By Debra Lancaster and Rocío Alejandra Ávila
Despite growing demand for their services, the people who clean our homes and care for our children and seniors are toiling in one of the most unregulated industries in the United States. COVID-19 has only made it worse.
The wages for domestic workers are some of the lowest among all occupations. Most lack formal contracts. Access to any form of benefits or safety net is rare. Sexual harassment and abuse plague domestic workers, compounded by the fact that their work takes place in private homes. The pandemic led to sudden unemployment for many, while others were left on the front lines without adequate personal protective equipment or protection from the CARES Act.
Domestic workers are essential workers to the individuals and families who rely on them. They care for and support households by working as nannies, au pairs, housecleaners, and home health aides. They provide childcare and eldercare; prepare meals; run household errands and clean the house. Advocates like Ai-Jen Poo, co-founder of the National Domestic Workers Alliance (NDWA), have helped to elevate this often-invisible and historically undervalued work, reminding us that, “It’s the work that makes all other work possible.”
Historically, domestic workers have been intentionally excluded from basic labor protections including the Fair Labor Standards Act, the National Labor Relations Act, and the Occupational Safety and Health Act. Some of these exclusions date back to reforms and regulations implemented after the Great Depression, leaving behind domestic workers and farmworkers – jobs filled largely by Black workers, immigrants and women as they are today. This is a great illustration of how structural racism and sexism pervade our economy.
Here in New Jersey, 97% of domestic workers are women, 60% are women of color and 52% are immigrants. Results from a representative survey of households across the state indicate that about one-third of us have hired a domestic worker to regularly perform domestic services. However, the survey also shows that 54% of people who hire domestic workers are unfamiliar with the existing laws that govern wages and hours.
A more recent survey carried out by four NDWA affiliates in New Jersey (Adihkaar, Casa Freehold, New Labor and Wind of the Spirit) reached more than 400 domestic workers and found that 57% of them have experienced a wage theft violation, such as having their pay withheld for no reason or not getting overtime pay. More than half of the workers surveyed have no health insurance and 49% are concerned about their lack of paid sick time and vacation time. While they know their rights, many of these workers are reluctant to speak out against abuses because they don’t know how, or they’re afraid of getting fired or deported.
There is a way forward. Ten states and two municipalities have passed some version of a Domestic Worker Bill of Rights, with New York leading the way in 2010. It’s time for New Jersey to do the same. Strong legislation would:
- Guarantee a minimum wage, overtime, health and safety protections, workers' compensation and paid time-off for all domestic workers;
- Create a portable benefits system that provides health insurance, paid family and sick leave, disability and unemployment insurance and retirement benefits;
- Implement strategic enforcement targeting high-violation employers, and co-enforcement in which the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development teams up with domestic worker organizations on the ground;
- Extend health and safety protections to domestic workers, including COVID-19 standards that can protect workers, their employers, and communities; and
- Create a Worker Standards Board that provides a mechanism for domestic workers to set policy and raise industry standards.
Eliminating the inequalities facing domestic workers is not simple and legislation alone is never enough without investments in enforcement, employer and worker education, and worker organizing. But it is an important step forward.
In the last year, NDWA affiliates formed a New Jersey coalition to highlight the importance of ending domestic workers' exclusion from basic labor laws. Domestic workers have conducted educational outreach to elected officials and other domestic workers to highlight their precarious working conditions.
In the COVID-19 era, we’ve all seen the critical role that essential workers, including domestic workers, play in our society. Disgracefully, our society continues to exclude them from real protections. That’s why we urge policymakers and other allies in New Jersey to partner with domestic worker advocates to pass a Domestic Worker Bill of Rights.
Debra Lancaster is the executive director of the Center for Women and Work (CWW) in the School of Management and Labor Relations at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.
Rocío Alejandra Ávila is the senior employment law counsel and state policy director for the National Domestic Workers Alliance (NDWA).
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