Domestic Workers

Overview

Domestic workers are individuals hired to work within private homes to clean, cook, provide care to children, the elderly, or disabled individuals. In the United States, domestic workers have been largely excluded from protections under federal and state labor laws such as the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act, the 1935 National Labor Relations Act, and the 1970 Occupational Safety and Health Act. Lack of legal protections and labor standards, combined with isolated workplaces, gender and racial discrimination, language barriers, and other vulnerability factors may cause or contribute to adverse health outcomes among domestic workers as well as health risks for both their care-recipients and society in general.

 

The Domestic Work Employee Equality, Fairness, and Dignity Act of 2011, also known as California Assembly Bill 889 (AB 889)", proposes to make a number of labor protections enjoyed by many other workers also applicable for domestic workers. Specifically, the California state legislation includes requirements affirming domestic workers’ right to overtime pay, reporting time pay, annual cost of living pay increases, meal and rest breaks, record-keeping of hours and wages, eight hours of uninterrupted sleep under adequate conditions, right to cook one’s own food, paid vacations, paid sick leave, 21 day notice before employment termination, and coverage by state Workers’ Compensation. AB 889 also establishes penalties and enforcement procedures for employer violations of the legislation.

 

Recognizing that domestic workers are a vulnerable population whose health may be substantially affected by the proposed legislation, and building on previous research and collaboration with Bay Area domestic workers, the San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH) conducted a Health Impact Assessment (HIA) on two of the twelve AB 889 provisions:

Amending California Workers’ Compensation legislation to include currently excluded domestic workers who work less than 52 hours or earn less than $100 from one employer in 90 days

Requiring employers to provide eight hours of uninterrupted sleep to domestic workers that work 24 hour or longer shifts or live in their employer’s home and provide care to others.

 

Consistent with the purpose and practice standards of HIA, this HIA aims to provide the best available information on the law’s potential health effects, including effects of these proposed legislative changes upon the health of domestic workers and their care-recipients. In this assessment, the HIA considers evidence on the health value of the proposed labor protections, the size and demographics of the domestic worker population in California, their current working conditions and socio-economic vulnerabilities, and potential barriers to accessing those protections.

 

The HIA was initiated in spring 2010 and completed in May 2011. SFDPH provided primary staff and financial support for this project. The project was also supported by nationally recognized research advisors and occupational health experts, and stakeholders such as the California Domestic Worker Coalition and the National Domestic Worker Alliance. Support for interns and focus groups came from the UC Berkeley Health Impact Group , which is funded by a grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to provide technical support in the conduct of Health Impact Assessment.

 

The Final HIA Report: A Health Impact Assessment of California Assembly Bill 889: The California Domestic Work Employee Equality, Fairness, and Dignity Act of 2011 was distributed in May 2011 to key stakeholders, report reviewers and project advisors. HIA findings and recommendations will be disseminated via formal written reports, fact sheets, and as requested as testimony at legislative hearings and presentations to stakeholders including state agencies and labor researchers.

KEY FINDINGS & HIA DOCUMENTS

Key findings from the HIA:

Many domestic workers currently do not benefit from occupational health, safety and labor protections enjoyed by other workers

Domestic workers routinely report underpayment and nonpayment of wages and other violations of existing legal labor rights which negatively impact ability to meet basic health needs

Domestic workers in California experience over 4000 work-related injuries and illnesses annually

Up to 620 domestic workers would be eligible for workers’ compensation benefits under the law

Treatment of occupational injuries under the workers’ compensation system is likely to prevent long-term disability among workers and may reduce job turnover

Sufficient sleep would reduce risk of pre-mature death, chronic disease, and depression for 24-hour and live-in caregivers

Sleep deprivation among domestic workers creates potentially severe health risks for care-recipients

If AB 889 passes, barriers to worker utilization of laws still need to be addressed

Improved data on the occupational health outcomes of domestic workers are needed

Key materials generated from the HIA:

Final HIA Report: A Health Impact Assessment of California Assembly Bill 889: The California Domestic Work Employee Equality, Fairness, and Dignity Act of 2011

Four Page Summary of the AB 889 HIA Report

Summary of the AB 889 HIA Report (in Spanish)

Testimony of Dr. Cora Hoover at the CA Assembly’s Committee on Labor & Employment

Fact Sheet about Domestic Workers’ Health and Work Conditions

Draft Logic Model for Domestic Workers’ HIAs

Potential Health Pathways/Health Impacts of Legislation

Overview of State and Local Domestic Worker Legislation

In April 2010, Assemblymembers Manuel Perez (D-Coachella) and Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco) introduced Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 163 to encourage greater protections in federal and state law for domestic workers. ACR 163 passed the State Assembly in June 2010, the State Senate in August 2010 and was chaptered in September 2010.

 

On February 18, 2011, Assemblymembers Ammiano and Perez introduced the Domestic Work Employee Equality, Fairness, and Dignity Act (AB 889) into the California State Assembly. AB 889 would establish a set of industry-specific protections and labor standards for domestic workers that would directly affect wages and income, overwork, sleep, access to workers' compensation, paid vacation, paid sick day benefits, and occupational hazards.

 

In San Francisco, the Board of Supervisors unanimously passed Resolution 0255-10 on May 25, 2010 calling on State, Federal, and International Lawmakers to ensure fair and just treatment of domestic workers. On April 12, 2011, the Board of Supervisors unanimously passed Resolution 110411 urging the California legislature and the Governor of California to pass Assembly Bill 889, the "Domestic Worker Bill of Rights,” as an expression of respect for the dignity and equality of domestic workers and the importance of the work they perform.

Domestic Worker Resources & Articles

Bringing Rights for Domestic Workers Out of the Closet by Eileen Boris in Huffington Post Business, March 25, 2011

Why a Domestic Worker Bill of Rights? UCLA ILRE Research and Policy Brief by Lauren Appelbaum, December 2010

Digital Stories about Domestic Workers’ and Day Laborers’ Working Conditions

Training Materials and Other Resources for Domestic Workers

Behind Closed Doors: Working Conditions of California Household Workers by Mujeres Unidas y Activas, the LRCL Women’s Collective and DataCenter, March 2007

Home is Where the Work Is: Inside New York's Domestic Work Industry by Domestic Workers United and DataCenter, 2006

Unregulated Work in the Global City: Domestic Worker Profile by the Brennan Center for Justice, NYU School of Law, 2007

Broken Laws, Unprotected Workers September 2009

An Assessment of the Impact on Employers of the New York’s Domestic Workers’ Bill of Rights (NY S2311D) by the National Employment Law Project (NELP), May 18, 2010

Testimony of Annette Bernhardt, Ph.D. Hearing Before the New York State Assembly Committee on Labor, November 12, 2008

The New Domestic Order by Lizzy Ratner. The Nation. September 9, 2009

Working-Class Struggle by Matt Smith. SF Weekly. March 19, 2008

Contact

For more information about the Domestic Worker Health Impact Assessment, please contact:

Megan Gaydos, MPH at (415) 252-3919.