Domestic Workers Bill of Rights
CDWC launched its first municipal campaign in San Francisco for access to paid time off for domestic workers.
For more than a dozen years, MUA, along with other member organizations of the California Domestic Workers Coalition, has worked to strengthen and enforce the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights (AB 241). On September 26, 2013, this law was signed by Governor Jerry Brown. This law extends overtime protections to personal assistants who care for and support thousands of individuals and families in California, including children, seniors and people with disabilities. This right to daily and weekly overtime for all domestic workers who are not part of the In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) program is the strongest that exists so far nationally.
The passage of the law was a momentous victory that set a precedent. However, having the law on the books means little if domestic workers are not aware of their rights, if employers are not aware of their responsibilities and if the state does not comply with the law. For this reason, in 2017, MUA helped launch the Coalition's statewide education and enforcement campaign by co-producing the video Dignity in action: elevating work in our homes.
Starting in 2018, we lobbied the state Budget Committee and the Department of Industrial Relations to strengthen the law. Our efforts provided an unprecedented budget allocation of $5.5 million over 5 years for educational and outreach programs for domestic workers and employers. In 2019, MUA and the California Domestic Workers Coalition submitted a successful proposal to the Department of Industrial Relations to receive the first 3 years of this allocation to strengthen our ability to reach workers and employers across the state.
Dignity in Action
Today, our organizing campaign continues through the statewide Domestic Workers Education and Outreach Program, supported by the California Department of Industrial Relations.
Through this program, we are working to:
- Reach more domestic workers through digital tools and in-person outreach.
- Host workshops on domestic workers' rights and protections on Zoom and in person.
- Develop worker leadership by training our members to be labor rights organizers and advisors.
- Provide intensive employment rights counseling to workers who have been exploited and abused, or who face unsafe working conditions, to help them determine how to protect themselves. We connect them with pro bono legal counsel, help them file complaints and navigate the justice system.