OLYMPIA – For years, domestic workers in Washington have fought to address historic inequities and to ensure safety, fairness and dignity on the job site. Today, that dream is on its way to the governor’s desk.
The ‘Domestic Workers Bill of Rights,’ House Bill 2355, sponsored by Rep. Brianna Thomas (D – West Seattle), creates clear, enforceable protections for people who work as house cleaners, nannies, personal cooks, gardeners, or do other domestic labor. The very people whose labor allows families to work, children to thrive, and elders to age with dignity.
The bill defines a domestic worker as anyone paid for four or more hours of domestic work in a private home each month. This includes nannies and other childcare providers, home or personal care workers, housekeepers, cooks, gardeners and household managers. Whether they are hourly employees, salaried workers, or independent contractors, these workers now have protections.
“This bill is personal to me. I saw firsthand how my mother, a domestic worker, was treated on the job,” said Thomas. “When the bill failed to advance last year, I saw tears of disappointment on the faces of domestic workers from across the state. This year, those workers can cry tears of joy. I know I will have to fight them back.”
The Domestic Workers Bill of Rights would:
- Guarantee minimum wage and overtime pay.
- Require written agreements and a notice of rights.
- Require advance notice of termination — two weeks for most workers and four weeks for live-in workers.
- Prohibit hostile work environments, harassment and retaliation.
- Ban the confiscation of personal documents and personal effects.
- Prohibit invasive surveillance and monitoring in private spaces.
- Prohibit forced arbitration, nondisclosure and noncompete agreements.
- Create administrative remedies and civil causes of action for violations.
- Establish civil rights protections by making it an unfair practice to discriminate in pay or termination based on a protected class under the Washington Law Against Discrimination.
HB 2355 passed out of the House 57-39 and passed unamended out of the Senate 28-20. With this historic vote, the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights heads to the governor’s desk to be signed into law.