Not all slaves are found in the sex trade. Domestic workers are one of the fastest-growing workforces in the nation, yet these nannies, house cleaners and home care workers have historically been excluded from worker protections and, as a result, often have no benefits, little protections, and little recourse or enforcement mechanism. While certainly, not all domestic workers are enslaved, a great number are.
A 2021 National Domestic Workers Alliance survey of domestic workers also reported:
- Only 16% of domestic workers have a written agreement with their employer.
- Over one-third of domestic workers do not get meal and rest breaks and of those that do, only 34% of those who get meal and rest breaks are paid for those breaks.
- 81% of domestic workers receive no pay if their employer cancels on them with less than three-days notice, and 76 % receive no pay if their employer cancels on them after they show up for work.
- 23% of domestic workers do not feel safe at work.
Now is the time to contact your state’s politicians and advocate for Raising Labor Standards by working to get a National Domestic Workers Bill of Rights passed in order to ensure that the people who clean our homes and care for our loved ones receive the fair wages, benefits, and protections all workers deserve. A Domestic Bill of Rights has been passed in 11 states (most recently Virginia) and 2 cities.
There are efforts to introduce a bill at the national level that would create a standard level of protection and dignity for domestic workers. The bill will be co-sponsored by Senators Kristen Gillibrand and Ben Ray Lujan and Representative Pramila Jayapal.
“The COVID-19 pandemic only highlights the cruel gaps in our labor laws as millions of courageous domestic workers — who are disproportionately working-class women, women of color, and immigrant women — have risked their own health and the health of their families to keep America afloat. They are being called essential but treated as expendable,” said Congresswoman Jayapal. “Supported by Vice President Harris and President Biden, our landmark legislation reverses domestic workers’ exclusion from the Fair Labor Standards Act to provide these heroes with the rights and protections that nearly all other workers enjoy while ensuring they finally receive the dignity, respect, and justice they deserve.”
If passed, the National Domestic Workers Bill of Rights will:
- Ensure domestic workers have paid sick leave to take care of themselves or their families.
- Extend civil rights protections, including against workplace harassment, to domestic workers.
- Afford domestic workers the right to meal and rest breaks
- Establish written agreements to ensure clarity on roles and responsibilities.
- Protect against losing pay due to last minute cancellations.
The National Domestic Workers Bill of Rights was originally introduced in 2019 by then-Senator Harris and Congresswoman Jayapal. For the 2021 introduction, the bill has been updated to simplify and clarify the written agreement, fair scheduling, and standards board and notice of rights provisions, clarify how hiring entities must provide schedules and schedule changes, and include lessons learned from the pandemic. The legislation is endorsed by local, state, and national organizations including the National Domestic Workers Alliance.
Click the link above and contact your politicians today to urge them to make this a national priority. It’s been ignored and people have been exploited for too long.
Here’s a sample of my form using the above link:
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