Signed by Governor Deval Patrick

Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass a bill that establishes labor standards for domestic workers.

Highlights:

• Defines “domestic worker” as an individual who is paid by an employer to perform work of a domestic nature within a household, including, but not limited to, the following work (Sec. 3):
• Housekeeping;
• Cleaning and home management;
• Nanny and caretaking services; and
• Home companion services.

• Requires an employer to allow a domestic worker working 40 or more hours per week to take at least 24 consecutive hours of rest in a calendar week and at least 48 consecutive hours of rest in a calendar month (Sec. 3).

• Requires “working time” to include all meal, rest, and sleeping hours, unless the domestic worker is free to leave the employer’s premises and use the time for the worker’s sole benefit (Sec. 3).

• Prohibits an employer from deducting meals or lodging from a domestic worker’s wages unless the worker freely and voluntarily chooses to accept the meal or lodging and gives prior written consent to the deduction (Sec. 3).

• Prohibits an employer from deducting lodging from a domestic worker’s wages if the employer requires the worker to live on-site or in a particular location (Sec. 3).

• Prohibits an employer from interfering with a domestic worker’s means of private communication or monitoring any of the domestic worker’s private communications (Sec. 3). 

• Prohibits an employer of a domestic worker from using “unlawful discriminatory practices,” including, but not limited to, denying a domestic worker maternity leave, engaging in sexual harassment, and engaging in harassment based on sex, sexual orientation, race, or religion (Sec. 3).

• Requires an employer who employs a domestic worker who resides in the employer’s household and terminates the worker without cause to give severance pay equivalent to 2 weeks’ wages or provide lodging for 30 days (Sec. 3). 

• Requires an employer to provide a domestic worker with a notice that contains all applicable state and federal laws regarding the employment of domestic workers (Sec. 3).

Full Bill Text