Bill > SB5023

This bill provides comprehensive labor market protections for domestic workers by establishing a new chapter of law that defines domestic workers, their rights, and the obligations of hiring entities. The bill defines domestic workers as individuals who work in private homes performing tasks like childcare, housekeeping, cooking, gardening, and providing support for elderly or disabled individuals. Key provisions include requiring written employment agreements in the worker's preferred language, mandating minimum wage and overtime pay, ensuring meal and rest breaks, prohibiting discrimination and harassment, protecting workers' personal documents, and establishing a process for investigating and addressing workplace violations. The legislation aims to address historical exclusions of domestic workers from basic labor protections by guaranteeing health, safety, wage protections, and general welfare. The bill also creates enforcement mechanisms through the Department of Labor and Industries, which can investigate complaints, issue citations, and levy civil penalties against employers who violate domestic workers' rights. Additionally, the bill requires the creation of a work group to explore models for providing industrial insurance coverage for domestic workers and makes various technical amendments to existing labor and anti-discrimination laws to support these protections.