A WIN FOR DOMESTIC WORKERS
Phil Murphy just made life better for New Jersey domestic workers, many who’m we know are immigrants and often have been treated poorly because of their immigration status. This is of course not a problem limited to New Jersey, as seen in the Economic Policy Institute's Domestic Workers Chartbook 2022, which found that a significant proportion of domestic workers in the U.S. are paid "under the table”. They also found that “Domestic workers are three times as likely to be living in poverty as other workers, and almost three times as likely to either be in poverty or be above the poverty line but still without sufficient income to make ends meet”. In other words, it can be a desolate and challenging life to support a family as a domestic worker. As shown below, there are about 2.2 million domestic workers in the USA.
So what does the Act do? Among other things it includes the following protections:
Health and safety
Privacy rights
Anti-discrimination and anti-harassment rights
Fair working conditions
Recourse against exploitation
The bill also requires that domestic workers are paid at least twice a month, no more than 10 days after the end of the pay period. If employment ends, the worker must be paid by the next regularly scheduled payday.
Notably the bill excludes the following types of domestic workers:
Dog walkers
House sitters
People whose primary work is house maintenance such as roofers or plumbers
Home health care aides paid through public funds
So if you are a domestic worker, what should you expect from your employer? To comply with the New Jersey Domestic Workers Bill of Rights Act, employers of domestic workers must adhere to specific standards regarding working conditions, wage protections, and benefits. This includes establishing fair labor practices, such as providing adequate breaks, reasonable working hours, and overtime pay. Employers are also required to ensure safe and non-discriminatory work environments. Furthermore, the act mandates certain rights and protections typically granted to other workers, like health and safety standards and protections against harassment and discrimination.
Anders Wenstrand
