

In early May 2025, President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi issued directives to draft a comprehensive law regulating the status of over one million domestic workers. These individuals include cleaners, nannies, cooks, drivers, and guards. They provide vital daily services to Egyptian households without any legal guarantees protecting them from exploitation or abuse...“However, this law must be accompanied by a robust awareness campaign. Many workers in this sector have limited digital literacy, so it is crucial to create accessible channels that provide clear information about workers’ rights and obligations. This will help ensure full integration and maximize the economic and organizational benefits of the law for all stakeholders”...

In 2024, Egyptian employers started adopting digital platforms for domestic work... As digital platforms gain traction and legislative reforms move closer to reality, the sector is poised to shed its informality. Hence, it is set to embrace a new era defined by transparency, worker protection, and operational efficiency...

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