BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 889
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 11, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
AB 889 (Ammiano) - As Amended: May 4, 2011
Policy Committee: Labor and
Employment Vote: 5-1
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: Yes
SUMMARY
This bill establishes the Domestic Work Employee Equality,
Fairness, and Dignity Act. Specifically, this bill:
1)Defines "domestic work" as services related to the care of
persons in private households or maintenance of private
households or their premises (i.e., childcare providers,
caregivers of sick and/or elderly, house cleaners).
2)Defines "domestic work employee" as an individual who performs
domestic work and includes live-in domestic work employees.
Specifies In-Home Supportive Service (IHSS) program employees,
specified family members, minor babysitters, and employees of
a licensed health care facility are not included in this
definition.
3)Defines "domestic work employer" as a person (including
through a third party employer) who employs or exercises
control over wages, hours, or working conditions of a domestic
work employee. Specifies the State of California, individuals
who receive services through IHSS, licensed health care
facilities, and employment agencies operating solely as
referral agencies are not included in this definition.
4)Defines "personal attendant" as a person who performs domestic
work related to the supervision, feeding, or dressing of a
child or other person who needs supervision (including a
babysitter), as specified.
5)Establishes numerous rights for domestic work employees,
including the following: a right to overtime pay after eight
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hours in a workday or 40 hours in a workweek; paid vacation
benefits after one year of service; paid sick days after 90
days of service; mandatory sleeping periods if he or she is on
duty for 24 consecutive hours or more; meal and rest periods;
access to a kitchen; and sleeping accommodations (live-in
employees).
FISCAL EFFECT
1)Potential, unknown annual costs to Division of Labor Standard
Enforcement (DSLE), likely between $70,000 and $125,000, to
process increased wage claims due to the provisions of this
bill. According to DSLE, it received 273 claims in 2010.
Costs are associated with staff time to review and resolve
claims.
2)One-time administrative costs to the Employment Development
Department, likely between $150,000 and $200,000, to update,
print, mail, and process a new wage order detailing the
requirements of this bill.
3)To the extent this bill leads to increase wage costs for
individuals who provide services to developmentally disabled
individuals, there would be unknown, GF cost pressures, likely
in the tens of millions, to provide additional funding for
contracts provided through the 21 regional centers who serve
persons with developmental disabilities as defined by the
provisions of the Lanterman Developmental Disabilities
Services Act. The regional centers serve approximately
250,000 children and adults. Many of these services are
provided through contracts which provide in home care to
persons with developmental disabilities. As part of the March
2011 budget process, the developmental services budget was
reduced by $174 million.
SUMMARY
1)Repeals the current requirement that domestic workers work at
least 52 hours and earn more than $100 in the previous 90 days
to be eligible for worker's compensation coverage.
2)Repeals the current exemption for household domestic service
employees with regard to occupational safety and health
statute. Establishes specific enforcement protocol for the
Division of Occupational Safety and Health where the place of
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employment is a residential dwelling.
COMMENTS
1)Rationale . In August 2010, New York enacted The Domestic
Workers Bill of Rights, which provides minimum pay,
overtime/sick benefits, meal and rest periods, and worker's
compensation benefits, as specified. This law took effect in
November 2010 and defines "domestic worker" as someone who
works in another person's home, including a housekeeper, and a
caregiver of children and the elderly, as specified.
According to information provided by the author, there are
over 200,000 domestic workers in California who serve as
housekeepers, nannies, caregivers, and home health aids in
private homes. They are primarily immigrant women in work in
private households. According to a survey report entitled,
Behind Closed Doors: Working Conditions of California
Household Workers (Mujeres Unidas y Activas, Day Labor Program
Women's Collective of La Raza Centro Legal, Data Center, March
2007), 98% of survey respondent were women and of this number
94% are Latina. Also, 54% of respondents indicate they are
the primary income earners for their household.
According to the author, "Domestic workers have historically
been exempted from laws governing the rights afforded to other
workers - decent wages, a safe and healthy workplace, workers
compensation, and other labor protections. The unique nature
of their work requires protections to prevent abuse and
mistreatment from occurring behind closed doors, out of the
public eye." This bill establishes the Domestic Work Employee
Equality, Fairness, and Dignity Act, which delineates specific
rights to domestic workers, as specified.
2)Existing state and federal law generally excludes domestic
workers from some of the protections afforded to other
workers, including the right to overtime wages, healthy and
safe working conditions, worker's compensation, employment
discrimination, and the right to engage in collective
bargaining.
3)Opposition . Opponents of this measure argue the requirements
made on domestic work employers are unnecessary and
burdensome. Specifically, they cite compliance with
occupational and safety standards as a major obstacle in
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employing individuals at your home. Also, opponents contend
the provisions of the bill will lead to only wealthy
individuals being able to employ housekeepers, nannies, and
caregivers of the elderly and disabled. They also argue the
requirements of this bill will lead many middle income
employers to hire domestic work employees "off the books,"
which diminishes the tax revenue the state collects.
Also, this bill provides rights to individuals who work with
developmentally disabled individuals. The California
Disability Services Association, the California Supported
Living Network, and the United Cerebral Palsy argue the
provisions in this measure related to overtime, sick, and
vacation benefits will severely impact a disabled person's
ability to receive services in their home. Disabled
individuals are the employer and they hire individuals to
provide them with care. According to United Cerebral Palsy,
"Eliminating in-home care programs, as we believe the bill as
written would make necessary, would deprive some people with
disabilities of the freedom to stay in their homes and live
full lives in the community, effectively ending the Lanterman
Act promise for those individuals. The bill would create
major burdens for many low-income people with disabilities and
their families who hire in-home care givers either using their
own limited and fixed incomes or state funded voucher regional
centers."
Analysis Prepared by : Kimberly Rodriguez / APPR. / (916)
319-2081