The right to paid sick leave for domestic workers

Sick leave is a right under state and federal law for all workers. However, most domestic workers, who often have more than one employer, do not have a system for accumulating sick leave pay. Therefore, if a worker is sick or has a sick family member to care for, she usually has to show up to work anyway or miss pay that day and possibly risk losing her job. MUA, as a leader in the National Domestic Workers Alliance and the California Domestic Workers Coalition, has been at the forefront of changing this unjust situation.

In 2021, MUA co-led a successful campaign in San Francisco to pass the first local ordinance in California to create a functional system that will allow domestic workers to take paid sick leave. The Sick Leave for Domestic Workers Ordinance requires the creation of an app that employers and workers must use to enforce sick leave. For each day worked, an employer must pay a small fee into the worker's city-managed sick leave account through the app. The worker will be able to see the accumulated amount and access those funds when she needs sick leave.

We are currently working with city agencies to get the system up and running. We will also launch an outreach campaign to workers and employers to make sure they know how to use it.

Are you an employer? Click here to learn more about this law and others affecting domestic workers in California.