BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 241
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ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 241 (Ammiano)
As Amended May 24, 2013
Majority vote
LABOR & EMPLOYMENT 5-2 APPROPRIATIONS 12-5
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|Ayes:|Roger Hernández, Alejo, |Ayes:|Gatto, Bocanegra, |
| |Chau, Gomez, Holden | |Bradford, |
| | | |Ian Calderon, Campos, |
| | | |Eggman, Gomez, Hall, |
| | | |Ammiano, Pan, Quirk, |
| | | |Weber |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Morrell, Gorell |Nays:|Harkey, Bigelow, |
| | | |Donnelly, Linder, Wagner |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Enacts the "Domestic Worker Bill of Rights" to provide
labor protections to domestic work employees, as specified.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Defines "domestic work" to mean services related to the care
of persons in private households or maintenance of private
households or their premises.
2)Defines "domestic work employee" as an individual who performs
domestic work (including live-in domestic work employees and
personal attendants).
3)Excludes from the definition of "domestic work employee" any
of the following:
a) Any person who performs services through the In-Home
Supportive Services (IHSS) program.
b) Any person who is the parent, grandparent, spouse,
sibling, child, or legally adopted child of the domestic
work employer.
c) Any person under 18 years of age who is employed as a
babysitter for a minor child.
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d) Any person employed as a "casual babysitter" for a minor
child, as defined.
e) Any person employed by a licensed health facility.
f) Any person who is employed or contracts with an
organization vendored or contracted through a regional
center or the Department of Developmental Services, as
specified.
g) Any person who provides child care and is exempt from
licensing, if the parent or guardian of the child receives
services pursuant to specified programs.
4)Defines a "domestic work employer" as a person who (including
through the services of a third-party employer) employs or
exercises control over the wages, hours or working conditions
of a domestic work employee, and excludes the following:
a) The State of California or an individual who receives
domestic work services through the IHSS program or who is
eligible for that program based on his or her income.
b) An employment agency that operates solely to procure,
offer, refer, provide, or attempt to provide work to
domestic workers, as specified.
c) A licensed health facility.
5)Provides that a domestic work employee shall be compensated
for overtime as provided for most other employees under
existing law, with the following exceptions:
a) A domestic work employee who is a live-in employee or is
required to be on duty for 24 consecutive hours or more
shall have a minimum of eight consecutive hours for
uninterrupted sleep, except in an emergency. Any time
worked during an emergency constitutes hours worked.
b) If a domestic work employee is a live-in employee or is
required to be on duty for 24 consecutive hours or more,
the domestic work employer and the domestic work employee
may agree in writing to exclude from hours worked a bona
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fide regularly scheduled sleeping period of not more than
eight hours for uninterrupted sleep, as specified. Absent
a written agreement, the eight hours available for sleep
shall constitute hours worked.
6)Provides that if a personal attendant must accompany a person
with a disability when traveling out of town, time spent
accompanying the person in transit and attending to or
carrying out the directives of the person constitute hours
worked, as specified.
7)Provides that any domestic work employee who is required to
sleep in the private household of his or her employer shall be
provided sleeping accommodations that are adequate, decent,
and sanitary according to usual customary standards, shall be
provided a room separate from any household resident and shall
not be required to share a bed.
8)Provides that existing meal and rest period requirements shall
apply to personal attendants.
9)Requires an employer to permit a domestic work employee to
choose the food he or she eats and to prepare his or her own
meals, as specified.
10)Provides that these provisions shall be enforced by the
Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE).
11)Provides for administrative or civil enforcement of these
provisions, as specified, including remedies and attorney's
fees and costs to prevailing domestic work employees.
12)Makes other related and conforming changes.
13)Makes related legislative findings and declarations.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, this bill will result in potential unknown annual
costs to the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE),
likely between $400,000 and $800,000, to process increased
claims due to the provisions of this bill. The bill will also
result in one-time administrative costs to the Department of
Industrial Relations (DIR), of approximately $300,000, to
update, print, mail, and process a new wage order detailing the
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requirements of this bill.
COMMENTS : This bill proposes to enact the "Domestic Worker Bill
of Rights." "Domestic workers" or "household workers" are
generally comprised of housekeepers, nannies and caregivers of
children and others who work in private households to care for
the health, safety and well-being of those under their care.
Advocates contend that 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 income. In the worst cases
domestic workers are verbally and physically abused or sexually
assaulted, and stripped of their privacy and dignity.
In general, domestic workers are largely excluded from some of
the more basic protections afforded to other workers under state
and federal law, including the rights to overtime wages, safe
and healthy working conditions, workers' compensation,
employment discrimination and the right to engage in collective
bargaining.
This bill is sponsored by the California Domestic Workers
Coalition, which is comprised of a number of organizations,
including the following: Centro Labor de Graton, Coalition for
Human Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, Filipino Advocates for
Justice, Instituto de Education Popular del Sur de California,
Mujeres Unidas y Activas, Pilipino Workers Center, San Francisco
Day Labor Program, and the Women's Collective of La Raza Centro
Legal.
The sponsor states the following in support of this measure:
"The campaign to adopt a California Domestic Worker Bill of
Rights attempts to address one core principle: domestic workers
deserve equal treatment under the law. Unfortunately,
California suffers from a unique and confounding contradiction:
Domestic workers who care for property such as landscaping or
housekeeping are generally entitled to overtime. Those domestic
workers who care for children, the infirm, the elderly, and
those with disabilities do not. The California Domestic Worker
Bill of Rights attempts to correct this injustice."
Opponents, including the California Association for Health
Services at Home (CAHSAH) and numerous individual home care
companies and other individuals, argue that this bill would
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significantly impact their ability to provide affordable care to
elderly clients or clients with disabilities and would make it
very difficult to provide care to those needing around the clock
assistance. Opponents contend that the home care industry
simply cannot absorb the additional increased labor costs
resulting from this bill. The bill would drastically increase
the costs of home care and make live-in care completely
unaffordable.
Analysis Prepared by : Ben Ebbink / L. & E. / (916) 319-2091
FN: 0000778