BILL NUMBER: AB 889 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 22, 2012
AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 12, 2011
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 23, 2011
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 27, 2011
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 4, 2011
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 6, 2011
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Members Ammiano and V. Manuel Pérez
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Allen, Cedillo, Fuentes, Ma, and
Monning)
(Coauthor: Senator De León)
FEBRUARY 17, 2011
An act to amend Sections 226, 3351, 3352, 3551, 3708, and
3715 of, to repeal Section 4156 of, and to add Part 4.5
(commencing with Section 1450) to Division 2 of ,
the Labor Code, relating to domestic work employees.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 889, as amended, Ammiano. Domestic work employees.
Existing law regulates the wages, hours, and working conditions of
any man, woman, and minor employed in any occupation, trade, or
industry, whether compensation is measured by time, piece, or
otherwise, except for individuals employed as outside salesmen and
individuals participating in specified national service programs.
Under existing law, the Industrial Welfare Commission within the
Department of Industrial Relations is authorized to adopt rules,
regulations, and orders to ensure that employers comply with those
provisions of law.
This bill would specially regulate the wages, hours, and working
conditions of domestic work employees, as defined. Specifically, this
bill would, among other things, provide a private right of action
for a domestic work employee when those regulations are violated by
his or her employer and provide an overtime compensation rate for
domestic work employees. This bill would also expressly state that
the provisions of Wage Order Number 15 of the Industrial Welfare
Commission, with specified exceptions, apply to a domestic work
employee, but would provide that these new domestic work provisions
shall prevail over protections in that order or any other law that
afford less protection to a domestic work employee.
Existing law requires an employer to provide its employees with
specified information regarding their wages either semimonthly or at
the time of each wage payment. Under existing law, this requirement
does not apply to employers of persons who engage in specified types
of household domestic service.
This bill would delete the exclusion for employers of persons who
engage in specified types of household domestic service, thereby
requiring those employers to provide the above-described information.
Existing law requires employers to secure the payment of workers'
compensation for injuries incurred by their employees that arise out
of and in the course of employment. The failure to secure workers'
compensation as required by the workers' compensation law is a
misdemeanor. Under existing law, employers of persons who engage in
specified types of household domestic service and who work less than
a specified number of hours are excluded from that definition of
employer and are therefore excluded from the requirement to secure
the payment of workers' compensation, as specified.
This bill would remove that exclusion and require all domestic
work employers, as defined, to secure the payment of workers'
compensation and would make conforming changes. By expanding the
definition of a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local
program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
This bill would require the Department of Industrial Relations, by
January 1, 2014, to adopt regulations governing the working
conditions of domestic work employees, as defined.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes no .
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) As recognized by the State of California in Resolution Chapter
119 of the Statutes of 2010, it is the policy of the state to
encourage and protect the rights of domestic work employees.
(b) California's domestic workers, which includes housekeepers,
nannies, and caregivers for children, persons with disabilities, and
the elderly, work in private households to care for the health,
safety, and well-being of the most important aspects of Californians'
lives: their families and homes.
(c) Domestic workers play a critical role in California's economy,
working to ensure the health and prosperity of California families
and freeing others to participate in the workforce, which is
increasingly necessary in these difficult economic times. The labor
of domestic workers is central to the ongoing prosperity of the state
but, despite the value of their work, domestic workers have not
received the same protection under state laws as workers in other
industries. Most domestic workers labor to support families and
children of their own, and more than half are primary income earners,
but two-thirds of domestic workers earn low wages or wages below the
poverty line.
(d) Because domestic workers care for the most important elements
of their employers' lives, their families and homes, it is in the
interest of employees, employers, and the people of the State of
California to ensure that the rights of domestic workers are
respected, protected, and enforced.
(e) The vast majority of domestic workers are women of color and
immigrants and are particularly vulnerable to unlawful employment
practices and abuses. Domestic workers usually work alone, behind
closed doors, and out of the public eye, leaving them isolated,
vulnerable to abuse and exploitation, and unable to advocate
collectively for better working conditions. Domestic workers often
labor under harsh conditions, work long hours for low wages without
benefits or job security, and face termination without notice or
severance pay, leaving many suddenly without both a job and a home.
In the worst cases, domestic workers are verbally and physically
abused or sexually assaulted, forced to sleep in conditions unfit for
human habitation, and stripped of their privacy and dignity.
(f) Domestic workers are still excluded from the most basic
protections afforded the rest of the labor force under state and
federal law, including the rights to fair wages, safe and healthy
working conditions, workers' compensation, and protection from
discriminatory and abusive treatment. The treatment of domestic
workers under federal and state laws has historically reflected
stereotypical assumptions about the nature of domestic work,
specifically that the relationship between employer and "servant" was
"personal," rather than commercial, in character, that employment
within a household was not "real" productive work, and that women did
not work to support their families.
(g) Given the limited legal protections historically provided to
domestic workers, and bearing in mind the unique conditions and
demands of this private, home-based industry, the Legislature, as an
exercise of the police power of the State of California for the
protection of the public welfare, prosperity, health, safety, and
peace of its people, further finds that domestic workers are entitled
to industry-specific protections and labor standards that eliminate
discriminatory provisions in the labor laws and guarantee domestic
workers basic workplace rights to ensure that domestic workers are
treated with equality, respect, and dignity.
SEC. 2. Part 4.5 (commencing with Section 1450) is
added to Division 2 of the Labor Code , to
read:
PART 4.5. Domestic Work Employees
1450. For the purposes of this part, the following terms have the
following meanings:
(a) "Domestic work" means services related to the care of persons
in private households or maintenance of private households or their
premises. Domestic work occupations include childcare providers;
caregivers of sick, convalescing, or elderly persons; house cleaners;
housekeepers; maids; and other household occupations.
(b) (1) "Domestic work employee" means an individual who performs
domestic work and includes live-in domestic work employees and
personal attendants.
(2) "Domestic work employee" does not include any of the
following:
(A) A person who performs services through the In-Home Supportive
Services program under Article 7 (commencing with Section 12300) of
Chapter 3 of Part 3 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions
Code.
(B) A person who is the parent, grandparent, spouse, sibling,
child, or legally adopted child of the domestic work employer.
(C) A person under 18 years of age who is employed as a babysitter
for a minor child of the domestic work employer.
(D) A person employed by a licensed health facility, as defined in
Section 1250 of the Health and Safety Code.
(E) The State of California or individuals who receive domestic
work services through the In-Home Supportive Services program under
Article 7 (commencing with Section 12300) of Chapter 3 of Part 3 of
Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.
1451. (a) Not later than January 1, 2014, the Department of
Industrial Relations shall adopt regulations governing the working
conditions of domestic work employees.
(b) The regulations adopted pursuant to this section shall provide
for all of the following:
(1) Overtime compensation.
(2) Meal and rest periods.
(3) Uninterrupted sleep periods and compensation for
interruptions.
(c) The Department of Industrial Relations may apply the
provisions of Industrial Welfare Commission Wage Order 15 to domestic
work employees.
(d) In adopting regulations pursuant to this section, the
Department of Industrial Relations shall do all of the following:
(1) Study the economic impact of the regulations.
(2) Review and consider federal policies regarding domestic work
employees. All matter omitted in this version of the bill
appears in the bill as amended in the Senate, July 12, 2011. (JR11)