Key Win for California Domestic Workers

Domestic workers in California achieved a major victory earlier this month.  On June 2, the California State Assembly passed the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights by a vote of 49 to 28.  The bill will now be voted on by the State Senate.  "This victory signifies that we're moving step by step on the path to victory to win rights that have never been recognized in this dignified work," said Maria Reyes of Mujeres Unidas y Activas, an organization of immigrant women that supported the bill.

Households in California employ roughly 200,000 domestic workers, many of them immigrant women.  Domestic workers historically have been excluded from many laws governing laying out workplace standards, including the Fair Labor Standards Act, the minimum wage, workers compensation, and health and safety regulations.  

The Bill of Rights extends many California labor laws to domestic workers such as breaks for meals and rest and overtime pay, and removes domestic workers exclusion from health and safety laws and workers compensation.  Additionally, the law provides domestic workers with industry-specific rights, including paid sick days, paid vacation days, the right to 5 hours uninterrupted sleep if they work 24 hour shifts, and the right to use their employers’ facilities to cook their own food at no charge.  

A law passed in New York State in 2010 through the tireless efforts of Domestic Workers United was the first in the country to grant rights to domestic workers; the California law builds on that victory to ensure that domestic workers are treated fairly and given rights afforded to other California workers.