From today’s Philadelphia Inquirer:
Nannies, house cleaners, and caregivers in New Jersey, an estimated 50,000 workers, will soon gain newprotections in their workplaces.
The New Jersey Domestic Worker Bill of Rights passed in the state’s General Assembly on Monday, and is now awaiting Gov. Phil Murphy’s signature. Under the new law, domestic workers would no longer be excluded from New Jersey’s Law Against Discrimination and the state’s wage and hour law.
Evelyn Saz, a former home care worker and an organizer for the National Domestic Workers Alliance in New Jersey, said wage theft is a common problem among domestic workers. Often, employers will promise a rate of pay, but the actual amount paid will be less, she said, speaking to The Inquirer with a colleague from NDWA who translated between Spanish and English.
In her own time as a home care worker, for four years when she moved to New Jersey from El Salvador, she remembers dealing with discrimination and abuse, including being screamed at and harassed by some of the families she worked for.
“I didn’t come to this country to be treated that way,” Saz said. Butshe was compelled to stay in the position. “As a single mom, head of household, I couldn’t let go of a patient or leave a case,” she said.
Philadelphia City Council passed a similar bill of rights for domestic workers in 2019, also including the requirement of a written employment contract and periodic rest and meal breaks.
Read the complete story here.