BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 241
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 241 (Ammiano)
As Amended September 6, 2013
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |45-25|(May 29, 2013) |SENATE: |23-12|(September 11, |
| | | | | |2013) |
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Original Committee Reference: L. & E.
SUMMARY : Enacts the "Domestic Worker Bill of Rights" to provide
labor protections to domestic work employees, as specified.
The Senate amendments :
1)Specify that "domestic work" does not include care of persons
in facilities providing board or lodging in addition to
medical, nursing, convalescent, aged or child care, including,
but not limited to, residential care facilities for the
elderly.
2)Exempt from the definition of "domestic work employee" any
person who is employed pursuant to a voucher issued through a
regional center.
3)Clarify that the exemption for casual babysitters applies to a
person whose employment is irregular or intermittent and is
not performed by an individual whose vocation is babysitting.
4)Delete all of the substantive provisions of the bill related
to wages, hours and working conditions and instead provide
only that a domestic work employee who is a personal attendant
shall not be employed more than nine hours in any workday or
more than 45 hours in any workweek unless the employee
received one and one-half times the employee's regular rate of
pay for all hours worked in excess of those amounts.
5)Require the Governor to convene a committee composed of
personal attendants or their representatives and the employers
of personal attendants or their representatives. The
committee shall study and report to the Governor on the
effects these requirements have on personal attendants and
their employers.
AB 241
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6)Establish a January 1, 2017, sunset date on the bill's
provisions.
7)Make other technical and conforming changes.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, the Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) would
incur ongoing staffing costs of $285,000 (special funds) to
review, investigate and resolve claims. In addition, DIR would
incur one-time costs of $50,000 (special funds) to design,
prepare and post education materials and one-time costs of
approximately $50,000 (special funds) to update, print, mail,
and process a new wage order detailing the 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 Educacion 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.
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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
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
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