Getting the Word Out: NY's Domestic Workers Now Have Rights!

by: Regina Weiss

Fri Apr 15, 2011 at 13:40:12 PM EDT

JFSJ partner Domestic Workers United (DWU) has taken the lead in making sure that New York State’s historic bill – signed into law last August – is understood and implemented. 

After years of organizing, passage of the law, which spells out legal rights and labor protections for domestic workers, was a huge legislative victory.  Now DWU is partnering with the Labor Department to make sure it actually helps the workers it was intended to protect.  Worker-employee workshops are planned, and DWU organizers are pounding the pavement and seeking out child care providers to educate them about the law, the first in the nation to set time and hour requirements for in-home care-givers and housekeepers, including mandated overtime pay, vacation pay and a 40 hour standard workweek.  The law also provides for temporary disability benefits and spells out protections for domestic workers facing discrimination or harassment.

How well and how quickly the domestic workers law is understood and implemented in New York will provide a model for other states and organizing efforts, as similar bills move to the forefront nationwide. On Wednesday, while hundreds of domestic workers and their supporters packed a Sacramento hearing room, a bill modeled on New York’s law passed out of the California Assembly’s Labor Committee by a 5 to 1 vote. Here’s more on DWU’s implementation campaign from today’s New York Times.

NY Domestic Workers Bill Effective Today

by: Jeremy Burton

Tue Nov 30, 2010 at 15:19:52 PM EST

NY's new domestic workers bill of rights, about which we've said much over the past several months, takes effect today.

Among other provisions, this new law gives domestic workers:
•    The right to overtime pay at time-and-a-half after 40 hours of work in a week, or 44 hours for workers who live in their employer’s home;
•    A day of rest (24 hours) every seven days, or overtime pay if they agree to work on that day;
•    Three paid days of rest each year after one year of work for the same employer;
•    Protection under New York State Human Rights Law, and the creation of a special cause of action for domestic workers who suffer sexual or racial harassment; and
•    Workers’ Compensation insurance coverage for domestic workers who work more than 40 hours per week.

Congratulations to our long time partner & grantee Domestic Workers United, to their allies including JFREJ, and to the people of New York!

Collective Bargaining for Domestic Workers?

by: Paul Heckler

Fri Nov 12, 2010 at 12:21:29 PM EST

On October 28th over sixty people gathered to hear Domestic Workers United present research regarding the need for and feasibility of collective bargaining for the domestic worker industry. In addition to a large contingent of DWU members, attendees came from JFSJ, the National Domestic Worker Alliance, the Urban Justice Center, and Jews for Racial and Economic Justice. The briefing also marked the major victory of the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights, signed by Governor Paterson in September.

While the Bill of Rights is a historic first step, it does not include several important benefits, including sick and vacation days and notice of termination. Instead the legislature commissioned the Department of Labor to study the feasibility of collective bargaining to achieve these benefits. DWU conducted parallel research. Partnering with the NDWA and the UJC, DWU surveyed domestic workers, and employers of domestic workers. The research confirmed that domestic workers are particularly vulnerable because they work in isolation for non-traditional employers. They are often at the whim of employers, and without the job security to advocate on their own behalf. Access to collective bargaining would increase stability in the domestic worker industry, facilitate enforcement of existing rights, and create clear standards for employers to follow. The research also identified models of collective bargaining that address the challenges of domestic workers, including: Neighborhood Based Community Standards, Model Contracts, and Multi-Employer Bargaining.
 
However, domestic workers are currently excluded from the State Labor Relations Act, the law which permits groups of workers to pursue collective bargaining. This exclusion, a segregation era holdover, prohibits domestic workers from pursuing collective bargaining. To include domestic workers, the legislature would have to amend one paragraph of the SLRA.

DWU has a four part strategy for the future:
Working towards the inclusion of domestic workers in the SLRA to enable collective bargaining
Pursuit of legislative and regulatory reform as needed
Community education and enforcement of existing rights through community partnerships
Continuing to organize domestic workers

For more information, check out domesticworkersunited.org! We’re so excited to see what happens next with this great organization!

Domestic Workers and You....

by: Mae Singerman

Tue Jul 13, 2010 at 14:23:32 PM EDT

On the heels of the amazing and much-needed Domestic Workers victory, which we've covered a bunch on JSpot, I saw this project: a "photographic leveling" of employers and the women who work in their homes. Dressed and posed alike, it is up to the viewer to speculate on who is the employer and who the employee.

Looking at the photos, I thought about all of the Jewish families that employ domestic workers. I wonder how many Jewish families were already giving overtime and sick days, etc and how many will have to be pushed by this law or even persecuted prosecuted if they don't follow it. 

Victory for Domestic Workers United!

by: Rachel Berger

Thu Jul 01, 2010 at 16:44:02 PM EDT

NY Domestic Workers Bill of Rights passes in the Senate!

by: Rachel Berger

Wed Jun 02, 2010 at 15:30:12 PM EDT

Long time JFSJ grantee, Domestic Workers United, has been organizing to build the power of domestic workers since 2000. Yesterday, the New York State Senate passed the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights  that will bring basic protections -- like paid overtime, sick days and health care--under the law. This is a significant moment for nanny's, housekeepers and home aids and their employers across the state.Since the bill already passed the Assembly, the next step is to reconcile the two bills and get it signed into law!